ILL...

Okay you guys, yesterday was AWESOME! So awesome. Like I had the best time. So what did I do that was so awesome? I took a huge trip down memory lane, that's what! I went down to Champaign, Illinois with my parents to visit my (our) old stomping ground of The University of Illinois. The best educational institution in this great country. It was awesome. Oh, did I mention that already? Well, it was awesome. I loved every single second of it and can't wait to go do it again.

Every time I'm in town I nag my mom to take a mini road trip down there for the day and we always have so many other plans that it never works out. I get disappointed but I understand because it's a lot of driving in one day (about 4.5 hours round trip). However, this trip back to Chicago, I made sure we actually marked a day on calendar to go down. It was finally happening!! I couldn't wait. Plus, we even convinced my dad to come. He was a little hesitant at first but also ended up having a great time down there. All of us had have made so many memories there. Both my parents went to U of I (they met there!!) and I obviously went there and loved it.  I basically came out of the womb bleeding orange and blue and have never stopped.

From the second the trip began so many memories came flooding back. Unlike many of the people I know, I actually love that drive down to Champaign. So many people find it boring because its basically a ton of cornfields on cornfields on cornfields speckled with some farms, gas stations, and fast food joints. Of course I find that entire farm lifestyle fascinating, but I won't get into that here.  Since I've made that drive a whole lotta times, I-57 is even full of memories with different stops and "landmarks."

Once we hit the tollway and got going, I just couldn't help feeling 20 years old again on my way back to school. My dad drove and did his famous short cut through Markham, Illinois. That town hasn't changed a bit except for the McDonald's we'd stop and pee in. That area isn't the best so we would bolt inside, use the bathroom, and get out of town pretty quicky. That shortcut though Markham is clutch because it saves almost twenty minutes on the 2 hour and ten minute trip. (It would normally be about a two and a half hour drive.) Other notable places along the way I couldn't help but smile at were the Matteson stop (clean Holiday Inn bathroom), Kankankee (clean Applebee's bathroom), and of course the Clifton rest stop with the DQ with...you guessed it...a clean bathroom. (See a pattern here?) That stop is about forty minutes from Champaign and a good place for one last pitstop before the home stretch. I have very fond memories of that bathroom because of the incredible explosive diarrhea I had in there one time. It was so awful and so funny at the same time. I actually remember calling my two best friends while on the toilet there laughing even though I was in a ridic amount of pain. But was so relieved this bathroom was my oasis yet again. And this was even before I was diagnosed with my Ulcerative Colitis. Bad news that I should have seen coming.

Also, we can't forget the infamous Lion's Den

adult superstore. I must have passed that place 100 times in my life and never stopped in until senior year of college. It's about a half hour from campus and my college best friend and I always said we were going to go before we graduated to see what it was all about so we finally went. I made her drive there since I had such a recognizable car because of my vanity plates and didn't want anyone seeing it in that parking lot. Once inside the place, all of sudden we became giggling 5-year old girls. Anal beads. Giggle giggle. 10-inch dildo. Giggle giggle. Pocket pussy. Giggle giggle. You get it. So immature of us. As bad as we were in there, I have no doubt in my mind that if I went again today (wasn't making that stop with the parentals) I would probably act the exact same way around some of those things.

Finally, we made it to Market Street and took the back door into campus. I haven't been on campus in about six years or so when I made my mom take me down for the day but it was incredible how much I remembered the way in town and around once there. We passed all stuff I remember (Cabrini Champaign, Sud City, the restaurant formerly known as the Shrimp Boat (it's called something else now), but didn't see Sista Curls. Bummer.) Finally we made it onto Green and Wright Street and parked the car right around there. One of the first things we immediately noticed was the new, very modern, apartment building and chain stores on Green. It wasn't as mom and pop anymore which takes some of the charm out of this main drag of town. High rise apartments are just so not Champaign. Times have certainly changed.

We parked the car on Daniel right across the street from Kam's, one of my favorite campus bars. Ahhhhh, all the memories began to flood back. I spent some amazingly fun nights there. And there was the Illini Union Bookstore (now with a Starbucks). And C.O Daniels which is now closed! Yikes. We were really here. I was beyond happy and excited. I'm not even embarrassed to say I was shedding some happy tears (and my parents thought I was nuts for doing so). Right away we headed to the Quad and to the Union. I remembered right where the bathroom was (are we seeing a pattern with me and bathrooms here?) and scoped it out. We walked in there and then headed to see Altgeld and hear the bells ring and then to see Alma Mater. She was recently renovated and all cleaned up. Such a pretty lady!

We walked around the Quad and hit up some of the old buildings. I have seen a lot of colleges and I have to say that University of Illinois has one of the best quads in all of the land. I've seen campuses from Harvard to Indiana and Arizona to Stanford most recently, and many more in between and the Illinois Quad seriously puts them all to shame. The way its structured is just so perfect. I love it. We checked out many of the main buildings like Lincoln Hall, Foellinger Auditorium, The Undergrad Library, Noyes Lab, etc... At Lincoln Hall, we went in and rubbed Abe's nose for good luck (naturally) and then headed to the auditorium. It was exactly the same as I remember it. I had so many of my lectures in their main hall. I can still vividly remember where I sat. Since I was a science major, there were quite a few (read: many) nerds and know-it-alls in my classes. One of mine and my friend's biggest pet peeve in those classes is when the professor was

ready to dismiss us and then some asshole in the front would all of a sudden raise their hand and ask a question that the professor had either answered a million times already or pertained to them and only them, yet they were holding up the 200 of us in there who didn't give a shit. My friend and I, being the polite young ladies that we were would shout from the back "Send an email" or "Stop wasting our time" and then get quietly applauded by the rest of the back rowers and simultaneously given death stares by the front rows. Those were the days.

After hitting up the Quad and reciting so much of the tour info I remember from way back in the day (even though I never took a tour or led one), we walked around the agriculture campus a bit then headed to the engineering campus too. This school is seriously so beautiful. I am a lucky girl to have gone here. I can only hope to send my children here too one day.

We then swung around to pass Illini Tower, my dorm freshman and sophomore year to get a look and walked past my junior year apartment building on Fourth and Healey which still looked brand new. When we lived there it was the second year it was around and really hard to get into. We managed to get an apartment (and underground parking spaces!) in the building for something like $450 a month which was considered expensive for a Champaign apartment back then. It was three-bedroom, one bathroom apartment that had a dishwasher AND washer-dryer IN THE unit. This spoiled me for life. If only New York rent and amenities went a little something like that! A girl can dream, can't she? We then walked up and down Daniel, Chalmers, and the numbered side streets as well as Green Street a bit more to see all that has changed. A lot of the stuff I remembered is still there but Green Street is a lot more suburbanized. There's now two Starbucks, a Chipotle on the way, Potbelly, Noodles and Co, Urban Outfitters and a few more other chains on Green.  The Discount Den and their 29 cent fountain pops (best deal in town!) is just a liquor store now. I was even going to get a pop if they were open, but its just Den Liquors now. Boo. Disappointing. Zorba's and Za's are still there which was refreshing. And of course oldies but goodies Legends and Murphy's as well as Brothers is still there which I remember opening my sophomore year I think. Station became Red Lion but that's also now closed. Gully's looked boarded up too but thankfully Joe's looked the same. I had many shit-faced-dancing-with-football-player-nights there. Clybourne was redone (I wonder if they still have Wed wine night...$5 bottles...what, what!) and looked good and a new bar, Firehaus was there too right next door. Walking down Green, I also couldn't help but think of the pictures of the crowds flooding the streets the year they made the National Championship for basketball. ILL...


Of course we also had to hit up two of the main campus book stores to look for some Illinois swag. Although I have a ridiculous amount of it already, I of course had to make a purchase (or eight) on campus. I love everything U of I and Illini related. The fact that there is absolutely no chief stuff is disheartening though. Bring back the chief!!!!

Finally it was back to the car. We swung by my senior year apartment (Second and Chalmers) which was also fairly new at the time and it still looked great today. I had some pretty sweet apartments in Champaign and they put my NYC shoebox apartment to great shame. We even swung by my parents old apartments which are still standing.  My mom's place still looks great and my dad's always looked crummy and still does today. He's is very proud of that nasty place though so it made him happy to see it alive and well still.

The last stop on the tour is one of my favorite parts of campus: the rec center and the stadiums. Holy shit, the new dorms built over there are incredible. They are right next to the Six Pack which I had heard was torn down, but clearly wasn't. They did, however, add AC's to those dorms. I feel bad for the kids who are living there now and have to look out the window at the brand spanking new dorms. Ouch. Right across the street from all that is the building formerly known as IMPE. This was one of my most favorite places on campus. The gym, pool, and all intramural sports went on there. It is no longer called IMPE (Intramural and Physical Education Building) but is now called the ARC (Activities and Recreation Center). It's a state of the art facility and it's uh-maze-ing. Like one of the best in the country, if not the best! I spent a ton of time at this place (working out, playing basketball, swimming, etc...) when I was in college but if I was there now, you'd probably have to drag me out of there.  The facilities are immaculate and the equipment on point. One of my most favorite things there though was the outdoor pool. It is VERY rare for a midwest school to have an outdoor pool and U of I's is awesome. It's huge and it has deck chairs and rafts. It's literally like a hotel resort pool. I used to spend waaaaay too much time there. I'd pack up my notecards in ziplock bags and take them over with the intention to study. Needless to say, that never happened.

Right across the way from ARC is Memorial Stadium where the Fighting Illini football team plays.

Although they have sucked balls the last few years, I still watch the games and cheer them on in the fall only to let them disappoint me. The life of an Illini fan though. When we walked up to the stadium, we noticed one of the gates was open so obviously walked in and got a great view of the field. It was the first day of practice but we didn't see any of it at all. From there we wanted to see if we could get a view of the new State Farm Center. Ick, I don't even like typing that. It will ALWAYS be Assembly Hall to me. On the way there, we noticed another gate to Memorial Stadium was open and we literally walked right on the field. YES!! So awesome. Of course I snapped a pic of me on the field. Duh. I'm only human.

Our trip concluded with some Papa Del's pizza. Basically its some of the best pizza ever. It's up there with Lou Malnati's. Orgasmic. And then it was back on I-57 heading home. Boo. I literally could have stayed there for a few days. Gotten a room at the union, gone bowling there, gotten some Biaggi's and been a happy camper. I seriously love it there. Nothing compares to it. It really makes me miss living here and being so close. I know if I did live here I'd be down much more often, especially to catch at least one football and basketball game a year. I love my Illini no matter how many times they break my heart. I'm a tried and true fan. It's in my blood.

Overall, I seriously had such a good day.  I'm almost positive my parent's did as well. They were rehashing a lot and taking pictures of campus too and sending to their friends! It's days like this that make me want to move back to Chicago. Although U of I isn't just around the corner, its close enough  to see games and I realized even more so what a big part of me it is. Just the whole Big Ten culture that's in Chicago. I miss that. Illini forever baby!!! I can't wait go down again.