Saturday morning my friend and I visited Michael Jacksons childhood home in Gary Indiana. Before I say anything else, I need to mention Gary Indiana. OMG!!! That picture above is exactly what it felt leaving Chicago and going to Gary. It was the turning point. I thought the south side of Chicago looked bad, but oh noooo, I was wrong. We drove up and down the streets of Gary and literally 80% of the homes on any given block were abandon, had broken windows, bullet holes through the doors and windows, etc. Plus everyone sat on their porches or on the sidewalk, and as we drove down the street they would all just stare into the car, like they weren't used to people being in the area. The whole thing was just creepy. But anyway, we finally made it to 2300 Jackson St. just to see a crew working on the old Jackson family home. We took pictures, walked around, visited the school (behind the house). When we returned to the house, and more tourist were present, talking and taking pictures. Then someone said "Who do you think gave out more beatings....Joe Jackson or Ike Turner?. I laughed, but one of my good friends and MJ's #1 fan didn't think it was funny.. (which weirdly made it more funny to us) . We were notified by the crew working on the house that on June 25th (death anniversary) there will be a B.B.Q on the property, the statue will be revealed, and it will be a day full of activities on Jackson St. I'll be there..lol. Then I noticed that the light post in front of the home was covered in signatures. Since the home is now fenced, I was mad that I couldn't go in and sign it, until I noticed people signed the "One Way" sign in front of the street. YAY! So what did I do? I found a Empty spot (well two actually) and signed away! (sidenote: I was kinda ghetto and signed using my twitter name, lol) pictures below.
Later that night the girsl and I celebrated one of my friend b-day at the Between Lounge. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. The b-day girl's ride didn't show, so we had to drive across town to get her (I was already #wasted so I was still in a good mood). So once all 5 of us were crammed in the car we hit the express way and the car died. So we had to drive back across town, pick up a spare, hit the gas station (get some air) and then headed to the party. Was it worth it? Sure was... I had a blast.
I woke up around 11:30 the next morning and rushed down to Navy Pier for the Health Expo. I had a lot of fun. I got to see Bob (trainer from the biggest loser), Michael (winner of the biggest loser) and his mom. I also participated in trainer Andrea Metcalf's mini exercise session (pictures below). We walked around, talked with a lot of people (it was so much going on). I got to do the (fake) weather for NBC News (which I sucked at). There was also Rock climbing, chef's cooking, exercise stations, product tastings, bikers, cars, and so much more. So much positive energy in the room, it felt good just being there. We even took one of those fake coaster rides (pictured below). I have no idea what it's called, but showed the beginning and ending of a heart attack. I had a good time, but after three hours later I was exhausted.
