January 30, 2025: Huck Finn

As we look south down Damen, I remember the bank on Cermak that I’d walk to with my mother many times. My mom would always love seeing her little bank book updated with the dollar figures, and let me tell you… she’d check to the penny. My buddy had an apartment right next to the gas station on Cermak and Damen; I think I talked about that already. Used to be a police station a little further down before hitting Blue Island, and then taking the bridge over the Chicago River, entering and exiting onto the Stevenson Expressway. At the other end of that bridge, about a block later on Archer Ave (future tales exist down this diagonal), was a restaurant called Huck Finn; this is still there today.

Ah yes, Huck Finn… many late, drunken nights ended in this 24×7 spot. I tried hitting on one of the waitresses there with no success; I wonder why she turned down my drunken requests… There were other nights when we didn’t stick around to pay. Yeah, we stuffed our faces, then bolted out of the restaurant; I’m surprised our pictures still aren’t posted in that place. We eventually got busted, paid our tab, and promised we’d never do it again; I think we stood good to our word. Then there was the night we “raced” to Huck Finn. Yes, one of the numerous adventures down Damen was my friend and I flooring it over that bridge on the way to Huck Finn; we were probably going 80 or so. This was a Monday Night, after a Bears game we watched at a bar, followed by a visit to our buddy’s house where we met with Jim… Beam. My buddy pulls up his car and sideswipes me, before we take off racing down Damen. It’s these type of nights that you’re thankful you can talk about; there were too many of these nights. Thankfully, I’m alive to tell the tales. I don’t recall who won, and I don’t recall if we walked out that night, but I do know we ended up at Huck Finn, and more likely than not, I had my specialty, the Monte Cristo.

It’s still there today like I said; they have awesome buttermilk donuts. We go there every now and then, sometimes when I would meet my parents for breakfast. As far as going further south down Damen, well, we used to be able to, before they knocked the bridge down; now, we can only go as far as Pershing before having to turn off; Pershing might have some tales of its own one day. Yes, down there, Damen was the border to another park, this time on the east side of McKinley. Before when the bridge was still there, I’d take it to 47th and hit my spot, Burlington Coat Factory; found many a gem there before heading out for a night of fun. Don’t recall too much south of 47th on Damen; probably a good thing that I don’t. So yeah, only 27 blocks south on Damen is where I’d head from my childhood home. Heading north? Much more to talk about there…