Thursday morning we dropped the kids off at Cory’s cousin Tami’s house. She and her family were so excited to have our boys while we were gone (the live about 45 minutes North of us); the boys had a great time playing outside, throwing rocks, and playing with all their animals; it was nice not to have to worry about them. It was also nice for us to steal away for a few days to use up a plane credit we had before it expired and before we have this baby girl this coming July.
Well, after one airplane, two trains, a shuttle, very swollen ankles, and four hours we arrived at our hotel. Dropped our bags off, freshened up and then headed back on the train the the city.
We had reservations at the Vivere Italian Restaurant where Cory and I tried some gourmet Italian Food (we’re usually traditional Italian eaters) but it was really good and we tried something new! The restaurant was amazing inside; and interior designers dream. It was really whimsical and fun; it kind of reminded me of something out of a Tim Horton movie (I wanted to take some photos but it somehow didn’t seem like the type of place that it would be appropriate to do that so you’ll just have to trust me).
Cory and I had to laugh as we were sitting there at the table in sometimes complete silence, it reminded us of an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond where they go out on a date to a nice restaurant and have “nothing to say,” we kind of felt like that for a few moments and got a good laugh out of ourselves and reminiscing about that show; the conversations did pick up later, but it is amazing the silence that allowed to be when you aren’t constantly saying, “you need to sit down,” “please don’t hit your brother,” “eat all of your food,” “please don’t throw your food,” and “oh, you have to go to the bathroom?” and just in general when you don’t have children to contend with; it was actually kind of nice for a change; though we do love our kids the silence was nice.
After that was the crown jewel of our trip--going to see the Broadway show Wicked! Wow!! Wow!! I heard great things about the show and had fallen in love with the music, but the production was AMAZING! In fact, after all was said in done Cory said that his favorite thing we did during the trip was go and see Wicked; it was that good, even for a guy!
The next day we slept in--it was great!! I can’t remember the last time we had a quiet morning so we definitely relished in the opportunity. About 10 o’clock we were ready and went down to the hotel restaurant and had a great breakfast. The rest of the day we spent walking around and enjoying Chicago and all the beautiful tulips (ours died at least a month ago here in Ohio).
We ate at Gino’s East, Chicago’s original deep dish pizza joint.
The Pizza was great and the decor, well, lets just say, I hope you brought your magic marker to sign your name. We didn’t, but we did sign our names in the middle of the restaurant on the side of a bench in hopes that maybe one day we will bring our kids there and show them.
After that we rode the HUGE Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier, took some silly pictures in the crazy mirrors, I got some fudge, and we just enjoyed being together. We ended the day around 9 and just enjoyed putting our feet up and watching a little TV.
Saturday was fun. We rode a CRAZY packed Metra train with insanely dedicated fans to Wrigley Stadium to watch the Cubs play their third game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The stadium was PACKED and I learned that it was the only baseball stadium today where the scoreboard is still operated manually. I also found it interesting that the buildings behind the stadium have been converted into more stadium seating and upon a closer look there are people all over the tops of the buildings sitting in bleachers; crazy.
Cory got a “Chicago” style hot dog; which consists of two dill pickle spears, tomatoes, jalepeno’s, and relish (I think I got that right) anyway, you wouldn’t think so, but it was surprisingly good! I did try a bite of his but still got my chicken fingers and crunchy french fries; after all that is the best food for a pregnant woman’s physique, right?!?!? Mostly it sounds like our trip revolved around food, perhaps in some ways it did, but hey, what can we say.
After the game we hit up Ed Debevic’s where we enjoyed some yummy chocolate shakes; those who know me know that I love my ice cream treats. It was definitely an experience. I thought this Editorial review summed up our experience pretty well:
“Upon sitting down in a plastic, sparkly booth at the "diner deluxe," you'll be forced to don a paper Ed Debevic's deli hat. Clad in primary-colored polyester, servers dish out sassy mock rudeness while taking and serving your order [the only place where you pay to be insulted-truly]. A staple for tourists and one-time necessary visit for locals, Ed's lavishly spans almost an entire block in bright pink and green. Enter the faux-'50s eatery and prepare to be sucked into a hodgepodge of characters, fake prints of Elvis and Sinatra autographs and other smart-aleck decor.
“The atmosphere compensates for the ho-hum menu, where the most interesting items include Kitchen Sink nachos and jack cheddar quesadillas . . . top it off with the World's Smallest Ice Cream Sundae (no bigger than a shot glass, seriously) and stay for the wait staff's countertop booty-dance [unfortunately we missed that]. Though you may get lost behind the hostess's fake 'fro, don't forget to put a coin in one of eight bubblegum machines. Just don't stick your money in the table-side jukebox. According to our server, "It's as fake as your blond hair-color."
That about sums up our experience; so if you don’t mind being insulted and enjoy a little sarcasm now and then, this diner is for you!
After that we just walked around for a while and enjoyed some interesting “people watching” by Union Station; and I do mean interesting. We got a kick out of this black guy trying to earn a few dollars by opening the car-doors for the patrons riding the cab only to be ignored or sluffed off by most of them when they realized he wanted some free money; boy was he tenacious and he did manage to make 5 dollars from a girl who didn’t have any change and didn’t stand up to him; I’d say he was pretty lucky on that one. Anyway it is interesting what some will do for a little cash.
The next morning we left bright and early to take the trains back to catch our plane. We enjoyed ourselves and were grateful for all the good conversations and the opportunity we had to just be together. But as always, it is good to be home!
