Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
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Love, Windy City Style WHEN IT COMES TO ROMANCE, CHICAGOANS HAVE A WAY TO WOO THAT'S ALL OUR OWN. BY PAIGE WISER Onward! 120 ILLUSTRATION BY DANNY O'LEARY A h, Paris—where the Eiffel Tower pierces the sky as a symbol of l'amour. And New York, with its legendary Empire State Building, where countless couples have agreed to marry (and at least 30 people have tried to commit suicide, which is possibly related). When the rest of the world thinks of romance, they think of anywhere but Chicago. But you know what? Willis Tower proves that Chicago can be just as phallic as the rest—and a whole lot more realistic. When you stand on the glass observation deck and look down, you get the sickening feeling of slipping to a grisly death. Which is pretty much what lifelong commitment will feel like. It's time to trumpet the news: In Chicago, the stockyards have given way to a healthy meat market. Maybe only the locals know about it, but we're one of the great romantic capitals of the world. Others may scoff. Go ahead, Google "great Chicago lovers." The top result? Information on Baconfest, bacontrepreneurs, and the bacon arts. ("Beer" is mentioned quite a bit, too.) But Chicago knows romance—no-nonsense, fleece-wearing, stick-to-your-ribs romance. Chicago, for instance, begat Raymond Chandler and Ernest Hemingway, who popularized tough love. Chicago is where Harry met Sally. Chicago is where Barack Obama understood that romance should always incorporate some kind of food (he proposed to Michelle at Spiaggia). Our blizzards always lead to baby booms. This is where Playboy magazine climaxed. The notorious Everleigh Club brothel taught us that there's nothing wrong with paying for the extras. And there's no shortage of famous Chicago love stories. This is where Bill Rancic wooed Giuliana DePandi with Cubs games and Giordano's. And remember that time in 2005 when Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston were photographed canoodling among the shrubbery on their balcony at the Peninsula? What's more romantic than that? (He took her to The Wieners Circle, too.) Occasionally Chicago gets credit for its softer side, but not often enough. We earned some major cred when Craigslist analyzed its "Missed Connections" ads for each city—for an actual study—and announced that the "L" is the most romantic metro system in the country. And Chicago's most romantic station, with the most star-crossed missed connections? The Belmont Red-Brown-Purple station. (It sounds sexier if you whisper it.) But nothing sums up romance in Chicago like the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre. It's all there: the passion, the irony, the (blood)lust. Seven men were lined up against a whitewashed wall and shot through the heart—among other places—with 90 bullets. Some say Al Capone was behind it—but in his defense, this supposedly vicious monster was called "Snorky" by his closest friends. Whatever the story, it sums up all you need to know about the end of Chicago love, when the mutual parties have been growing in separate directions: You don't need to have a date on Valentine's Day to make the day memorable; when a relationship is over, it's over. And finally, love means never having to say you're sorry. Most likely, you won't get a chance to. MA MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 120_MA_BOB_GoldCoasting_Winter_14.indd 120 1/9/14 4:58 PM