PopCult Rudy Panucci on Pop Culture

A Chicago Travelogue On The Road with Mel

May 25, 2016 by Rudy Panucci

968_1935It’s yet another Wednesday with exhilerating and informative new programs on The AIR .

At 1 PM (Eastern Time), On The Road With Mel takes Mel’s listeners along on a trip to The Windy City. Tune in for a bonus replay at 8 PM (Eastern Time). Listen in right here on this particularly neat-o embedded player…

At 10 AM, with a replay at 7 PM, an encore episode of The Booster Pack tells you everything you wanted to know about Anime, but were afraid to ask.

This week’s On The Road With Mel takes a new approach as your host, Mel Larch, conducts a travelogue of our recent visit to Chicago.  Comprised of several segments, this show was recorded on location at Lincoln Square, North Bridge, the Chicago Water Tower, the Belmont Theatre District, and in our hotel room.

This is a new approach for On The Road With Mel and we hope to re-visit this style of recording the show in the future in different cities and locations, just to keep things interesting and unpredictable.

Another departure this week is that this episode is accompanied by a photo essay, which you will see below.  Many of the locations Mel talks about in the show can be seen in the accompanying photos by your PopCulteer.  I do want to note that this was not a working trip for me, so I didn’t bring my normal high resolution camera.  These pictures were all taken with one of our trusty Kodak Zi8’s and as such, are a little blurrier and lower resolution than what you usually see here in PopCult.  Still, I captured lots of cool images and you can look at these photos while you listen to the show…unless you’re at work, in which case, make sure your boss isn’t looking first.

Our first stop, Belmont Avenue in the Lakeview District
Our first stop, Belmont Avenue in the Lakeview District

An informative map marker for The Lakeview District
An informative map marker for The Lakeview District

 

Fahlstrom's Fresh Fish Market, our first stop for a bit of lunch, even though they serve breakfast all day
Fahlstrom’s Fresh Fish Market, our first stop for a bit of lunch, even though they serve breakfast all day

 

The place was packed on a Saturday evening
Fahlstrom’s was packed on a Saturday evening

 

The "Wall of Cereal" is a huge attraction
The “Wall of Cereal” is a huge attraction

 

And they had a great little slogan on the window
And they had a great little slogan on the window
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A highly-recommended place we’ll try on our next visit
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Another highly-recommended place, reportedly the “best hot dogs in Chicago!”
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Murhpy’s is also a big supporter of local theatre
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A really, really big supporter
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Speaking of Theaters, this is a cool storefront space that we didn’t go to this time, Stage 773
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It’s right next door to Theater Wit, where we saw the About Face Theatre production of “The Secretaries”
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I wrote about Theater Wit in last week’s PopCulteer, and Mel talks about our experience there on her show this week

Our Photo essay has to be split up into a few parts due to changes in our blogging software here at PopCult. You can find part two HERE.