Chicago: The Final Frontier
21:11 Friday, August 1
Went to Chicago last week for a few days. Met up with David, Gloria, Yan, and (if but momentarily) Alison! It was very cool. Here's what happened:
- Thursday: Got picked up from the airport. Got lost on the highway for a little bit. Went and hung out at Alison's house, played Catchphrase. Then went to dinner with Alison's family, where they ordered way too much food. Then went to downtown Chicago and hung out at Alison's condo, which had a super nice view of the Chicago skyline. Went back to Alison's and said bye to her, then went back to David's place and hit the hay in his basement, our headquarters for the weekend. [Edit] Oh yeah! David gave me a wicked Lombard shirt as a belated birthday gift. Obscure city shirts are awesome!
- Friday: Ate at Portillo's, a (Chicago?) hot dog place. Went to downtown Naperville and walked around there for a bit. Rode on the paddleboats. David and Yan did the paddling while Gloria and I lounged around in the back. Then went back to David's place and played some Double Dash. Went to dinner with David's family, then watched The Dark Knight!! Went to White Castle, where David was too chicken to get a Crave Case (30 of those tiny hamburgers). But it was my first time eating at White Castle so it was cool. Then we went back and watched Nacho Libre, which Gloria enjoyed more than anyone should ever enjoy a stupid movie. But I forgive her for it.
- Saturday: Hung out in downtown Chicago for a bit before our comedy show. We walked around Millenium Park. There was a cool metallic "bean" thing there, very reflective, and we took a bunch of pictures. Then we went and checked out Buckingham Fountain. Afterwards we went to see a show of The Second City, a comedy group, which was hilarious. Then we went to the lakefront of Lake Michigan to watch Venetian Night, which consisted mainly of a boat parade and a fireworks display. Fun was had by all. Then we went to Cheeseburger in Paradise to eat. And then we went back home where we tried to watch Hercules, but everyone was too tired, so we just watched it the next morning.
- Sunday: We finished Hercules, then went to Navy Pier, which is sort of like Pier 39 in SF. It was cool! We walked around, then went on the Ferris Wheel, which took us super high up. Then we went inside the Crystal Gardens, where they had water shooting from plant area to plant area, forming sort of an archway to walk under. Then we took an architecture boat tour. Basically a boat ride where a woman talked about the architecture and history of Chicago and its buildings. Very cool. Afterwards we went to drop off Yan at the train station, and subsequently me at the airport. Unfortunately, I missed my flight, but the kind airport lady at the counter let me change my flight to the following afternoon. So I got to stay at David's one more night, although I inconvenienced him and Gloria by making them come back to the airport to pick me up. It was pretty scary, because this was my first time flying alone, and I wasn't sure what I was going to do if I missed my flight. Also, my cell phone was running out of battery. But everything turned out fine. Back at David's house, David decided to sleep early since he had work the next day. Gloria and I watched Zoolander, but really only I watched it, since Gloria fell asleep for about 99% of it. Then as soon as I tried to sleep, a weird beeping sound started coming from inside the basement wall. I tried to find its origin, but was unsuccessful, and I didn't want to wake up David since he had work the next day so I just let the beeping noise go beep and went to sleep anyways.
- Monday: Gloria and I wake up around 9 or 10. We play some Double Dash to pass the time, and then decide to emerge from the basement to check whether or not David's mom had made us food. It turned out she had not. Haha! It was an awkward, "Good morning!" and then a retreat back into the basement. Then we continued to play Double Dash. Then David's mom came downstairs and told us that there was food if we wanted it. I think she probably guessed what we were doing and made some food. Or she was already preparing it. In either case, it was super good food. David then came back from work and took me to the airport. The rest is pretty boring. Now it's Friday! I wish I could just hang out with friends all summer.
