For those of you who know Chicago fairly well, you're aware that Millennium Park is definitely one of the things to check out. It's in the middle of down town for the most part; a short walk to the Lake Michigan coast and about two miles south of the John Hancock Building. So we decided to do all of the great touristy things in Millennium Park. We saw the amphitheater, the fountains, and of course the Millennium Bean. It really is pretty impressive. Odd. But kinda cool.
After looking at the Lake Michigan coast for a solid 10 seconds, we decided to go find the John Hancock Building. Now a lot of people go to cities to see particular things. When you're in Chicago, nearly everything is worth seeing. The river. The magnificent mile. Recognizable streets from movie sets. Those two buildings from the cover of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
We finally got to the John Hancock Building. The observation deck was mind boggling. Your ears pop in the elevator. And then, you can see for miles.
We had a girl take our picture. The picture didn't really turn out very well so it's not really worth showing. The true point of this story is the chick who took it. She suggested that we should take it facing south so we got more of the skyline. And we agreed. Casually, Ryan and I started chatting her up a little bit. Nothing. Stoic even. This blonde hipster wannabe was not having any us. She kinda gave us the look that said "I wish you two would throw yourselves out the window." And she took a crappy photo.
After returning to street level, we decided it was dinner time. I texted my good friend from school who is native to Chicago to ask what the best deep dish pizza was. He told us Gino's East was where it was at. So we tracked it down and got a table. Ryan and I were stuck between two terrible tables. It was the same deal at both of them; two fairly well off tourist families who thought they were entitled to something great simply by existing. If that was the cause, the effect was constant whining about everything. However, Ryan and I were just in it for the adventure, so we were down for anything.
Thus, we got the sampler platter. Our first mistake. 4 mozzarella sticks. 4 spinach sticks. Calamari. What were we thinking? Somehow we thought "Oh the pizza's going to take a bit to make? Well we might as well kill, no wait, obliterate our appetites by the time this already oversized pizza comes out to serve two."
Then the pizza arrived. It was a monster. It was a gigantic, greasy, cheesy, gooey, deep dish monster. I wish I could tell you that we went to town on it. I really wish I could say, "I enjoyed this pizza like it was my last meal on death row." But that's just not the case. I maybe ate one piece before deciding that if another bite went down my throat, I was going to hurl everywhere. And as I sat half in a daze, I saw her. Blondie. That stupid chick who couldn't even smile at us. I motioned to Ryan.
Luke: Check it out.
Ryan: Oh. Her again.
Luke: She's stalking us.
Ryan: Well yeah. Why wouldn't she?
After our treacherous hike through the gorgeous twilight skyline...
... we arrived at the car and put in a hotel address...
... and after driving for a half hour ...
... we realized that the hotel did not exist. But we drove around a bit and found a Motel 6. Terrifying as it was, we were content to pay only $50 bucks for a room, even if the mugging and stabbing was free. After doing paper work at the desk, the man asked to see Ryan's ID. "Oh, you got a while man. You can't even get a room yet!"
So now we are sitting in the parking lot wondering what to do. So we stroll down to the Holiday Inn. "Do we have to be 21 to get a room here?" Yes we do. Crap. So we drove laps around the hotel at higher speeds than I was comfortable with. This is when I remembered that my roommate, Aubrey, lives in Illinois. I figured it was worth a shot, and so did my road companion.
Luke: Aubrey, hey what's up?
Aubrey: Hey Luke!
Luke: So we're in Chicago.
Aubrey: Really? Wow that's awesome.
Luke: Yeah, here's the thing man, we don't have anywhere to stay.
Aubrey: Oh man. Have you tried all the hotels?
Luke: I think it's a state law or something. How far away is Peoria?
Aubrey: Oh geez, that's 3 hours. If you guys are willing to drive you can stay here.
Luke: Could we? Will you still be up?
Aubrey: Yeah, I'll still be up.
Luke: Ok, well if you text me your address, we'll put it in the GPS and get there.
Aubrey: Ok buddy. See ya.
Luke: See ya in three hours.
After we finished peeing on the side of the Holiday Inn, we logged in Aubrey's address. At eleven o'clock at night we set out with our anticipated time of arrival reading 2:34.
To be continued...
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