I went home for lunch to edit pictures and I didn’t even get through a third of them. I took a lot of pictures! I’m a documenter, what can I say? SO, for those of you interested, here is how my trip went:

My parents got into town Wednesday night for they stayed in our house with the dogs and the boy. Our flight left out of Jacksonville at 9 AM, Thursday morning. For some odd reason, I was under the impression it was a 7 AM flight, which changed everything in terms of when we left in the morning. Of course, once I printed my physical itinerary and saw 9, we managed to leave at 5 and get there in plenty of time (2.5 hours door to door). We had a non-stop to O’Hare and besides the fact that we flew in on the world’s tiniest plane, the flight was uneventful. Once in the airport, we found where to pick up the subway and bought 7 day visitor passes, which more than paid for themselves for the 20 dollar charge, considering that a one time ride on a train is $2.50, though if you ride again the same day it’s something like 50 cents.

Anyway, we were kind of turned around once we surfaced from the subway and could not find the roads we needed. I remembered the hotel’s address and had counted on Ash’s GPS to work, but with all the tall buildings, I guess he couldn’t get a signal. We ended up somewhere on Hubbard street and we were famished, so we ate at O’Callaghan’s. The meal was good, though the glasses had some weird brown sticky gunk on them. Finally, Ash’s Blackberry picked up a signal and we found our hotel. Once we got checked in, it was still only about 1 or 2 so we walked down Michigan Avenue – the Magnificent Mile – towards Millennium Park. We saw the famous bean and also went into this technology exhibit hosted by Wired magazine. It was nice to just stroll around and look at stuff for a while. Eventually, it was time to meet up with Ash’s brother so we took the train back up North and got off at the Addison exit, the one with Wrigley Field.

Since Elliot was working, we ended up hanging out in a Starbucks right near Wrigley field until he came to get us and then we swung by his apartment. It looks roughly like this. Seems like a lot of young people live here. Probably young professionals and college kids. We were only there briefly before meeting his girlfriend and going to a little Mexican restaurant they like in his neighbourhood. It was tasty but when it came time to split the checks, the guy did it all wonky. He put ALL the tax on my receipt. How messed up is that? Well, I showed him. I didn’t tip. Directly after, we walked down to Berry Chill which I though was really yummy but Ash was not too thrilled about. Thus ended our first night.

Friday morning, Ash and I took the subway to the Roosevelt stop to eat at Yolk which was really good! I mean, you can’t really screw up breakfast but it was pretty awesome. We walked around some in that part of town, then ended up back at the Art Institute of Chicago. Ash is never excited about museums but he liked the touch museum part, where he got to try on some chain mail. I got to see Nighthawks and that was really why I even wanted to go. So it paid off in the end.

My details are a bit blurry this day. I can’t remember if we went back to the hotel next or if we said we wanted to walk to the Sears tower then decided to find the Lego store instead. Somewhere in there, we had lunch at Giordano’s where I got to eat authentic deep dish. They had an individual size, which was plenty for me. Ash got fettuccine and said it was the best he’s ever had.  We did find the Lego store at one point and then felt sleepy after. In fact, we took a lot of little random naps, mostly because the king size bed in the hotel was terribly sleep-inducing, it was so comfortable.

Friday was our night to have a fancy meal and I had had the concierge make reservations at Mortons. We both had steak and we ordered mashed potatoes and green beans as sides. It was definitely delicious, though almost the same as Ruth’s Chris but a little more expensive. I did like the service better, though they didn’t have a guy solely for cleaning the crumbs off the table, which I kind of expect now at these types of places. I, as well as Ash, was happy to be out of our “dress-up” clothes – neither one of likes to get all dolled up – and then we went back to the hotel to rest before our midnight movie.

Earlier in the day, we looked up to see if Dark Knight was still at the Navy Pier Imax and it was so we bought tix online. Even though I wanted to take a cab or a bus or something, we hoofed it. Google maps claimed it was only 1.4 miles but it seemed a lot farther, especially since it was not easy to find THE BIGGEST MOVIE SCREEN. Somehow their Imax is totally hiding. We eventually found a way into this little mall-type place where it is and ended up behind a similarly confused couple. I was surprised, though, at how many people were out to see it at 12:15 AM, considering it has been out for some time.

Movie = totally awesome. No movie reviews here; more recap ahead.

Since we got home at about 3:30 AM, we slept in. Well, I didn’t sleep much past 9 so I got up, dressed, got some coffee in the lobby and went to Walgreens, just 2 blocks away, for some Halls, and band-aids. Ash got a blister and the 68 degree temp in the hotel was killing my throat. Since we started late, I picked up an apple and banana for us and went down to the concierge to figure out something to do. I made an executive decision to do a trolley tour – double decker- because we didn’t know what else to do. Turned out to be pretty neat. We learned a lot of stuff about the city and saw some places we might not have gone to otherwise. Next time though, we definitely want to see the aquarium and the Field museum, as well as maybe a Bears game (they had an away game in Atlanta).

We got off the trolley at Navy Pier and ate a mediocre meal at Joe’s Be-bop cafe. But we were hungry so it sufficed. We were going to hop back on the trolley but each one that came around was full up so we just went back to the hotel to relax before meeting up with Elliot to see the Sears Tower. I was pretty happy with the view but it was a long wait in a not so cool room and then an elevator ride and some more waiting and well, it felt a little like I was trapped once in line for it all. Still, I can say I have been up there. The three of us were hungry soon after and we walked all over trying to find somewhere to eat. ESPN Zone was an hour and a half wait and some other places looked packed. We went into Su Casa and although they had a wait, the hostess offered us a small table near the bar. We got chips and salsa but after 30 minutes, nothing else. So we left, all grumpy and angry at each other, and ended up back in Elliot’s neighborhood at a little place called Angelina’s. I am glad we ended up there because the atmosphere was cozy, the waitress was nice and fun, and I had the yummiest dish. It was the risotto of the day, which happened to be beet, with cubes of beet and goat cheese. Oh my gosh, was it ever delicious. We parted ways early that evening because Elliot had to run a marathon the next day.

We awoke at 6 to meet Elliot and his girlfriend and family down the street at their hotel. The race began at 8 and we all walked down to the start of the course together. I was a bit overwhelmed by all the people. I mean, 45000 runners and all the spectators was just too much! We watched Elliot and all get in line and then the heaving mass began shuffling forward. Elliot said they didn’t even get to the start line until about 20 minutes after the gun was fired. Since I, like an idiot, forgot my little map of the course, Ash and I walked about 15 blocks back to our hotel to get it. At this time, Ash decided he’d try to meet up with Ell at the halfway mark and I would go to the fnish line to secure a spot for us to watch him as he panted and puffed his way to victory (in a marathon, just finishing is a victory.) Well, the whole thing became one long torturous blah after that. I stood by the finish line from about one hour forty minutes until E finally crossed at four hours 58 minutes. His girlfriend texted me when she saw him at mile 21 – “Really tired, knee is shot.”, then again at mile 25 – “Says he’s never been in so much pain in his life.”

I stood with the hot sun beating down on me until I literally smelled my flesh burning. If you have ever been in a tanning booth, then you may know the smell to which I refer. I knew I was burning but if I left, I’d lose my good spot right against the fence, at the finish line. About 30 minutes before Elliot would finally finish, the guy next to me and a girl who had wriggled her way up next to him, were having words. Things to the effect of “I can be here if I want” and “Fine, I’ll call security.” Well, let’s put it this way: Elliot finally finished the race and the girl shoved this guy who fell on me and I didn’t get the picture at all. Not at all. And I was PISSED. I had been getting angry anyway at how much everyone behind had been moving up, inching in closer and closer. At one point before, I had gotten up on my toes and when I went to put my heels back down, someone’s feet were already underneath me. SO, when I didn’t get the shot and my 3+ hours baking in the unusual Chicago October heat were all for naught, I turned around and basically said, “I am coming through and if you push me, someone is going to get hurt.” I have no idea where that came from but it got those bastards to move.

Elliot says it was the first and last marathon he would ever run and that he just didn’t train hard enough. I envy him for just trying and finishing, for I am nowhere near the ability to run in a marathon, that’s for sure. After he cooled down, the three of us parted from his g/f’s family and ended up – finally- at ESPN Zone, where we ate and watched football for a while. Later, after we parted from him, Ash and I walked back to Su Casa and finally got to eat there. And it was just about the closest thing to our beloved El Chico (R.I.P.) that we have had. Yum.

Next day we got up, packed up, and trekked back to the subway, the airport, the car, and finally, got home to Tallahassee. It was bittersweet though; I really missed my little boy but at the same time, it was ridiculously nice to do whatever I wanted – to nap whenever and eat whatever – and not check email ONCE during that 5 day stretch. I was freed from all those things in life that make you want to have a vacation but which you also need in order to enjoy said vacation.

Whew – that was one LONG post. I will upload pictures after Elliot goes to sleep tonight.