Late last month I was sent to Chicago for work. I decided to take advantage of the free air fare and stay a couple days longer to visit with my cousin Heather. I have never been to Chicago before so I was pretty stoked about the whole trip.
I arrived early evening on Tuesday, April 21st. [Side note: every time I fly, no matter how long the flight is, I always end up looking like a cat coughed me up and dragged me off the plane] Heather was sweet enough to fight rush hour traffic to pick me up from the airport. This was only the second time that I was to meet my cousin. I was actually kind of worried that we weren’t going to recognize each other. Case in point, she drove right past me twice and I had no idea it was her. Girls change their hair way too often.
We drove straight to pick up my Aunt Rachael, who I only met twice previously. We had dinner at the lovely Las Mananitas Mexican Restaurant (I think) in Boys Town. A couple sleepy jet lagged drinks later and Heather drove me to my hotel, The Whitehall. When I went to check in they informed me that a pipe burst in the hotel and my room was no longer available and they had reserved a room at another hotel for the night. Seriously?! All I wanted to do was face plant on my bed and lie unconscious for 8 hours. Blah! Blah! They drove me to my new hotel and all was well.
The next day I met all the fabulous ladies that worked for my company in the Chicago area. I was so happy that they were so welcoming and friendly ‘cause I was working with some major jet lag. (I know it’s not even that long of a flight) That evening we dined on the company dollar at Fred’s on top of Barney’s. Lovely!
I cautiously went to check into my room after dinner crossing my fingers that I had a place to sleep for the night. “Why yes there is a room available for you” said the front desk attendant “and you’ve been upgraded!”. “I better be” I sarcastically snapped in a ‘Do you know who I am response?’. I took my suitcase upstairs and lo and behold, they DID upgrade me…to the most ballin’ room in the place. Not only did I get a hotel room twice the size of my apartment, but with a balcony like I’ve never seen.
After the greatest sleep EVER (!!) in a king sized bed, I woke and met my co-worker for brunch and then off to a taping of The Oprah Show!! It was so much fun and very surreal to be VIP behind the scenes on one of the most powerful programs in television. I’m not exactly a diehard fan myself, but still cool none the less. No cameras or phones were allowed in as expected. So all I have as proof are these….
By Friday afternoon I was off the clock and had some time to chill with Heather. We chowed on some Chicago style pizza and hit the town. We were both pretty pooped from our work week, but we managed to squeeze in some drunken karaoke at The Bong Café and pints at Charles Ale House.
Saturday was a bit more chill. It was raining and very similar to Vancouver when it rains, it’s hard to sight see. We did our best and hit up Huey’s for Chicago style hotdogs and then the Museum. The pirate exhibit was sold out, but we saw some dinosaur action and then some underground bugs. (My camera died!)
Over all I loved Chicago! It was a city that I could sink my teeth into if I had more time and money. I would definitely go back in the summer time and do some serious shopping and lingering in dark seedy bars in Buck Town.
~Josie