Chicago!

Molly and I went on a mini-vacation to Chicago last weekend, as evidenced by the photos. Briefly, it was a good time, we had fun. We left after work on Friday...at the time, I was a little frustrated due to a situation with a variety of shipping failures totally unrelated to Chicago. UPS and USPS both failed me pretty hardcore (although admittedly, the USPS problem was my fault), while FedEx continues to be awesome. That's the moral of that story, which I may complain about at another time.

Anyway our intention Friday was to drive to somewhere outside of downtown and take the train in. Due to the timing of the stops and when we'd be arriving, the plan was to make it to the Metra train, park the car, and that would be it. We wouldn't have to drive downtown, and it would be in theory, a lot cheaper. However, something the both of us learned is that Chicago doesn't make it easy for you to leave your car parked overnight at the Metra parking lots. After searching whatever place we were in for parking (and a bathroom), we gave up and ended up driving downtown anyway. Once downtown, we attempted to hang out at Navy Pier, which was closed, and at Millennium Park, which was also closed. In particular, Millennium Park was getting prepared for a wine and food tasting fiesta the next day, so there was security actively shooing us away if we were even off the street sidewalk in the direction of Millennium Park.

So Friday was a little rough, but Saturday was a lot better. Despite being cloudy, the weather was actually very pleasant for the ridiculous amount of walking we did. We successfully hung out at both Navy Pier and Millennium Park (although in the day, it's not quite as awesome, but still pretty awesome), and achieved success at the Shedd Aquarium, a giant fountain whose name I forget, a water taxi, and free drinks on the hotel (booya).

Saturday night we ventured into the Wrigley Field area to attend an improv comedy show called "The Harold" at the IO Theatre. It was a tiny place, but the show was awesome. They claim a lot of famous alumni from SNL like Tina Fey, Chris Farley, and a bunch of other people that you can read about at their site if you really want to know. I found out later that one of the guys we saw is featured on a lot of the Sonic "drive-thru" ads. We also walked by Wrigley Field, which is surprisingly right in the middle of the city (as opposed to right off the highway, where I might expect a baseball stadium). I can only imagine that place is pure chaos on game days. We were also surprised to see that Wrigley field is about a block from the most openly gay community that I've ever been in. Fair enough.

Saturday was a long day, and the drive home Sunday was rather uneventful (thankfully). Ending up having to drive downtown really wasn't that bad of an option, if you ignore the 74 dollars we paid for parking. Probably the weirdest thing about the whole trip was all the Detroit Tigers gear we saw walking around. The Tigers were in town, and it appears all of Detroit came with them. At first I thought, "man, there might be more Tigers gear around here than Sox gear" just kind of joking. But after paying attention a little more, definitely there was more Tigers gear. Really odd, but I guess Chicago isn't that far away.

Another vacation conquered. Molly has posted her photos here...I haven't gotten mine up yet. I know, I know, I'm working on it!