I didn't want to be too picky and refuse anything other than my pre-selected Akubra (which I had no hope of finding in stores), but I didn't want to settle for a hat I didn't like either. We walked out of Goorin Bros empty handed, and searched for another. She found a place on her smartphone called Sid's Clothing and Hat Store. As we drove up to it, it looked like a Pawn shop from the outside. She thought it was going to be a bust, but I wasn't ready to give up just because of that. Well, it wasn't a bust. I wish I'd gotten a picture of the inside of the store. They advertise 30,000 hats in stock, and that sounds about right based on what I saw, and they were NICE hats, too. There were a few cheaper hats (there may have been some wool), but the huge majority was rabbit and they had a good number of beaver hats too. They showed me a Borsalino (pictured below) that I fell in love with. It's super soft; very comfy! Not quite an Indy hat - the brim is a little short, the crown is too low, and it's got a bit of taper to it - but it just looked so great, I couldn't pass it up. They also gave it to me in the nicest hat box I've ever seen. As we were checking out, I did a little more browsing around. They had a Stetson Stratoliner that I tried on (which is now on the wishlist), and a photo of Johnny Depp from "Public Enemies" hanging on the wall. I asked, and they said they supplied all the hats for the film. If you're ever in Chicago, this place is DEFINITELY worth checking out.
Excuse the bad pictures. I barely had time to take these, much less get all dressed up with my SLR and tripod. The picture of me in the suit was from later that evening when we went to see John Williams conduct the Chicago Symphony (yes, they performed Indiana Jones: Marion's Theme, Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra, and The Adventures of Mutt). My dear sweet mother insisted on getting a picture in front of the fireplace where there was barely any lighting to speak of rather than the light-as-day-but-not-quite-so-picturesque kitchen.
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I'll definitely have to get some better pictures later.
