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Sitting in front of a Subway sandwich franchise at 53rd and South Dorchester in Chicago is a simple rock with a metallic plaque installed in it. It may not seem like the most romantic place in the country, but it is the spot where President Barack Obama first planted one on his wife Michelle.
While today it is a tiny little green space with flowers and a flagpole, the "Obama Kissing Rock" was once the site of a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop. Future-president Barack and future-first-lady Michelle visited the Hyde Park franchise on their very first date back in the summer of 1989, and shared more than just two scoops on the curb outside the store, namely their first kiss.
The current plaque, which is attached to a 3,000 pound boulder, was installed by the neighboring shopping center in 2012. It tells the sweetest version of the story, straight from Barack's lips:
“'On our first date, I treated her to the finest ice cream Baskin-Robbins had to offer, our dinner table doubling as the curb. I kissed her, and it tasted like chocolate." President Barack Obama from an interview in O, The Oprah Magazine, Feb. 2007
D'aaaaawwwwww... Most presidential monuments are devoted to wars or politics, but this one really celebrates the first couple as people. People who still seem to share an unshakable love to this day.
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Know Before You Go
Although the Baskin-Robbins has since been replaced by a Subway restaurant, there is still a Baskin-Robbins location in the same shopping center (co-located with a Dunkin Donuts).
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February 23, 2016
