Chicago 2003

23 May - My friend Celeste [& I] headed out after work [Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, MI] on Friday for a Girl's Weekend in the Windy City. By leaving later, we managed to avoid most of the traffic, until we hit the end of the Indiana toll road heading to the Skyway. It was really backed up there from all the merging traffic, so we attempted to take a more local route and go up Lake Shore Drive. Even though I lived in Wisconsin for so many years, I never got an opportunity to actually visit downtown. We found our hotel (Holiday Inn-City Centre) and checked in. Pretty nice place. We were a bit hungry, so we walked out in search of sustenance. It was a little more difficult finding a place that was open at 10 pm. We ended up at a Chinese restaurant called Big Bowl. It was very trendy and good. From there, we tried to go to a piano bar, but we were turned away for not having the proper "business casual" attire. So, we walked on further, past the Hard Rock Cafe, and found another bar that looked good - O'Callaghan's. At least they wouldn't turn us away. We had a beer there, then headed back to the hotel to sleep.

24 May - We had told Julie the night before we would probably be heading to Navy Pier around 10, so we were up and out by then. Instead of heading to the lake, we went the other direction toward Michigan Avenue to do some shopping. We hit up Sephora and spent about 2 hours looking at all the make-up and fragrances they have there. I got a little multi-purpose compact, and Celeste spent a small fortune. Form there, we walked to Navy Pier. It was a gorgeous, cloudless day in the low 70s, so it was a pretty busy place. We strolled along, stopping to watch a clown perform. Then we headed to a biergarten at the end of the pier for some refreshments and to play with our make-up. :) Julie then called to say that she and Nick had finally made it to the Pier. After apparently passing right by them, we met up. I hadn't seen Julie since we left Ann Arbor after last summer's internship at Ford. She was the real reason we were visiting Chicago. Her boyfriend Nick was also an intern and a friend of ours, so it was great to see him as well. We caught an early dinner with them on the Pier, then parted ways until later in the evening when we would meet up at a bar to see Pat McCurdy play. Celeste and I then walked through the museum of stained glass on the Pier before walking back to the hotel, after getting a quick coffee drink at a nearby bakery. I think we had intended to nap before getting ready to go out, but it was 6 when we got back to the hotel and we wanted to leave ~7. So, we got ready and found our way north on the L. We were going to a bar called Crush for dinner and to get a good table to see Pat. I was a regular at his shows in Madison in the fall, and it's no coincidence we chose this weekend to go to Chicago. When we got to the bar, we were asked if we were with the party or for the band. We paid our cover, got our wristbands and went in. There was a couch with a table right in front of the stage, so we staked our claim. A few minutes later, a woman came over and bitched us out for crashing their party. Sorry, we're not bothering you, we're not taking your drinks or food, and we already paid cover. It was still a long time to wait, so Celeste & I drank and played cards. It turned out to be a loooong wait. He was supposed to start at 9, so I was nearly ready to fall asleep when he started at 10:30. But the wait was worth it. In terms of songs, enthusiasm and everything, I think it was the best show I've ever been to. Pat didn't know I was there, but during the first set, he played Chokin' the Gopher, which has a female verse that I've sung before in Madison. He looked down at me, gave me a 'you wanna sing?" look, which I answered with a 'hell yeah!' look, and he replied with a 'get up here, then' look. This whole conversation took ~ 5 seconds, so it surprised my friends (Nick, Julie and Julie's friend Matt joined us a little after the start of the show) when I jumped up on stage and started singing. I got a great amount of cheering from the crowd. Good thing, Celeste got it all on video on my camera for me. Man, it was so much fun! After the show got done, it was too late to take the L back, so Julie was nice enough to drive us back to our hotel. What a good night!

25 May - Celeste & I were up again around 10 this morning. My voice was so scratchy from signing the night before. We didn't have any big plans for the day. We tried to catch a bite to eat at the coffee show we went to yesterday, but the line was really long. Instead, we tried to locate a theater nearby that was showing "A Mighty Wind." We found one a good walk to the north of where we were, so we started walking. We stopped at an Italian deli at the base of the Sears [Hancock] Tower for lunch. Then we popped into a mall. I spent ~$200 on a dress, shoes and wallet at J. Crew. Oh, boy. We got to the theater a bit early, so we bought our tickets and went across the street to a gallery that sold original vintage ads. Beautiful, expensive works. I had to drag Celeste out of these so we wouldn't be late. The movie was great - the most serious of the three Christopher Guest movies, but I'll definitely buy it on DVD. After the movie, we headed back south, this time along Rush St. We stopped at Aldo, where Celeste bought herself a pair of cranberry red loafers. There was an Urban Outfitter there across the street. I decided it would be a perfect time to buy a birthday present for Cassie. I ended up talking to both Dad and her trying to decide what to buy. Celeste found a t-shirt with a devilish cat on it that I loved, so I got one for Cass, too, along with two sets of tea lights. I'll just have to mail it soon. I decided no more spending after that, considering the small fortune I blew today. So then Celeste and I walked back towards our hotel, making a detour to Starbucks. There, we decided what we were going to do for the evening. We wanted to see a show. Second City was sold out, so I went with Celeste's recommendation of seeing "Puppetry of the Penis". I really had no idea what I was getting into, just that it was funny. The show was to start in only 2 hours, so we grabbed dinner at a nearby Chipotle, changed at the hotel (me in my new outfit, Celeste in her new shoes) and took a cab up to the theater. The show started with a comedienne. Then.... it was two naked men on stage making shapes and things with their penises and balls. It was hilarious, and disturbing, and somewhat awe-inspiring. I had no idea male genitalia could be so flexible and artistic. After the show, we walked in search of a nice bar. There didn't seem to be any in the neighborhood, so we caught a cab and went to a bar that I had seen on the Travel Channel called Sugar. We got a table and began to peruse the menu. The place served desserts and drinks only. It wasn't the best experience, though. The waiters were haughty and inattentive. We ended up just getting a dessert to share (creme brulee with roasted pineapple - ohmigod it was divine!) and a drink each. The guys at the table next to us were friendly, asking Celeste about the cigar she was smoking and about our jobs. When we finished up there, we headed back to the hotel. It was early, but I wanted to get sleep, since were were going to leave before 8 the next day. I don't know if I've had a more painful walk in my life. The hotel was close enough that it didn't make sense to get a cab, but long enough that it wore some patches of skin completely off my feet. Ow.

26 May - We were up and out ~ 8 the next morning. Good thing I took out cash the night before, so we could pay the $60 total for leaving the car in the hotel parking ramp. That hurt about as much as my feet. The ride back was nice and pretty light because it was so early. We listened (okay, sang along to) the musical Chicago on the way out of town, then to the new Pat McCurdy CD that I bought at his show. Celeste mostly slept. I hope we go on another road trip soon - this was a ton of fun!

{transcribed 1/6/2020}