Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Chicago

I've lived in Virginia since I was five and have rarely traveled -- I can't remember the last time I was North of the Mason-Dixon line, and I've never even so much as THOUGHT about the Midwest -- so I was a bit apprehensive about spending my winter holidays in what my mother kept referring to as "a cold land" (which she said while fake shivering). As it turns out though, Chicago ROCKS (despite an abudance of fur-coat-wearing bitches).

For starters, it wasn't very cold, so all that pre-Chicago freaking out I did about sweaters and boots and mittens and hats was pretty unnecessary, much like the rest of the freaking out I do. I suspect, however, that Chicago does get cold, as I saw signs that said things like "Caution: Falling Ice" and "No Parking When Snow Is Over Two Inches." Such signs aside, I also suspect that Chicago never gets quite cold enough to warrant a fur coat. (Unless, of course, your goal is to spend eternity burning in hell.)

I myself might spend eternity burning in hell after languishing in bed at The Drake Hotel every day until noon, but that's another story entirely.


I did see some typical Chicago stuff -- Millenium Park, with its incredibly cool Cloud Gate sculpture; the Art Institute, where I fell madly in love with Harald Sohlberg's Fisherman's Cottage; Lake Michigan at Oak Street Beach, which has sand AND shells AND seaweed; and the quitessentially cheesey Navy Pier -- and I ate lots of good food, including deep dish pizza at Pizano's and the best damn eggplant parmesan EVER at Club Lago. But mostly I wandered around admiring the kick-ass architecture.

I also rode the EL up to Andersonville to have lunch -- and then glögg -- with Lulu before attending Some Guy's Chicago-area blogger get-together, which was lots of fun.

Okay, so I know it's not that exciting to hear about somebody else's trip, but my point is that something about Chicago was pretty fucking awesome.

14 comments:

Phil said...

Glad you had a good time. It's a great city. Hope to meet you next time you visit.

Unknown said...

I'm so glad you had a good visit! You know, we tell people that it is really cold here and that ice falls off of buildings so that they are surprised when it is warm and somewhat sunny.

Come back soon!

Some Guy said...

Man, I would've never guessed you liked Chicago. The times I saw you it seemed like you were having a really bad time.

Melissa said...

I'm so glad you had such a good time! now, write me an email and tell me everything you might have left out of this post...

Valerie said...

I'm glad that you have an appreciation for my favorite city.

There's still so much more to see, you'll have to come back and visit again.

Sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you at Club Lago...I was too freaked out seeing all the people from High School. But I'm glad you had fun.

Where in VA are you? I lived in Arlington for a year and Ashburn (near Dulles Airport) for three years. I miss my friends back there, but am soooooo happy to be back in Illinois.

p.s. Total tangent: you have BEAUTIFUL hair.

Frank Sirmarco said...

It was good meeting you! Hope you enjoyed yourself!

Anonymous said...

Chicago and the North Shore are beyond fabulous all of the year around!

It is, after all, a BIG city...Norfolk is a quaint little town with a few larger-than-not buildings, not at all a bad place to live....but it ain't no city!

You can't even begin to explore Chicagoland in a week. Go back up in the spring, check out Evanston and all of the surrounding areas...the near south and east sides can probably be looked over in books rather than actual tours...but just beyond eastern Chicago is Indiana and Michigan and even more to explore!

Anonymous said...

if it weren't for vicarious living through vacation blogs, I'd never get outta town

vikkitikkitavi said...

I miss glugg in Andersonville! When I lived there it was the best place to go Xmas shopping because you could get tanked at the same time.

And although you should never wear a fur coat for any reason, it does indeed get very, very cold in Chicago sometimes. The year I left I had to wear ski goggles walking to the el to keep the corners of my eyes from chapping.

I wish I could've been there.

Tenacious S said...

It was great meeting you. We sure hope you come back soon. Glad you appreciated the architecture. My brother would be proud.

Megan said...

Phil - Too bad you couldn't make Club Lago!

Lu - Um, I'm pretty sure I will.

Chris - Ah, sarcasm. . .I get it.

Melissa - Will do. Well, maybe not EVERYTHING. :-)

Valerie - I enjoyed meeting you too, and you're right, four days wasn't enough. I live in Norfolk - it's in the SE corner on the coast. I've also lived in the DC burbs and would rather kill myself than do that again.

Frank - Oh, I did! Hope to see you again soon.

Anon. - But I LOVE Norfolk! Yeah, yeah, more Chicago. . .I get the message.

Orange - Glad to have you along.

Vikki - That's pretty damn cold! You should have been there, it was a fun time.

TenS - Your real brother or your look-alike brother? :-) I had fun chatting with you and Lulu!

Anonymous said...

I was at the Lago that friday night. I was on the verge of getting sick, so i didn't do much socializing. But it was good to meet you and it was very cool to see Chris extremely happy. I'll be linking to you from my blog...hope you'll link to NevadaThunder.

Moderator said...

Did you meet any other bloggers at that get together? Like any extremely handsome and bright ones? Just asking.

Coaster Punchman said...

I could like Chicago, if there weren't any psychotic family members living there. Until that is no longer the case, I am destined to stay a minimum of 500 miles away. Sorry.