Chicago

We quickly settled in to our rather cramped digs at the Red Roof Inn on Ontario Street in downtown Chicago. Just around the corner from the ‘Miracle Mile’ the accommodations did not offer a lot in terms of space and reminded me of when James and I went away for my 30th birthday (surprised me with a weekend away in New York City, awww, what a guy). We saw an amazing show (Bombay Dreams) and when we finally made it back to the hotel later that night, I nearly dislocated my nose when, upon entering the room, I almost walked straight in to the wall on the opposite side. This place had the same ‘cozy’ kind of feel to it. I tried to explain to the kids (who had been commenting non-stop on our cramped quarters) that we were staying in the middle of a city now – not a lot space in the middle of a city – and that rooms like this were much to be expected. Of course when we entered in to the Marriot Hotel just around the corner to purchase tickets for a city bus tour, all of that logic was lost (we nearly lost Emmett in the cavernous lobby). Oh, well, so much for that logic/lesson. The open-top, double-decker, hop on-hop off bus tour we took with the Chicago Trolley and Double Decker Company gave us a good overview of the city’s beautiful architecture. We hopped off to grab a Chicago-style, stuffed pizza at Giordano’s. While the other adults and all 4 children ooohhed and aaahhed and tucked in to piece after piece, I could only feign satisfaction as I quietly longed for my preferred pie – the straight-forward, thin-crust, cheese pizza at Pizzeria Regina in the North End of Boston. We made our way back on to the tour bus and didn’t get off again until we completed the whole circuit once round. We cashed in on some of the coupons that came in our bus ticket tour book, including the free chocolate at the Hershey store and the popcorn at Garrett’s. Now I want you to pay close attention to what I’m about to tell you. They do this popcorn at Garrett’s called the ‘Chicago Mix’ – caramel and cheese popcorn all mixed up in one little package. Sounds weird, I know and while the caramel popcorn is to die for, it’s the cheese popcorn that may very well kill you. The shiny orange-yellow coating will stain your fingers as well as your tongue and while eating the cheese popcorn on its own is not very appetizing, eaten together with the caramel, it is just fantastic. Who knew, right? The tins available for purchase are extraordinarily expensive but they sell smaller bags for a reasonable price and if you can somehow score a free sample like we did, you absolutely should. We walked up to Millennium Park to hunt around for a shiny something James had heard about. Not a lot to go on, but we didn’t have much trouble finding artist Anish Kapoor’s polished stainless steel sculpture which joined Chicago’s renowned collection of art in 2001 (also on our tour, we saw the Picasso in Daley Square but unfortunately missed Chagall’s mosaic The Four Seasons). The Kapoor sculpture is simple yet dynamic, and provides a different perspective of the city’s skyline as well as nearby Lake Michigan. It was an amateur photographer’s paradise as about a hundred people gathered around to pose and shoot themselves and their friends’ reflections in the giant, silver bean. As it was Steve’s last night on tour, he took us all out for a wonderful meal at the Weber Grill. Never heard of it and a little skeptical at first, Weber Grill turned out to be a delicious place to eat. A scrumptious meal from start to finish with everything cooked and grilled to perfection and you should have seen the size of the grills in the open kitchen! After dinner, James took his parents and Steve to Howl at the Moon which according to James was good, but not quite as fabulous as the one we went to in San Antonio. Apparently Howl at the Moon is opening up in Boston some time this year. James is considering making it a hat trick….