Photos: We Took The Brianna And Jaelin Walking Tour
By Stephen Gossett in News on Sep 7, 2016 5:01AM
Our docent's signboard / Photo: Stephen Gossett
When we first heard about the Brianna and Jaelin Walking Tour, we were left pondering the same question we had after seeing the infamous viral video that was posted by the not-long-for-Chicago couple themselves: Is this shit real? Well, it was real, and some 150 people gathered in Edgewater to walk in Bri and Jae’s fabled footsteps and retrace the now-notorious afternoon that sent the couple packing—after less than an hour in the city.
The crowd started out sparse, with only about a dozen or so at the tour meeting place, Berger Park, with the walk set to start in 15 minutes. Being old, I thought of Snakes on a Plane—one of those instances where the mere existence of the joke renders the actual gag itself superfluous. But sure enough, the “Whiteys” showed up. “If 3.5 thousand people RSVP on Facebook, that should be about 150 people,” said Justin Hardesty, the man who initiated the walk’s Care For Real donations and a longtime organizer of Chicago’s No Pants Subway Ride, as the crowd assembled. His math was spot on, and there was no denying the reality: If you build out a meme far beyond its logical breaking point, they will come.
The Walking Tour crowd gathers at Berger Park in Edgewater / Photo: Stephen Gossett
The crowd then broke off into several mini-tours and we made our way to the Bri-and-Jae landmarks: the Granville Red Line Station, “the police station they didn’t go to because the Subway appeared safer instead,” down the street to the Subway (“where they knew the layout, and the sandwiches”), through the CVS parking lot and out front of the White’s erstwhile apartment complex, all of which covers only about a half block.
The Subway where the Whites sought refuge. Not pictured: Jaelin's lost shoe / Photo: Stephen Gossett
My tour was led by Walk creator Kevin Fergus and Nikki Loehr. It was all pretty shaggy and inconsequential (of course), but the pair had an easy rapport and a relaxed wit, which shouldn’t be a surprise, as both are improv students at The Annoyance.
A sample, about those intimidating Edgewater surroundings…
Fergus: "There’s a Catholic university to our left."
Loehr: "There’s also a lot of brunch places."
Fergus: "The BYOB ones can get pretty out of hand."
The crowd got into it, too, with some cracking the requisite Uber jokes and noting the various restaurants they deemed “too ethnic” for the Whites.
“The video is a great example of how privileged a life can be,” said Perry Simmons, an Edgewater resident. “It’s not uncommon. People are sheltered, although (the Whites) had their reasons for leaving. But we can still poke fun. It’s just Chicago’s sense of humor.”
Our tour wrapped up with a moment of silence outside the apartment building where Brianna and Jaelin kinda-sorta-I-guess-technically lived, a "For Rent" sign hanging suggestively near the entrance. “We miss them terribly. They brought lots of money, character and local color,” said Loehr. It was all deeply sarcastic, of course, but the commitment and effort made by the crowd and guides (Fergus really knows his B&J facts) couldn’t help but belie some of that irony. “It was fun!” Fergus told me after the tour. And it was. Thanks, Bri and Jae.
Nikki Loehr and Kevin Fergus lead a moment of silence outside the White's former apartment building / Photo: Stephen Gossett