I was finally able to catch my favorite Chicago band, the Cellar Boys, at one of their regular habitats on Tuesday, May 21. I was on my way, by train, to the Old Time Piano Playing Contest in Oxford, MS, and a few days later, the Scott Joplin Festival in Sedalia, MO. Memphis is the nearest Amtrak station to Oxford and requires three trains and two overnights from Lancaster. My entire itinerary, spread over 17 days, involved nine separate train rides. Why, you may ask? Because I prefer trains to flying or driving, and I usually have no time constraints. Also, I had enough rewards points on my Amtrak-branded credit card that the entire trip was free, including the extra fares, when assessed, to put my bike in the baggage car.
I only travel in coach; a sleeper costs as much as flying, and I don’t sleep well on trains anyway, so why pay the extra money (or points)? Two consecutive nights sleeping in coach was more than I wanted to bear, so I split up the trip and took a motel in Chicago for the intervening night. That night was a Tuesday, hence, the Green Mill.
The Mill is an old bar at the corner of Broadway and Lawrence on the North Side. The neighborhood is known locally as Uptown. A majestic theater by that name stands a few doors north of the Green Mill, and there was an UPtown telephone exchange before all-numeric dialing became universal. The legendary Aragon Ballroom, one of C
