I may need a vacation from my vacation.
Monday evening marked the end of my excursion to Chicago, which turned out to be an interesting mix of tourist attractions – such as shopping on the Magnificent Mile and chowing down on deep-dish pizza – and pure terror.
Last Wednesday’s fender bender was an unfortunate start to the vacation. Thankfully, I have never been in a car accident, but the stars aligned last week and I rear-ended another car on my way to meet my friend who was also going on the trip. It was a minor incident, but I was shaken up nonetheless. The police officer who responded to the scene couldn’t have been more kind and said, “I’m going to get you to smile,” as he cracked jokes.
It was smooth sailing for most of the vacation. Chicago did not live up to its moniker, the “Windy City.” I had packed a suitcase full of sweaters expecting crisp, fall days, but instead we encountered 90-degree temperatures. It was an unexpected tropical getaway.
    The ubiquitous Halloween decorations adorning suburban homes seemed out of place as we made our way to Lake Forest College’s homecoming celebration. My friend was returning to her alma mater and it didn’t take much convincing to get me to tag along.
While the Lake Forest student body tends to be roughly the same size as my high school, the school itself has some amusing claims to fame. In the movie, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” Cameron’s father’s car ends up in a ravine after a day of joy riding. We drove by the unremarkable ravine while traveling through campus. Also, Michael Jordan’s first Gatorade commercial was apparently filmed in a Lake Forest gymnasium.
On Saturday night, a group of us slowly made our way into the city, as disappointed Cubs fans crowded the streets. After experiencing some of Chicago’s nightlife, we made our way to a 24-hour diner with a 1950s theme.
We were huddled over the bill, when we heard a loud noise at the other side of the restaurant. One of the diner’s large windows had shattered, but from where we were sitting we couldn’t see what had caused it to break. I became panic-stricken as I heard the word “gun.”
Still squished into our booth, we saw a man walking down the street, away from the restaurant, waving a metal shovel in the air. Before we had time to realize what was happening, the man turned around and ran back toward the restaurant. He ran along the side of the restaurant, throwing the shovel into the windows, sending shards of glass flying across the room.
As police cruisers surrounded the restaurant, we waited, slumped down in the booth. I moved from the booth to the floor and saw two women huddled under our table.
The next few moments were chaotic as a woman next to me began sobbing uncontrollably and a woman behind me began accusing people of stealing her purse. The restaurant’s wait staff urged everyone out of the building and we made our way to the street. Luckily, no one appeared to be seriously injured, although many people, including me, came out with some minor cuts.
The next day we watched the news, thinking there might be some coverage of the shovel incident, but didn’t come across anything. We wondered where the man found the shovel. Was he on drugs or did he have a complaint against the restaurant?
We will probably never know what his motives were, but we will always have a story to tell about that relaxing vacation in Chicago.  
–Amanda Estes