I loved Chicago when I went for the first time in 2005. We had such a good time that I was fully expecting this time to be a little disappointing, but it wasn't!!!
Our trip to Chicago was fabulous and very relaxing. We got there Friday and went straight to our hotel which was right on Michigan Avenue and very nice. We had lunch at Gino's East and ate deep dish pizza. The restaurant was very fun - they let people write all over the walls, so everything is covered in graffiti, and I liked that part a lot. The pizza sauce was great, but the crust was this weird yellow crispy cornbread-like crust. I did not like it.
That night we went to the Improvised Shakespeare Company at improv Olympic. I had watched a clip online and did not think it looked that funny. It was a clip of three guys prancing around the stage looking very obnoxious, and I didn't want to subject myself to 90 minutes of that. But, I agreed to go, and I'm happy to say it was really, really funny. There are 5 guys who do the show. At the beginning, they take a play title suggestion from the audience, then they make up a play in two acts right on the spot using Elizabethan English. It was mighty impressive.
On Saturday, we met up with Cassie and took a cab down to the University of Chicago. She has a former student (whom J and I happen to know as well) who is getting her Master's there and works at the art museum on campus. We ate lunch together and then went to the museum. We walked back to the metro through Washington Park which was FULL of giant geese and then rode up to visit with Cassie and Tim at Tim's brother's house in one of the neighborhoods north of the city.
Sunday, we had tickets to the Cleveland Browns vs. Chicago Bears game. Tim is a lifelong Bears fan, so we had invited him along. Unfortunately, he'd gotten food poisoning the day before, so he felt terrible, but he totally bucked up and came to the game with us. And he didn't even hurl. It was quite an accomplishment if you ask me. The Bears pretty much creamed the Browns. It was still very fun, though, and we had good seats on the 50-yard line on the upper deck, so we could see everything very well.
We ate dinner at Giordano's, whose pizza sauce is not as good as Gino's East, but whose crust is amazing. I'm a crust girl, so I have to say I like Giordano's better. There's a third pizza restaurant I want to try in Chicago, but I can't remember the name of it. I'll have to try it next time I go. Because I totally want to go back! Chicago is a fantastic city! I loved it again!
