my traveling birthday log

Hey all! Jen and I just got back from an awesome weekend in the Windy City. Love that damn city. It was about the best birthday present anyone has ever given me. We saw a ton of museums (some of them very quickly), ate at as many places as we could fit in, and did the necessary Michigan Ave. shopping. It was an amazing trip, with lots of fun and quirky things thrown in for good measure. The rest of this post will consist of a kind of travel log of my weekend in Chicago...more for me than anyone else I suppose. This damn thing has taken me three days to finish, so its going on here! I know no one really else really cares and if it seems like I'm rubbing it in, believe me that's not what I'm intending to do. I just want a record of everything I did...and if any of my friends who read this are interested in some place I went or did...well then, I expect money from the Chicago Board of Tourism.

Friday March 4: left Toledo around 9am, which was only an hour after we intended. Not bad. Traffic was light and Jen drives like a maniac, so we made it to Chicago around 11:30 local time. I was navigating and I EASILY got us to our destination of the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum without any trouble, even though the yahoo directions she provided quickly proved to be worthless. (more on her faulty maps and a defense of my navigational skills later)
We spent a few hours at the Shedd Aquarium which is a very cool place. Maybe the best museum we went to while we were there. Especially the dolphin show in the simulated Pacific Northwest coast with a giant glass wall that makes it look like the tank is part of Lake Michigan. Too many damn children but I guess that's the price you pay for going to that kind of museum....thought apparently no one in Illinois goes to school on fridays.
Next it was off to the Field Museum of Natural History right next door. This was kind of a disappointment to be honest. I was there about six years ago and basically nothing had changed at all. Same damn crusty exhibits and the only cool things seemed to be a special exhibit about Jackie Kennedy's clothes (an extra $30 to see) and the hall of dinosaur bones (which was closed!) The first of many things randomly closed in March in Chicago. All in all...kind of boring. Though we did get to make a red plastic T-Rex in one of those old machines with the clear bubble where you watch it smash it together. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're too young.
At this point neither of us could actually walk, so we stumbled to the car and prepared for what Jen's yahoo directions said would take 4 mins. 4 minutes!! It took a damn hour because YAHOO IS FUCKING RETARDED and Chicago NEEDS TO POST A FUCKING STREET SIGN OR TWO!!!!! We went from Lake Shore and found Wacker Ave. where our hotel was easily enough...but apparently Wacker has TWO LEVELS!! There is the upper surface level which is where you actually get to things (where the hotel was) and there's a lower level for through traffic (where we actually went). This is the point where Jen will try to claim that I'm an awful navigator but she brought atleast 5 maps of Chicago with her and they were all completely useless. They said nothing about two level streets! So what was I to do? All I have to say is that we found the place....so I must not be that horrible at it.
The hotel was amazing! Its called Hotel 71, its a hip, trendy place that is very modern in its decor. Our room was on the 37th floor and had the most amazing view of Chicago that you could possibly imagine. You'd have to see it to believe it, but the view was down the river in the heart of the city. The Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower were just off to the right. I snapped some pictures out of the window....if they turn out I'll show you if you want!
We ended the day by going to a landmark Chicago restaurant that I had never been to before, the Berghoff. We had a funny moment trying to get there when we got in the cab and the Arab cabbie asked where we wanted and then asked what streets the place was on. Jen got visibly upset...it was funny. YOU'RE A DAMN CAB DRIVER!!! You should probably know where the damn tourist spots are...this place was featured prominently in every tour book I looked at. But it was a very good, very German meal with decent enough (since I drank three) beer. I would recommend it.

Saturday March 5: We began a very busy day by walking down Michigan Ave. (away from the shopping...though I couldn't avoid it all day) and to the Art Institute of Chicago museum. This was one of the most impressive places I've ever been to. The place was ENORMOUS...there were points where I thought it actually stretched on forever and we'd never see the light of day again. I don't know how many art fans read this blog (if anyone does) but if you're in Chicago, check it out. I had never seen it before and I think I'll have to go everytime. Now I'm from Toledo and I am pretty damn proud of my hometown Art Museum (and with good reason, its top 10 in the U.S. and probably top 20 in the world) but you could fit eight Toledo Museum of Art's in this place. And the collection was very impressive, with alot of famous paintings that even my friends would recognize. :-) But the most famous and the one I was looking forward to, American Gothic (the one with the old farmers and the pitchforks, guys) was closed along with other famous American works (the picture of the people eating at the diner). More of Chicago randomly closed in early March. All in all though, I was completely floored with this excellent museum...well except for the worst rice crispie treat I've ever eaten.
Ok...relax any ladies reading this...this is where the famous (or infamous) Chicago shopping happened. We walked back to the other side of Michigan Ave. or the Magnificent Mile as it is usually called. Whoa...that is maybe the only time in recorded history that the words "magnificent" and "Michigan" have appeared together. Now I'm not going to claim that I was dragged to shopping against my will and that I hated every minute of it...anyone who knows me knows I have this questionable like (not love!) for shopping. Probably one reason the guys might question a certain orientation. Anyway...we walked a couple miles and looked into a lot of places but it wasn't that bad actually. I pictured myself walking back loaded up with Jen's bags like a pack mule. But we had enough after a few hours and decided to recover at the hotel. Don't worry though, I didn't go all the way to Chicago and not buy a Cubs shirt.
Next it was off to what I might have been looking forward to the most, dinner at Harry Caray's restaurant. It was owned and named for the Cubs legendary and permanently drunk broadcaster. Brandon and I checked it out over the summer when we went to Wrigley. It looked like a very cool and popular place. I was very disappointed in the place. We were seated in this long room packed with drunk tourists (like us). It was hot and crowded and difficult to hear anything. And they didn't have much beyond Bud on tap (Harry Caray was a huge Budweiser shill) and that is an instant strike against it. We both got steak which is what they claim to be known for, they even brought out a tray of the different kinds of cuts you could get and explained them. When they came out, though they were DRIPPING with blood and the plate was covered. Now I don't mind a little blood, and I ordered it medium but I had to literally hold a piece up and drip the blood off of it. It was disgusting. And the damn meal cost me $100 with tip, and that was with only one drink each, no appetizers, no salads and no desserts. Then instead of leaving like we should have we decided to go to the bar in the place where we got maybe the worst waitress I've ever seen. She was awful...and not hot enough to make me not care about that. A very bad meal, a bitter disappointment. We returned to the hotel in defeat. Damn you, you dead drunk loudmouth...make a better place next time! "Cubs Win, Cubs Win!"

Sunday March 6 (my 27th Birthday): The next day we got up and eventually checked out of the hotel, decided to avenge our horrible dinner with the best deep dish pizza in Chicago, perhaps the world...Gino's East. It was excellent pizza but I'm afraid I don't like deep dish as much as I should. But very very good. The drive to the place was again a difficult one. This time I had no trouble navigating to the restaurant...our problem this time was that Jen managed to merge onto the Dan Ryan Expressway as we were looking for parking. Oh sure..she'll claim that she couldn't get over and then try to blame me somehow. Anyway..we managed to stumble across a road that took us back downtown and I ONCE AGAIN got us back to Gino's and to a parking garage we saw. Now the garage claimed to be only $10...on the way out it had magically turned into $19. The worst part is that Gino's had valet parking for $7...oh well.
Now it was off to see what I think Jen was looking forward to the most, the Museum of Science and Industry. This is a very fun and hands on science exhibit that always has tons of things to see and due, and actually rotates exhibits unlike some other museums. After a little problem going the wrong way on Lake Shore Drive (the maps were again wrong as I found what should have been the right way!) and with parking we made it...just to see a sign that stated that the Museum would be closing at 4pm that day...we pulled into the garage at 3pm. Oops...at this point we were stuck, we couldn't get out of the garage with cars behind us and we had paid for the museum already, so we ate the $12 hoping that it would really be open later than that. It wasn't. There were tons of people in line to get tickets with less than an hour before it was supposed to close. This was against what all the tour books said and obviously was a shock to all the pissed off people who were forced to pay for parking and then admission. Though now as I look at the website it claims to be only open until 4 everyday...from Jan 3-March 20. What a friggin random posting of hours. Do they just not want tourists to come to the city in March?!! What the hell?!! They close things randomly early and then have entire crucial exhibits closed!! hmm...anyway....so we had about 45 mins to see a huge three level museum with lots of reading and interactive displays. Needless to say we did neither. We speedwalked (sometimes a slow run) through the entire place and looked at everything quickly...it was friggin hilarious. We laughed as we ran through people and didn't learn a single damn thing. We saw the whole place in about 25 mins before they started turning the lights off...the whole thing except my favorite part..a World War II German submarine that you can walk through....WHICH WAS CLOSED!!!!!!!!!!! We did see the world's biggest dollhouse...I'm assuming.
We had to wait in the parking garage for about 45 mins though...since everyone in the damn museum had to leave at the same time.
So that was basically it. We got back to Toledo around 10. It really was a great trip..bad maps, closed exhibits and all. I know this has been the longest, most boring post in modern history and no one (not even the girl who was there) is still reading it..but oh well. :-) bye!