So, last weekend, I kicked off the PA Tour. My first stop was in Chicago to take in some sites and delicious food. Here is a recap of that weekend...
Allison and I arrived at the Raffaello Hotel where my uncle has procured a hotel suite. We drop off the bags and head to Michigan Ave for some light shopping. Allison went into the Louis Vuitton store and was inquiring about the monogrammed LV cashmere blanket throw thing, to which the sales woman replied, "let me check." She came back with a blanket (that arrived in a cheap plastic bag that looked like it was shipped from China) and informed us that this blanket was a very special blanket. These blankets are limited to a certain number so it is very special. She told us the price. "This is 1080 dollars. That is a great price for something that is going to be in your family for a long time." What? When I heard her say the price followed by the clear explanation of why it cost so much (its practically a piece of art) I held in my laughter until we got outside.
After Louisville, Allison wanted to go to Gucci where she contemplated buying her brother two ties for his birthday, while I contemplated this hot woman with a baby as either a nanny or a mommy. I am going to go with nanny, even though she was probably the mother of the very well behaved little boy in the stroller.
After some more shopping we went back to the hotel and changed for dinner at RL. RL is Ralph Lauren's restaurant that is set at the store. It was very good. I got the Amish Chicken with creamed corn and some fancy cheesy potatoes. Allison got the Salmon. But the food wasn't the most exciting part. We sat next to a woman who I think must have been some Chicagoan socialite. Her table had a reserved sign on it. When she sat down, all of the managers and waitstaff stopped by the table to say hello. At one point she got up from her table and made the rounds at the restaurant saying hello to her "dearest friends." At one point I went to the bathroom and returned to find Allison in conversation with her. What Allison discovered was that she eats all her meals out, every restaurant in town knows how she is, the following night she would be eating at Joe's. When I returned to the table, she asked how long Allison and I had been married to which I should have replied, "oh, we're not married, we have just been living in sin for the last three years." Of course, I didn't do that since I was mostly sober (unlike my last trip to RL, thanks UJ for that, it was awesome). After that we went back to the hotel and got some sleep so that we could get up early and do some site seeing.
The following morning, we hailed a cab and met the best cabbie in Chicago. His name is Chad Small. We asked him for a recommendation for brunch (since my go to brunch place "Orange on Harrison" was closed, damn recession) and he recommend, Yolk, "the new location because it will be less crowded and therefore better chances of getting a table without waiting an hour." He was right. After some more recommendation from Chad about the best sandwich and pizza in town we jumped out of his cab at the hoppin' eatery. We walked into Yolk like we owned the place (i tend to do that a lot anyway) and were seated right away in this side booth where we could people watch.
We ordered some delicious food. I ordered the "create your own scrambler with a short stack" and Allison ordered a...a...something that came in a skillet and was delicious. This was my meal half way through.
After Yolk, we hit the Elle Train and went to some hipster scene. It was all sex shops and vintage clothes. Also, a really great used bookstore (I love a good used bookstore) we found some vintage Playboys. Awesome find. I bought some posters for my walls and we headed back down town to meet Allison's friends.
After meeting up with Allison's friends, they all went to a cocktail party and I was left in the hotel room watching TNT, they know drama.
Once the show was over I went down to Girodanos because Chad Small recommend the Italian beef sandwich and the Famous Stuffed Pizza. I had to wait 1 hour and 20 minutes, just to get a table (don't they know who I am) and then we had to wait another hour for the pizza.
Here is the Italian sandwich, fucking delicious.
Here is the pizza
After all that, we went back to the hotel and passed out.
The following day, we had breakfast at the Cafe Bistro across the street from the hotel. After eggs and bacon, Allison and I went our separate ways. She headed to her convention and I went to the Chicago History Museum. I walked to entire way there, all 23 blocks. I got to see some of Chicago I have never seen before. Here is a picture of the John Hancock building on my walk.
After the museum I headed back downtown to meet up with Allison for some dinner. We ended up going to the Navy Pier (super touristy) but it was good time. We rode the Ferris Wheel.
This is when we got to the top.
After that we had dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp and went back to the hotel. The next morning we headed back to the airport, but Allison wasn't feeling too good. We got back to Virginia and I went to work the next day. Allison got really sick and was out of work for two days. That sucked.
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