Remembering John Hughes through travel

John Hughes died yesterday at the age of 59, while out for a walk in New York City.

I was only a few years old when The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and Weird Science came out, but thanks to repeated showings on TNT and USA in the early 90’s, I grew up watching his iconic films. I wanted to skip school with Ferris Bueller and I had a mad crush on Jake Ryan. So even though Hughes had withdrawn from Hollywood in the last decade or so, I was still saddened to learn of the passing of someone whose movies were such a big part of my formative years.

For other fans out there, the folks over at Jaunted have put together a list of some of the locations used for filming in Hughes’ movies, including Chicago-area sets like the Home Alone house at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka and the Illinois Police Station (formerly Maine North High School) in Des Plaines where Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Emilio Estevez suffered through Saturday detention.

I’m thinking it’s only a matter of time before we see a tour dedicated to revisiting these familiar locations. In the meantime, I’m going home to watch a Hughes movie marathon. That Jake Ryan is so dreamy.