Mark was able to get reservations for the Oprah show so we flew to Chicago last week for 2 days. Neither of us had ever been there so I was looking forward to seeing the city and EATING really good food. I love to eat-it’s my weakness. I don’t like to snack or eat candy. I like to eat meals. This could be a really long post, instead, I’ll just share a few observations.
1. It was great being together, it’s nice to know that we enjoy each others’ company even after all these years (17). We tended to want (or not want) to do the same things….also good to know. Mark’s good company-even if he did ask every cab driver the same question about the best way to get to O’Hare on Friday afternoon. 😉
2. In a city where you supposedly can’t get a bad meal, we managed to get a bad meal. My dinner was fine but Mark’s was bad. Don’t get the linguini with white clam sauce at Cafe Bionda-the clams weren’t fresh and the garlic was burnt. Our lunch in the hotel restaurant was worth the trip, though and Mark loved the breakfast at the hotel. Mine was good, too. We should have just eaten at the hotel the whole time.
3. I think I was the victim of beauty profiling. The audience crew hand-picks beautiful people to sit closest to the stage (including a group of Bears’ wives)-needless to say…..I was in the back row. They didn’t pick the seat for me, once the seats in the well right by the stage are hand-selected, everyone can find their own seat-we picked those seats because they had a good view. I’m not complaining, just making an observation.
4. Chicago cab service is way better than New York cab service. You feel like you’re getting hosed everytime you sit in a cab in New York City. They should do something about that.
5. I wanted the kids to see everything we saw. I don’t like to experience new things without them. I definitely want to save up and take them to Chicago some day while they’re still kids.
6. Even the people at the Bentley store were pretty friendly. They tolerated us and when Mark had the audacity to ask how much a Porche was that some rich couple was test-driving (or maybe they just bought it), some guy in an expensive suit with slicked-back hair said in a foreign accent “two hundred, seventy five thousand” and briskly walked back into the store. They should have shooed us out because we were making their cars look shabby, but we didn’t stay long.
