Chicago: Magnificent Quarter-Mile

Day 3: Chicago

First, a shout out to Einstein Bros Bagels in Winnekta, IL, for the single greatest discover I have made in 20 years; Dutch Apple bagels. If there is a better food, I haven't had it yet. Emily and I had a picture perfect morning that included sleeping in (9 am!--yes! Emily too!), a drive though the center of a Stars Hollow-esque town, pictures by Lake Michigan, and SUNSHINE! (Actual sunshine, not sarcastic sunshine that literally translates as rain)..After a glorious morning of coffee and bagels in the backyard, Em and I hopped on the train to Chicago to explore.

We wandered around taking pictures of the interesting architecture and buildings around us until we stumbled upon a Jamba Juice at the bottom of the Hancock Building. (That counts as visiting the Hancock, right?) Hello $1 Smoothie Day. We sipped our frugal fruit drinks on the steps, people watching and taking in the scenery. Highlight: We even spotted Grimsby's doppelganger (Little Mermaid anyone?). Disappointment: Couldn't stealthily take a picture of him.

After some more flaneuring, we infiltrated the posh Drake Hotel to use their restrooms. (Preview of things to come: Next time we are in a fancy shmancy hotel, we will not be merely posing as guests...!) We never really made it past Ontario Street, or--to my dismay--down to the Chicago Institute of Art. But that's okay. I did spot a sign that said "The Field Museum"! The good news there is that my lifelong dreams have come true! The less exciting news would be that I had absolutely nothing to do with their realization.

The Magnificent Mile is the luxury shopping zone of Chicago (Think Fifth Avenue). It should not surprise anyone that Emily and I managed to find the one Marshalls in the area. I bought some great sunglasses that are orange if you hold them one way and green if you tilt them in a different direction. Emily calls them 'interesting'. I call them excellent.

Em's aunt and uncle recommended we find a place call Giordano's for lunch but as we were looking for it, a man giving us directions told us we should really go to Gino's instead if we wanted authentic Chicago-style food. I wasn't really listening until he said, "They let you draw on the walls and tables there."

Sold.

And they do let you draw on the walls. Every surface, actually.

A small deep dish pizza is five pizzas stacked on top of each other and baked in an over. That's not what it's advertised as, but it is a general truth. Needless to say, we only managed a slice each before we hit capacity. Appetites satiated, the only thing left to do after our late lunch was head home. But don't worry, we managed to hit Chicago rush-hour traffic along the way. Also-the Chicagoans refer to baseball as a 'game of bags'. Is that even a real expression? You make up expressions all the time. Maybe true, but at least they are awesome expressions. Game of bags does not even make sense and is misleading. Emily says bag means base...so that would make it a game of bases. A game of bases is a closer description to tag than baseball. The ball is a crucial factor here. Otherwise who knows what you are doing. But I suppose that is really the only criticism I have for Chicago. It was pretty great. Cool churches, nice people, delicious smoothies. Winters in Chicago are rumored to be horrendous, yet the city's got something like 3 million residents. I figure those numbers are a testament to the greatness Chicago brings to the table in spite of a few roughs months. A+.

Our adventure home was not uneventful. Liz Gordon, are you out there? I've got some exciting news you are going to appreciate. We pulled over at 671 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka, IL. Maybe you would recognize the house we found. I bet you would... If you've ever seen Home Alone.

Buzz, your girlfriend... Woof.

Since we planned to be on the road for 6am, we headed to bed pretty early last night. After burning a couple more CDs for the road I tried to convince Emily to watch How To Train Your Dragon, but she fell asleep (Note: This does not reflect the entertainment value of the movie). Also, I'd spent the last day and a half trying to win the affection of Pete and Merri's two cats. Why is it that animals (namely cats and dogs) always gravitate toward the one person who doesn't appreciate them? Cough, Emily, cough. My dog is another good example of this principle. Even animal lovers don't love my dog. So the fact that my friend Amanda is not really an animal person really increases her value to most household pets. Honey looooooves Amanda. So of course, the cats spent their time following Emily around the house like catnip was growing out of her head. When we came home from Chicago Yedi was even asleep on her bed.


Here is a fact for you: Illinois' time zone puts it an hour behind the East Coast. Take note of that when setting your alarm for 5am otherwise you will accidentally shoot out of bed at 4am. Seeing as I am blind when I wake up (is that a pun?) I couldn't tell if Emily was still in her bed or not. My first thought: "I am up FIRST and SHE is the one oversleeping?! Ohh how the tables have turned. I'll never let her live this down!" I clicked the lamp on and half-whispered, "Emily, it's 5:15."

Without even opening her eyes she replied, "...You didn't fix the time on your phone, did you? ...It's 4:!5." She practically jumped out of bed.

"Great! Let's get on the road early!"

That backfired. You see kids, sometimes, even when you think you win, really you lose. (Kara I hope you appreciate the reprisal of this wisdom).

Pete brewed us some coffee and we were on the road by about 5. And that's where we are now. Pearl Jam just came on:

The North is to South what the clock is to time
There's East and there's West and there's everywhere life
I know I was born and I know that I'll die
The in-between is mine; I am mine

Rock on, Eddie and crew :)


...Just realized that I never x'd out of Mozilla Firefox last night and How to Train Your Dragon is still fully loaded on the webpage!

And I stand corrected: Sometimes when you think you win, you are right.