Chicago Itinerary
Alright, well it’s safest to say that I managed to make it to Chicago on Tuesday night when I was helping my co-worker manage some three tour buses worth of members to Navy Pier. Then we went for some Chicago-style pizza at Gino’s East right in the middle of Northwestern University. I have to say, I wasn’t entirely impressed with the pizza, probably because I didn’t like the dough all that much. So I had Navy Pier and the pizza checked off my list before I even got off on my own. I finally did get off on my own Thursday afternoon and checked myself in early to my hotel the River Hotel. I just have to say right now, it’s probably one of the best hotels I ever stayed at. It was right on the corner of Wabash and Michigan Ave. It had views of the Chicago River, Trump Tower, Wrigley and the Chicago Tribune. They gave me free internet and water - as in chilled purified water - which was a very nice change from the conference hotel and it was in the skinniest skyscraper in Chicago. XD Not to mention it was right in between the Mad Mile, the Theatre District and Millennium Park. And for all that it was tons cheaper than everything else in the vicinity. I loved it.
Anyway, after that I helped my friend to her hotel and then we went to Michigan and had lunch at TGIF’s. Then strolled around and then went to Ghirardelli’s next to the Chicago Water Tower and John Hancock’s for hot cocoa. Because it was freaking cold. Aaand then she had to go meet her husband, so that night I went to go up Big John…. or the John, I can’t remember which one was the nickname. Then I went to see Peter Pan at the Looking Glass Theatre, which is the theatre that David Schwimmer started right next to the Water Tower. It was so good~ There were definitely some parts of it though that I was tearing up at. It’s so… bittersweet. But it’s such a dinky little theatre and they managed to get everyone to fly using ropes and harnesses. Although holy shizz, the girl playing Tinkerbell wasn’t using any harness at all and she was going all over the place sans net. And I pretty much died when they introduced Captain Hook using Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir. XDD And the pirates were freaking creepy as all get all. They were like goth pirates with long claws and rubber evil mad scientists and an evil clown. EVIL CLOWN!! D8 Anyway, it was so good~! XD So good in fact that I decided I needed to see another show the next night.
So Friday was a pretty busy one for me. Got up and ate at Caribou and staked out the theatre district so that I could find my way to the theatre BEFORE it was dark out. Then I went on a boat tour of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. I saw pretty much every skyscraper there was to see and more. And I learned why Chicago was called the Windy City. It actually has absolutely nothing to do with the wind and it has absolutely everything to do with the Chicago politicians over-exaggerating about how awesome Chicago was. XD Then I came back and actually bought the ticket for my show that night and then went over to Millennium Park to check out the theatre, the big bean and the Art Institute. (They asked me if I was a student, I said no.) Saw soooo many things at that place, but I was kind of dying of hunger so I left and ended up going across Grant to check out Buckingham Fountain and then had a polish sausage over on Northerly Island. Then I stood in line for the Aquarium for about 20 minutes before deciding this was a stupid idea and then walked back to the Art Institute to see if they’d let me back in. And they did! XD So I got to see even more nifty things in there, which I had kind of skipped out on before. Theeen, I went and dolled myself up for the show, checked out John Hancock’s observatory again. Then went to Jamba Juice. Apparently it was very important that I go to Jamba Juice. I have to say that Jamba Juice smoothies pretty much taste like any other kind of smoothie out there. Then I went and grabbed 2/$2 Taquitos from 7-11 for dinner to offset my expenses for the show I saw that night which was~ The Lion King, the Broadway Musical. As in my favorite Disney movie of all time EVER. It was flippin’ awesome~! Although I was rather disappointed with young Simba’s performance at the Mufasa death scene. He didn’t sound at all heartbroken enough. Aaand I did not like the musical’s abrupt departure from the original Hamlet theme when Scar decided that he wanted Nala and not Serazi as his wife. (I liked Lion King before I knew about Hamlet. Then Hamlet became my favorite Shakespeare play ever. And then when I realized that the two of them were connected, I nearly exploded in glee.) HOWEVER, the costumes were just amazing. I loved how they did the lions masks and it allowed them to stand up like humans, but when they crouched, they looked exactly like lions. It was so damn cool. Scar and Rafiki were flat out amazing. And I pretty much died when Timon said, “What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the Charleston?” And then proceeded to do so. And the theatre itself was absolutely gorgeous. I’d never been inside one like it before and I just loved it. And then I went back to the hotel and collapsed, thinking I’d just stay there until I went off to the airport.
No such luck since I ended up waking up at 7 am. Darn EST. So I got up and checked myself out of the hotel early and got some breakfast. They have this awesome tea house over next to the Ford Theatre called Argo Tea. So I took tea, Earl Grey and a croissant. Then went over to Daley Plaza to check out the Picasso there that looks like a baboon. Then I took the L over to the Field Museum and got to see Sue. But not before getting buckets of rain poured on me. (They asked me if I had my student ID, I said yes. She gave it a funny look. Probably because it was a college ID instead of a middle school ID. *le sigh*) But yes, it was pretty cool. I loved the Native American exhibits, mainly because I’d never seen one like it before. The Smithsonian wasn’t exactly big on Native American culture until the American Indian museum came along. (I wonder what American citizens ethically from India think about that name.) But me, being ever so shallow, loved the Precious Gems and Jade halls. Anyway, so when I worked that place to death, I went back to the Loop and got myself a Jumbo Chicago from American hotdog. I’m actually not a big hot dog eater, but I wanted to try it. Holy cow, I don’t know why people would not eat a dog that way. It was just so good~! Then I got myself a bag of Garrett’s Caramel Crisp popcorn. A “small” bag. Which I’m still munching on hours later because it’s so darn “small.” What’s with sizes in this city, I don’t get it. Did one last walk down the Mad Mile (and detoured slightly in the Tribune building) for more Sea Salt Caramel Cocoa from Ghirardelli’s (and saw a living statue doing the robot on the way.) Then took the L from the Loop to O’Hare, which is where I’m at now waiting for my flight.
All this after seven consecutive days of working from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. for our Annual Meeting. I am so exhausted. I think I’m going to have to actually collapse the entire day tomorrow. Never mind that my fish are probably dead and my lawn’s probably overrun and I have tons of follow-up to do for work and now I need to start planning my next international trips to China and Montreal. Oh, though I did find out our co-chairs for our next Annual Meeting are an American, a Canadian and a Englishman. I just about died. XD And Mr. Englishman is so terribly cute. He says things like “keen” and “cheerio” and “wot.” But he drinks coffee. So I ended up being the only one drinking tea at our planning meeting. I was so confused. So that’s it, that was my vacation. I pretty much did as much as I could do really. I’m sure there’s more, but don’t tell me what I missed.
(I'll tack on here, that this is only my second time flying United. And again they've managed to screw something up. Not as epically as the first time. The first time, they delayed my flight to Frankfurt for 3 hours because the movie system wasn't working. On an overnight flight. Where people are more likely to be sleeping. So naturally I missed my next flight. Then they booked us on a different flight. Only we discovered that they booked us on a full chartered flight that they had no business booking us on. And by that time the United offices were closed and we were left stranded in Frankfurt in the dead of winter on Christmas. Yes, I was supposed to be with my family by then. But no, United screwed that up royally. I didn't manage to make it there until days later. This time they only lost my stuff. And I landed at the airport at 9 but I only managed to make it home at midnight even though I only live 20 minutes away from the airport. I swear, I'm never flying United again. EVER.)
Anyway, enough ranting. I have pictures. :D
Anyway, after that I helped my friend to her hotel and then we went to Michigan and had lunch at TGIF’s. Then strolled around and then went to Ghirardelli’s next to the Chicago Water Tower and John Hancock’s for hot cocoa. Because it was freaking cold. Aaand then she had to go meet her husband, so that night I went to go up Big John…. or the John, I can’t remember which one was the nickname. Then I went to see Peter Pan at the Looking Glass Theatre, which is the theatre that David Schwimmer started right next to the Water Tower. It was so good~ There were definitely some parts of it though that I was tearing up at. It’s so… bittersweet. But it’s such a dinky little theatre and they managed to get everyone to fly using ropes and harnesses. Although holy shizz, the girl playing Tinkerbell wasn’t using any harness at all and she was going all over the place sans net. And I pretty much died when they introduced Captain Hook using Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir. XDD And the pirates were freaking creepy as all get all. They were like goth pirates with long claws and rubber evil mad scientists and an evil clown. EVIL CLOWN!! D8 Anyway, it was so good~! XD So good in fact that I decided I needed to see another show the next night.
So Friday was a pretty busy one for me. Got up and ate at Caribou and staked out the theatre district so that I could find my way to the theatre BEFORE it was dark out. Then I went on a boat tour of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. I saw pretty much every skyscraper there was to see and more. And I learned why Chicago was called the Windy City. It actually has absolutely nothing to do with the wind and it has absolutely everything to do with the Chicago politicians over-exaggerating about how awesome Chicago was. XD Then I came back and actually bought the ticket for my show that night and then went over to Millennium Park to check out the theatre, the big bean and the Art Institute. (They asked me if I was a student, I said no.) Saw soooo many things at that place, but I was kind of dying of hunger so I left and ended up going across Grant to check out Buckingham Fountain and then had a polish sausage over on Northerly Island. Then I stood in line for the Aquarium for about 20 minutes before deciding this was a stupid idea and then walked back to the Art Institute to see if they’d let me back in. And they did! XD So I got to see even more nifty things in there, which I had kind of skipped out on before. Theeen, I went and dolled myself up for the show, checked out John Hancock’s observatory again. Then went to Jamba Juice. Apparently it was very important that I go to Jamba Juice. I have to say that Jamba Juice smoothies pretty much taste like any other kind of smoothie out there. Then I went and grabbed 2/$2 Taquitos from 7-11 for dinner to offset my expenses for the show I saw that night which was~ The Lion King, the Broadway Musical. As in my favorite Disney movie of all time EVER. It was flippin’ awesome~! Although I was rather disappointed with young Simba’s performance at the Mufasa death scene. He didn’t sound at all heartbroken enough. Aaand I did not like the musical’s abrupt departure from the original Hamlet theme when Scar decided that he wanted Nala and not Serazi as his wife. (I liked Lion King before I knew about Hamlet. Then Hamlet became my favorite Shakespeare play ever. And then when I realized that the two of them were connected, I nearly exploded in glee.) HOWEVER, the costumes were just amazing. I loved how they did the lions masks and it allowed them to stand up like humans, but when they crouched, they looked exactly like lions. It was so damn cool. Scar and Rafiki were flat out amazing. And I pretty much died when Timon said, “What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the Charleston?” And then proceeded to do so. And the theatre itself was absolutely gorgeous. I’d never been inside one like it before and I just loved it. And then I went back to the hotel and collapsed, thinking I’d just stay there until I went off to the airport.
No such luck since I ended up waking up at 7 am. Darn EST. So I got up and checked myself out of the hotel early and got some breakfast. They have this awesome tea house over next to the Ford Theatre called Argo Tea. So I took tea, Earl Grey and a croissant. Then went over to Daley Plaza to check out the Picasso there that looks like a baboon. Then I took the L over to the Field Museum and got to see Sue. But not before getting buckets of rain poured on me. (They asked me if I had my student ID, I said yes. She gave it a funny look. Probably because it was a college ID instead of a middle school ID. *le sigh*) But yes, it was pretty cool. I loved the Native American exhibits, mainly because I’d never seen one like it before. The Smithsonian wasn’t exactly big on Native American culture until the American Indian museum came along. (I wonder what American citizens ethically from India think about that name.) But me, being ever so shallow, loved the Precious Gems and Jade halls. Anyway, so when I worked that place to death, I went back to the Loop and got myself a Jumbo Chicago from American hotdog. I’m actually not a big hot dog eater, but I wanted to try it. Holy cow, I don’t know why people would not eat a dog that way. It was just so good~! Then I got myself a bag of Garrett’s Caramel Crisp popcorn. A “small” bag. Which I’m still munching on hours later because it’s so darn “small.” What’s with sizes in this city, I don’t get it. Did one last walk down the Mad Mile (and detoured slightly in the Tribune building) for more Sea Salt Caramel Cocoa from Ghirardelli’s (and saw a living statue doing the robot on the way.) Then took the L from the Loop to O’Hare, which is where I’m at now waiting for my flight.
All this after seven consecutive days of working from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. for our Annual Meeting. I am so exhausted. I think I’m going to have to actually collapse the entire day tomorrow. Never mind that my fish are probably dead and my lawn’s probably overrun and I have tons of follow-up to do for work and now I need to start planning my next international trips to China and Montreal. Oh, though I did find out our co-chairs for our next Annual Meeting are an American, a Canadian and a Englishman. I just about died. XD And Mr. Englishman is so terribly cute. He says things like “keen” and “cheerio” and “wot.” But he drinks coffee. So I ended up being the only one drinking tea at our planning meeting. I was so confused. So that’s it, that was my vacation. I pretty much did as much as I could do really. I’m sure there’s more, but don’t tell me what I missed.
(I'll tack on here, that this is only my second time flying United. And again they've managed to screw something up. Not as epically as the first time. The first time, they delayed my flight to Frankfurt for 3 hours because the movie system wasn't working. On an overnight flight. Where people are more likely to be sleeping. So naturally I missed my next flight. Then they booked us on a different flight. Only we discovered that they booked us on a full chartered flight that they had no business booking us on. And by that time the United offices were closed and we were left stranded in Frankfurt in the dead of winter on Christmas. Yes, I was supposed to be with my family by then. But no, United screwed that up royally. I didn't manage to make it there until days later. This time they only lost my stuff. And I landed at the airport at 9 but I only managed to make it home at midnight even though I only live 20 minutes away from the airport. I swear, I'm never flying United again. EVER.)
Anyway, enough ranting. I have pictures. :D
