Holy crap, that beach is hard to find
Jul. 31st, 2011 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hani_backupI haven't touched a laptop since I packed up Friday afternoon to visit Matt and his family... The past few days have been eventful, to say the least. I got on the train a bit late on Friday (for safety's sake it's preferred that I'm on the train by 5pm). And then the bus was a little late... But I got there on time. We watched the final disc of True Blood Season 3. What a mind-trip. And so dark, dark, dark. Then some serious discussion time with Matt and a phone call with a friend. Serious times. I think I finally crawled into bed around 4am.
Because of the late night, Matt and I didn't get up early to prepare for our trip to the beach, Ohio Street Beach which opens at 11am. We only got up around 11am, something like that, to his brother telling us breakfast was ready. Which it wasn't, completely, but we helped set the table and all that while waiting for the gravy to be done. Yummy biscuits...
Then, afterwards, we readied our stuff. Matt did most of the work, finding the beach blanket, the beach chairs, the umbrella, the Frisbee, preparing the food, etc...
The last time we took a trip to the beach, on July 4th, it went horribly. We were suppose to meet one of my former high school friends and some of her friends up in Evanston, where we didn't know where the beach was or parking situation. We got there, we walked a lot of blocks with our heavy cooler, and my phone didn't get reception. >_< I used Matt's phone but I kept getting my friend's voice mail after several rings. OH MY GOODNESS, I felt so worried and guilty and tense, because it was my friend we were going to meet and the meet-up didn't happen successfully. Turns out she had forgotten her phone back where she's staying and so she had to use one of her friend's smartphones to look up my number in a Facebook message to her. I had called Matt's brother to ask him to pick us up, then I had to call him back and cancel it after he was already a few blocks away (couldn't go further because of roadblocks). My former schoolmates and her friends were way late, too.... It was awkward, tense. The fireworks were a nice show, but it still left a bitter taste in our mouths... It was a very tense situation.
Yesterday's beach adventure was suppose to make for the crap-show the 4th of July was. It did not.
We got on the highway fine, but then the GPS started getting all weird. Ohio Street Beach is given the address of 400 N. Lake Shore Dr n the Chicago Park District official website - though it's not on Google Maps by itself - and then it directed us to the middle of the highway. We're not familiar with the area and how to get underneath or beside the highway. Parking was horrendous. We went around and around for more than an hour? We finally got a parking spot in a parking building near Navy Pier, got a taxi and asked him to take us to Oak Street Beach, but then we noticed Ohio Street Beach was on the map so he dropped us off nearby. We had to walk a bit to find it.
That was around 5:45pm. The beach closes at 7pm. We left the house around...3:30pm? And it takes about 45 minutes to get there, by GPS and traffic. The remaining time was just...going around and around. We were very frustrated and tense... But we found it, in the end.
Ohio Street Beach is much smaller than North Ave Beach. It's at the end of Pfc Milton Olive Park. It's not on Google Maps, even, Ohio Street Beach. Anyhoo, because it's smaller there are no changing facilities on the beach. I had to walk all the way to Navy Pier to change - long line for the bathroom, with only 3 stalls - and then I had to walk back to the beach wearing only my bikini with nothing to cover me... It was a little embarrassing. (The dress I wore beforehand was too tight for me to wear over my bikini.) Stupid me didn't bring my phone with me so I couldn't let Matt know I was okay since I was gone for a while...
But...yeah...we set up the blanket, the chairs, got out the food and water... I got back to the beach at 6:15pm and we spent about half an hour in the water. That was nice... The lake really accentuated the height difference between Matt and I. He walked so far away from me before only his head showed above the water. A few times he dropped me in my height water but I was so clumsy I fell over anyway. :P And inhaled water.
Thankfully we didn't meet up with Matt's brother and his girlfriend, as tentatively planned, since Matt and I were tired. I was able to watch the end of Beauty and the Beast on TV and eat dinner, but afterwards I felt very ill. During the shower I felt a bit weak but it didn't feel that bad. I was trembling, nauseated, had a very bad headache (possibly a migraine?), I felt lethargic, my stomach was gurgling and upset, and when I laid down, my body felt like it was still moving up and down or side to side (both x and z axes). I was pretty dehydrated and got a little too much sun, that latter I didn't and still don't understand my reaction to. I walk a lot since I don't have a car. I'm not a wussy who'll take the el train for 2 minutes, to a destination that's 2 stops away, when I can walk for 15 minutes. (And a train ride is $2.25 one way, anyway.) Or a bus trip that'll take 11 minutes ($2.25) when I can walk for 20 minutes to the postal office. Seriously. Especially not in good weather. I walked through a running trail to a German Fest with Bridgett and Michael when I visited Glen Ellyn and I didn't feel faint or bad afterwards. But maybe I just overdid the sun exposure yesterday. Not to mention the repressed stress of trying to find the beach and parking. Hello, high cortisol levels.
I couldn't sleep at all the entire night. I got up numerous times to go to the bathroom. I dozed for about 30 minutes earlier. I have the giggles from sleep-deprivation.
We got up this morning to find the refrigerator is not working anymore. :( After eating we did separate stuff to help the situation. I was putting away dishes but I felt so weak and that feeling of lip tingling, so I staggered upstairs and laid down and felt more of that stupid rocking body feeling but Matt refilled my water glass and brought a soaked cloth to put on my forehead. I'm feeling better. My head still hurts slightly and my stomach is a little weird, but at least I can sit still without feeling seasick.
Because of the late night, Matt and I didn't get up early to prepare for our trip to the beach, Ohio Street Beach which opens at 11am. We only got up around 11am, something like that, to his brother telling us breakfast was ready. Which it wasn't, completely, but we helped set the table and all that while waiting for the gravy to be done. Yummy biscuits...
Then, afterwards, we readied our stuff. Matt did most of the work, finding the beach blanket, the beach chairs, the umbrella, the Frisbee, preparing the food, etc...
The last time we took a trip to the beach, on July 4th, it went horribly. We were suppose to meet one of my former high school friends and some of her friends up in Evanston, where we didn't know where the beach was or parking situation. We got there, we walked a lot of blocks with our heavy cooler, and my phone didn't get reception. >_< I used Matt's phone but I kept getting my friend's voice mail after several rings. OH MY GOODNESS, I felt so worried and guilty and tense, because it was my friend we were going to meet and the meet-up didn't happen successfully. Turns out she had forgotten her phone back where she's staying and so she had to use one of her friend's smartphones to look up my number in a Facebook message to her. I had called Matt's brother to ask him to pick us up, then I had to call him back and cancel it after he was already a few blocks away (couldn't go further because of roadblocks). My former schoolmates and her friends were way late, too.... It was awkward, tense. The fireworks were a nice show, but it still left a bitter taste in our mouths... It was a very tense situation.
Yesterday's beach adventure was suppose to make for the crap-show the 4th of July was. It did not.
We got on the highway fine, but then the GPS started getting all weird. Ohio Street Beach is given the address of 400 N. Lake Shore Dr n the Chicago Park District official website - though it's not on Google Maps by itself - and then it directed us to the middle of the highway. We're not familiar with the area and how to get underneath or beside the highway. Parking was horrendous. We went around and around for more than an hour? We finally got a parking spot in a parking building near Navy Pier, got a taxi and asked him to take us to Oak Street Beach, but then we noticed Ohio Street Beach was on the map so he dropped us off nearby. We had to walk a bit to find it.
That was around 5:45pm. The beach closes at 7pm. We left the house around...3:30pm? And it takes about 45 minutes to get there, by GPS and traffic. The remaining time was just...going around and around. We were very frustrated and tense... But we found it, in the end.
Ohio Street Beach is much smaller than North Ave Beach. It's at the end of Pfc Milton Olive Park. It's not on Google Maps, even, Ohio Street Beach. Anyhoo, because it's smaller there are no changing facilities on the beach. I had to walk all the way to Navy Pier to change - long line for the bathroom, with only 3 stalls - and then I had to walk back to the beach wearing only my bikini with nothing to cover me... It was a little embarrassing. (The dress I wore beforehand was too tight for me to wear over my bikini.) Stupid me didn't bring my phone with me so I couldn't let Matt know I was okay since I was gone for a while...
But...yeah...we set up the blanket, the chairs, got out the food and water... I got back to the beach at 6:15pm and we spent about half an hour in the water. That was nice... The lake really accentuated the height difference between Matt and I. He walked so far away from me before only his head showed above the water. A few times he dropped me in my height water but I was so clumsy I fell over anyway. :P And inhaled water.
Thankfully we didn't meet up with Matt's brother and his girlfriend, as tentatively planned, since Matt and I were tired. I was able to watch the end of Beauty and the Beast on TV and eat dinner, but afterwards I felt very ill. During the shower I felt a bit weak but it didn't feel that bad. I was trembling, nauseated, had a very bad headache (possibly a migraine?), I felt lethargic, my stomach was gurgling and upset, and when I laid down, my body felt like it was still moving up and down or side to side (both x and z axes). I was pretty dehydrated and got a little too much sun, that latter I didn't and still don't understand my reaction to. I walk a lot since I don't have a car. I'm not a wussy who'll take the el train for 2 minutes, to a destination that's 2 stops away, when I can walk for 15 minutes. (And a train ride is $2.25 one way, anyway.) Or a bus trip that'll take 11 minutes ($2.25) when I can walk for 20 minutes to the postal office. Seriously. Especially not in good weather. I walked through a running trail to a German Fest with Bridgett and Michael when I visited Glen Ellyn and I didn't feel faint or bad afterwards. But maybe I just overdid the sun exposure yesterday. Not to mention the repressed stress of trying to find the beach and parking. Hello, high cortisol levels.
I couldn't sleep at all the entire night. I got up numerous times to go to the bathroom. I dozed for about 30 minutes earlier. I have the giggles from sleep-deprivation.
We got up this morning to find the refrigerator is not working anymore. :( After eating we did separate stuff to help the situation. I was putting away dishes but I felt so weak and that feeling of lip tingling, so I staggered upstairs and laid down and felt more of that stupid rocking body feeling but Matt refilled my water glass and brought a soaked cloth to put on my forehead. I'm feeling better. My head still hurts slightly and my stomach is a little weird, but at least I can sit still without feeling seasick.
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Date: 2011-08-01 12:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 04:39 am (UTC)