My Kind of Town

....and so I'm back.

Chicago was exhausting and exhilarating; in three days I managed to accumulate a sleep deficit that probably won't go away any time soon. And what exactly did I do?

Well, I touched down early Friday afternoon, and from Midaway airport we went directly to Mr. Beef's for a tasty and greasy lunch. This was followed by a driving tour of downtown Chicago conducted by my gracious host (MGH) after which we returned to his house near Logan Square for some conversation, catching up, more eating and the first beers of the day. Or evening. Whatever.

Anyway, Friday night was 'boy's night out' so MGH and I met some friends at The Corner Pocket to shoot some pool, after which we ventured to Beaumonts. Now, Beaumonts is verra cheesy but offered two distinct advantages:
1. 'professional courtesies' since MGH works there part time and ...
2. ...what MGH's wife refers to as 'the asshole cam.' Beaumonts has two rooms for dancing and the one in the way back is rigged with cameras connected to TV's hung over the main bar out front. Makes for great people watching - especially around 2:30 or so when the alcohol and a desperate desire to hook up overwhelms folks.

On the minus side though, my Jamesons was served in a some sort of damn plastic thimble cup, like it was a fruity girly shooter. But it was free, so I shouldn't bitch too much.


Saturday morning started with a trip to IHOP for the obligatory greasy-morning-after-meal, after which we retired to the couch to nurse our hangovers on bad cable movies. (Summer Catch anyone?) When we felt sufficiently recovered, we headed out for what turned out to be a very cool and informative architecture river cruise. I highly recommend it, even if you're not any sort of architecture buff.

After the cruise we retreated from the sun and had snacks and pints at the Rockbottom Brewery nearby. (Who knew? Talk about deja vu...). Then we sped off to meet a large crowd of folks largely unknown to me at The Athenian Room for dinner. By then it was dark and time for the evening's debauchery to begin - first at Glascott's, then down to Beaumonts. Again.

There was precious little time Sunday morning for hang over nursing as we had to skibble down to Wrigley Field for the Cubs-Reds game. MGH snagged some most excellent seats - so good, in fact, that I've already made my reservation for next summer. Highlights of my visit to Wrigley include:
-MGH turning a lovely shade of lime green on the train. Turns out the eggrolls he ate for breakfast didn't quite agree with his hangover, and he barely managed to make it to the men's room at Wrigley before letting go.
-Chicago style hotdogs. Served with roasted onions.
-visiting another park where the beer vendors come to your seat. why, oh why does Fenway not have this?
-a great pitcher's duel which the Red's won by the score of 1-0.

We left the game and went to Hog Head McDunna's for some '10th inning' pints. Once we were hungry enough, it was back to MGH's lovely abode where we ordered in real deep dish Chicago pizza. I had one piece and shortly thereafter felt sleeeeepyyy, overcome by the large amounts of cheese just consumed and the fact that I'd slept about ten hours all weekend. I managed to stay awake through the Bears game, but afterwards retired to the guest room to lapse into a coma.

Monday, unfortunately, was all about coming home. And that's where this story ends.