Chicago

The buzz of being on vacation and seeing our friends Sharon and Alex is quickly burning off from work, so I wanted to post some pics and also talk about some of the things we did in Chicago.

The most important thing was just hanging with those two. In SD we would hang together a lot, not necessarily "doing" a lot...just enjoying each others company. Well, we did that in Chicago too.

the first night we got there we went for deep dish pizza. I LOVE deep dish, and to have it Chicago, home of deep dish was great. We were bushed, so after dinner got to bed fairly quickly.

Next day, both of them had to work, but we were planning to meet Sharon at the Lincoln Park Zoo, where she is director of PR, and doing a GREAT job as we all knew she would. Taking public transit to the zoo, we enjoyed ourselves walking around. It is a really nice zoo, low key but nicely laid out. Different for me to see so many inside enclosures, but with the climate it is a necessity.

WE met up with Sharon midday and went to lunch with her at a place close to the zoo, after getting to see her office. She had a quick emergency so we went back to the zoo for a short time and then headed home to meet up with Alex. From there we walked around their neighborhood and down to main street not too far away, deciding where to have dinner. We were taken in by the smell coming from an Italian place, so we went in and had a really nice meal. All our dishes were pastas with a red sauce, but each sauce was unique and tasted very different from the others. We were stuffed, but tired, them after a long work week, and us still from travel. We hopped a bus home, relaxed with more wine, and talked until we all hit the sack.

Saturday was tour Chicago day, and a nicer day could not be had. The humidity had dropped, the sky was clear blue and the temp was about 75-80. A bus to the downtown area, and we were lucky to arrive just as a drawbridge was up over the Chicago River. From there, a water taxi on the river to Chinatown, where we had dim sum for lunch. To a train to Memorial Park, seeing some great fountains, overlooking the lake, and seeing the infamous Bean, an unusual sculpture that really fits into the vibe of the place. This was a lot of walking, and we were getting a little bushed and thirsty, so we again hopped a bus to Wrigley. I really wanted to see Wrigley Field even though a game was not going. Very neat to see this old ball park, even from the outside. We stopped for a beer at a place across the street, and then a train to home, where they had been marinating T-bone steaks for my birthday dinner since Thursday.

What a great meal...grilled brats, t-bones, rice, broccoli, wine, wine, mudslides, wine and wine. We did play some poker too, and just talked and had a wonderful night!

They next day we were gone. In the morning we were a little nervous about our flight being delayed with severe thunderstorms taking place. But everything went as scheduled, saying goodbye to our slightly hungover friends and heading back to San Diego.