We just arrived back from Chicago and I have a lot of catching up to do, but here is a tiny bit about the Renegade Craft Fair. I will write about the happy side of it tomorrow when I've digested it all!
For starters, Chicago had a record day of rainfall on Saturday - a record that's been held since the 1870's when they started recording weather. They usually have about 2 inches of rain during this time of year and they've had 12 as of this weekend. So it was rainy and wet wet wet. Chicago area suburbs flooded - including Bloomingdale where our hotel was and schools were even closed today due to flooding. One of the main interstates in Indiana/Illinois was entirely shut down near Lake Michigan - we had to reroute ourselves down through Indiana (thanks to my trusty Road Atlas) to avoid the four hour delay to get through the interstate closure. Nuts!!! In a gas station in Indiana, this poor girl was trying to get to Detroit and the worker at the gas station told her it wasn't going to happen today since the interstate she needed was closed. I would have advised her to get a map and figure it out, but hey that's my d.i.y. mentality kicking in.
Anyway, this was supposed to be brief! I only bought one thing - I was just feeling too wet and icky to shop and that's just not like me! The one final bummer was that the electricity we paid for was never turned on. So it was dark outside and inside our tent. I understand why they were afraid to turn it on (safety issues I presume) but I was still bummed out about it and I imagine they're going to get some angry emails from crafters wanting a refund. However, it could have been worse. And how could you foresee this kind of weather?
The upside of the Renegade Fair will be posted in a day or two... yes there was a definite upside!
5 comments:
I heard the turnout was really low, but I can't wait to hear the upside!
I so planned on coming out to shop on Sunday but I had to help my parents bail water out of their basement (they live in the South suburbs)!!! I was sooo disapointed not to have been able to attend :( I'm glad that the show still had somewhat of a descent turnout though!
Just to let you know, 80/94 is STILL closed as of today! The only time I can remember that ever having happened before is when we got slammed with a snowstorm...and I've lived here all my life!
No way! It's still closed?!? That's crazy! I'm sorry to hear about your parent's basement - I hope nothing was too damaged as a result!
Yup...it's still closed today and they don't know when it's going to re-open! There is still water being pumped off of it, and, once they clear the water, they still have to test the stability of the road! Crazy!!!
Thanks for the concern...the basement is dry for the most part and nothing is too damaged which is a relief!
What a show it was. Another up side, I got to chat with you guys a bit more than normal.
Will I see you in Brooklyn?
Post a Comment