Chicago Literary Bus Tour: Off the Beaten Path
Hop on board the Chicago Literary Bus Tour Off the Beaten Path and explore the hidden gems of the city's literary history. We'll be exploring some of the city's most iconic South Side literary locations and making several surprise stops along the way.
When: Sunday, August 25, 2024, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Where: The tour starts and stops at Montrose Beach, 4400 N. DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
Look for the tour bus at the northeast corner of Montrose Avenue and inner DuSable Lake Shore Drive, just east of the overpass and immediately south of the soccer fields. Free street parking along Montrose Avenue, east of the overpass.
Please arrive 15 minutes before the 10 am start time.
Cost: $20 for CWA members and $30 for Non-members.
Includes a complimentary brown bag lunch, courtesy of Dean Dalaly and WRMN 1410 AM Radio, celebrating its 75th year in Elgin as "The Voice of the Fox Valley."
CLICK HERE for details and to purchase tickets.
Itinerary: Step aboard our tour bus and discover a number of the lesser known gems embedded in Chicago’s rich literary tradition, including the Union Stock Yard Gate, entry point to Upton Sinclair’s 1906 muckraking classic, “The Jungle,” which caused a national uproar and exposed the horrific labor and sanitary conditions in the United States meatpacking industry at the time.
The tour will also take you to Michelle Obama’s childhood home in the city’s South Shore neighborhood. Stories of her home and upbringing are central characters in her bestselling memoir, “Becoming.”
And we’re sure to stop at the legendary Jimmy’s Woodlawn Tap, located in the shadows of the University of Chicago, which we’ll also visit, albeit briefly. Jimmy’s Woodlawn Tap was a local favorite of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas in the years before he went to that Great Tavern in the Sky. Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning writer Saul Bellow tipped a glass or two at Jimmy’s. So did Kurt Vonnegut. The names and history at Jimmy’s go on and on.
But the literary bus tour will showcase so much more, at various stops and sightseeing views on the South Side.
So buckle up and join us as we explore the vibrant and colorful history of Chicago writing and some of the writers who made it.
For additional information, call or text George Rawlinson, tour coordinator, at 847.902.3664.
