Birthday Extravanza Weekend - Friday in Chicago!
We got up earlier than our usual check out time on Friday, and got on the road to Chicago - once again, reports of winter weather were greatly exaggerated (though it was COLD, and WINDY...but the snow was largely done). I did the driving - first of all, I do better on less sleep, and it leaves 'Yote free to operate the music and radio - a vital job, believe me. Plus...it makes me feel more engaged with the trip if I do the driving. But before Chicago, we took a side trip to Bowling Green to see where 'Yote spent 2 years of his life in the Great Black Swamp. Yeah...it's a blip in the middle of nowhere. He was pretty stunned at all the development by the highway - there's a Waffle House now (where we had lunch in fact). :) But we drove through campus, he showed me his dorm and some of the buildings, and then we drove farther into the town...which he said HADN'T changed in the 10 years since his last visit. We got out of the car so he could show me some nifty buildings (OMG architecturegasms!) - unfortunately I didn't think to bring either camera walking around with me .*doh!* Next time, for sure. THEN he was...evil. Very evil evil man. Okay, I've been in "coffee shop/used bookstore" combinations before - Cafe Kerouac where the Writer's Block Poetry Slam is held is one, for instance. And the late great (and muchly missed) Kaldi's here in Cincinnati. But I've NEVER seen anything like this - you get past the coffee shop part, and it opens up into a LIBRARY - I kid you not, there are stacks, just like a library, FULL of books. And tables, and a "window room" for groups...it was HUGE. Yep, we were there longer than I'd intended...and yes, once again I found nifty stuff. :) As did 'Yote. We picked up some of their coffee to bring home too. :)
So then it was back on the road to Chicago - we were supposed to meet lulu_chtulhu and her boyfriend for dinner, and I was a little concerned about how long we'd spent in Bowling Green...until I realized we'd be gaining an hour once we got to Chicago because of time zones. SWEET! :) Of course, we didn't make it to the city until it was dark, and between the construction on I-90 for the last few miles of Indiana and my general night-vision issues...GODS I was glad when we got to the hotel. Particularly since we couldn't find the road with the hotel on it, and had gotten ourselves turned around in the middle of a totally unfamiliar city. Just about the moment I sent up a silent prayer "Okay, I could REALLY use that plus two to my saving throw about now...", 'Yote spotted Wabash Avenue, which we knew crossed Harrison (where the hotel was), and we landed in front of the Travelodge about 10 minutes later. Phew! FWIW - I highly recommend the Travelodge on Harrison if anyone else is planning to travel to Chicago. It was extremely conventiently located, right by Michigan Avenue (and the Art Institute), the El goes right by there, and it's easy to get to the expressway...and the folks are VERY nice and helpful - even with the hotel's boiler goes out. Poor Eric (the night host) - I called him a couple of times thinking we couldn't figure out the heater, but no...the boiler for the whole hotel had gone out and he'd had to call in help to get things working. Happily 'Yote and I generate a good bit of heat *cough* and we curled up together and kept each other warm just fine, and everything appeared to be back to normal the next morning.
But FIRST it was dinner at Francesco's - a spiffy Italian place in the "little Italy" area of downtown Chicago. We met lulu_chtulhu's boy and he seemed very sweet - we approve. :) Unfortunately they were tired, she'd been fighting a headache all day, and considering OUR general driving-lag, we were ready to head back to the hotel and get some sleep after dinner, so that's what we did.
Next up - the picture heavy post from our day of playing tourist on Saturday...but you'll have to wait a bit 'cause it's time for me to make food. :)
So then it was back on the road to Chicago - we were supposed to meet lulu_chtulhu and her boyfriend for dinner, and I was a little concerned about how long we'd spent in Bowling Green...until I realized we'd be gaining an hour once we got to Chicago because of time zones. SWEET! :) Of course, we didn't make it to the city until it was dark, and between the construction on I-90 for the last few miles of Indiana and my general night-vision issues...GODS I was glad when we got to the hotel. Particularly since we couldn't find the road with the hotel on it, and had gotten ourselves turned around in the middle of a totally unfamiliar city. Just about the moment I sent up a silent prayer "Okay, I could REALLY use that plus two to my saving throw about now...", 'Yote spotted Wabash Avenue, which we knew crossed Harrison (where the hotel was), and we landed in front of the Travelodge about 10 minutes later. Phew! FWIW - I highly recommend the Travelodge on Harrison if anyone else is planning to travel to Chicago. It was extremely conventiently located, right by Michigan Avenue (and the Art Institute), the El goes right by there, and it's easy to get to the expressway...and the folks are VERY nice and helpful - even with the hotel's boiler goes out. Poor Eric (the night host) - I called him a couple of times thinking we couldn't figure out the heater, but no...the boiler for the whole hotel had gone out and he'd had to call in help to get things working. Happily 'Yote and I generate a good bit of heat *cough* and we curled up together and kept each other warm just fine, and everything appeared to be back to normal the next morning.
But FIRST it was dinner at Francesco's - a spiffy Italian place in the "little Italy" area of downtown Chicago. We met lulu_chtulhu's boy and he seemed very sweet - we approve. :) Unfortunately they were tired, she'd been fighting a headache all day, and considering OUR general driving-lag, we were ready to head back to the hotel and get some sleep after dinner, so that's what we did.
Next up - the picture heavy post from our day of playing tourist on Saturday...but you'll have to wait a bit 'cause it's time for me to make food. :)