On this week’s “Amazing Race” finale, the competitors raced through Chicago, leading them eventually to Gino’s East, where they were told what the finish line was: Chinatown’s lovely Ping Tom Memorial Park, 300 W. 19th St.
Problem was, when they rushed out of the restaurant to hail cabs, most of the drivers didn’t know where Ping Tom was. One driver who said he did know took side streets and got lost.
So we called Checker Cab, got a dispatcher, Kenny Gordon, familiar with the “Ping Tom run” in question, and were told, yes, the ride can get confusing. The driver who got lost, Gordon said, didn’t follow directions suggested by a colleague on duty at the time, which were: From Gino’s East at 633 N. Wells St., go south on Wells, turn right onto Ontario Street, merge with I-90E/I-94E (which becomes the Dan Ryan Expressway), take Exit 52C toward 18th Street, make slight left onto South Union Avenue, left onto West 18th Street, right onto South Wentworth Avenue and right onto West 19th Street to Ping Tom.
As confusing as that sounds, Gordon promised it’s even trickier to find the park taking side streets because of its out-of-the-way location.
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But drivers hate getting on expressways,” he said, “and this one tried to find it on his own. He thought it would be quicker and doing them a favor.”