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Well my Chicago trip is coming to a close. In all honesty I’m not sure I would last much longer here. I mean it’s a great town and I’d like to stay longer but living in a hotel was getting old. I see myself coming back at some point just not sure when.

Last night Jon and I decided that we’d try and find some earlier flights. Sure enough we did and here I sit a full 7 hours than originally planned. I’m glad to be going home. I miss Maggie and the comforts of home.

I may do an overall impression post, or I may just leave what was said be. We’ll see where the road takes me.

Well, I made it back safe and sound. Not really anything eventful for the last day. Ate at Ruby Tuesday’s for lunch (at like 3:30) and I have to tell you that I’m not impressed. They have this “Mini Trio” burger thing which consists of a Mini Beef, Mini Turkey, and Mini Crab cake burger. They wouldn’t let us substitute out the turkey burger for another beef or crab cake. I really don’t like their turkey burgers but wanted to try the others. Final impression, turkey burger still sucks, but the other 2 were ok.

Other than that, there wasn’t much else. The night was pretty calm and relaxing. I’m working on the photos and should have those up at some point. Thanks for putting up with me this week.

Today there is/was no conference to go to, nothing in the books that we had to do, and billed as a chillax kinda day. Started off with a trip across the stree to the Original House of Pancakes and then it was back to the room for some more doing nothing. Well, truth be told, I did some work and did my expense reports and stuff, but it was pretty lax.

We were trying to figure out what we wanted to do and decided to go see The Happening. I won’t go into great detail about the movie in this post, but all-in-all, I thought it was decent. Just like Topolo, I’ll have a movie review post.

After the movie we hit up Duo Pizzaria for some more Chicago style deep dish pizza. By the time we ate (close to 3:30) I wasn’t really hungry, but we ate any way. I have to say that I do like the deep dish pizza’s. They are a breed of their own. For those that haven’t had a true Chicago deep dish pizza, it’s nothing like the Pizza hut or anywhere I’ve seen in Georgia. The fact that it’s essentially a bread bowl, with a layer of cheese, a layer of meat, some other stuff, some more meat and then sauce makes for an interesting combination. We didn’t eat it all and brought it back with us. I’ll probably finish it off later tonight.

After that it was quick walk back to the hotel for some resting up before heading off to Millennium Park (I’m actually going to make it this time). Its a nice day and I really do want to make it down there. 

So that’s it really. Just kinda took it easy and let things go where they went. I’ll finish this up later tonight or first thing in the morning. 

Back for a quick update before I head out. If you have a moment take a look at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonmlee/sets/72157605705345814/. We went to Millennium  and they had this crazy fountain thing there. Well, Jon, being the betting man that he is, bet me $40 that I wouldn’t go lay on the ground in the middle of the water and roll around. I had to complete a full 360 to get my money. Well, it started off at $20, then $40, then $100. I was almost on it for the $100 and then this couple started egging me on. They stopped and watched the fountain thing with us for a bit, all the while telling me how I would make history and shit if I just got out there and did it. I was having fun with it, but I really didn’t want to roll around in the fountain water. So the bet got augmented and it was set at $20 to go run under the “spit” for at least 10 seconds. After much debate I decided to take him up on this bet and go for it. The results are in the pictures. The guy that was prodding me had a nice camera with a hella lense and managed to snap a few pics as well. He’s sending them to Jon so the world can see just how rediculous I was…for $20.

So after that, I took a few moments to dry off and by dry off I mean, be only slightly less wet. We then headed back to the hotel, I got cleaned up and we headed out to dinner. Oh, I fell I must mention that Topolobambpo is now synomonous with anything that isn’t awesome, or at the least not cool. So we’ve used that for all things that don’t meet our standards. So anyway, after I got cleaned up we headed off to this mexican place and man…I gave Topolo “one of these”. Maggie knows what I’m talking about when I say that. We had a great meal and it was everything that Topolo wasn’t. I had a great time. That and for $2o Jon ate 1 whole fresh jalepeno whole w/o drinking anything until he downed the whole thing. I think it was worth it.

Now, we’re going to head out and see where things take us. I’m having a good night and there’s no sense in stopping now!

TOPOLO!!!!!!!!!

Just “Topolo” - that’s what people-in-the-know call it. Frontera Grill’s sister restaurant, Topolobampo, shares the front door and bar. But then the sister flaunts her own. If Frontera rocks and claps, Topolo slinks. She is the quiet, sleek, classy sister. And she invites you into an elegant Mexican fantasy world and to dress up a notch for its incomparable, authentic, regional flavors.

That’s what the description says on the site. I reckon I should’ve read that before deciding to go there. Overall it’d rank it as a mediocre at best. I’m sorry Rick Bayless, but I need my Mexican to be a bit more “gritty.” I have all these ideas of what Mexican cuisine is and this was not it.

To me it seemed overly pretentious and arty to be Mexican. If I took away the notion of “Mexican” and went with food in general, it was pretty good…but it was like it tried to hard to be something and failed. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy fine dining, this was just not a place that I was expecting to eat at with my “bro”. Frontera (the “sister” restaurant) seemed a lot more fun.

So here’s the breakdown:
Atmosphere: Romantixican. There’s no other way to describe it. I enjoyed it, but it’s something that I’d enjoy with Maggie. The linens were nice, and the tableware was carefully chosen and the décor was spot on for this type of setting.

Food: Uniquixican. The combinations of flavors was distinct and something I had not experienced before. I really did enjoy what I ate (the menu is changing so the item that I had is not posted online. This is what Jon had: Pato con Mole Amargo: roasted Gunthorp duck breast with dark, complex mole of pasilla and mulato chiles, coffee, chocolate and sesame. “Wilted” spinach, pickled chayote, Bayless Garden microgreens, chilatas and potato budin). Everything was seasoned perfectly and the portions were just right. My only gripe is the fact that they brought out a bowl of guacamole and instead of chips it was slices of cucumber and jicama. I was starving by the time we ate so I just wanted to rip into it, but since I don’t like cucumber I just had to sit there and stare at it. Finally I had to get the waitress to bring us some chips. The guacamole turned out to be pretty fantastic.

Service: Laxican. The waitress took for ever to actually stop by our table and when she did it was as if she could sense that we really didn’t want to be there and in turn served us as if she didn’t want to be there. We were literally talking about getting up and walking out when she showed up. Typically at a restaurant the waitress will come by after the food has been dropped off and ask how everything is. She didn’t come back until we’d almost finished our food. I had to ask another server for some of their special hot sauce (which was pretty flippin’ hot and damn good). She just didn’t care and there were instances where she’d be at the table beside us, engaging in the “couple” that was apparently having a tasting menu and when they needed something she’d scurry off to get it and not even look back at us. I rank the service pretty low on my chart. Maybe if I was there with Maggie or something it would’ve been different, but that’s no excuse.

Overall…eh. I’d only ever go back if the company was different. I did enjoy the food, but the rest of the experience made it not so enjoyable. So I’m sorry again Rick Bayless, but I just didn’t like your restaurant.

I figured I’d go ahead and get started on this. Tonight Jon got in (by tonight I mean that he got to the room at 11:30pm) then he and I talked and headed out to have a drink or two and just hang out. So I’m just now getting back. It’s now 5:00am est and I’m pretty much tired as fuck. I had a few beers and 2 pieces of pizza. The pizza was as I expected it and I kinda wish I had only gone with one. Either way, its late and I reckon I should go to bed.

I’ll update this as the rest of the day progresses.

Ok, so the day is pretty much done. We still have dinner later tonight and dizam am I looking forward to that. Jon and I have reservations at Rick Bayless’ restaurant Topolobampo. I had completely forgot about this place until Maggie reminded me. So that should be nice. I’ll put in a review later on.

So today was kinda one of those days. Some stuff threw me on a down slope this morning and I had a hard time recovering. I had some pancakes at the Original Pancake House and that was pretty flippin’ awesome. I was only slightly hung over so it wasn’t like I was trying to use the food to make me feel better. I was just ate it to enjoy it.

After that I got ready and headed off to the conference. Today’s topics were a bit missleading but I stuck with it. After the first 2 sessions I walked back to the hotel. Yeah, that’s right…walked back to the hotel. Two miles doesn’t seem that far until you’re hungry, cranky, tired, hot, and uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong, the weather was perfect and I got to see some of the most amazing buildings I’ve ever seen. This town really is asthetically pleasing. I see now why people want to live here.

So got back, cleaned up a bit then headed over to Gibson’s for lunch. Ever since there was talks of coming to Chicago, Jon has been hyping up this reuben. Now, I’m not a big fan of sauerkraut or thousand island dressing, but holy shit! This was infact one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. The bread was amazing, the portion was just right and all the flavors blended perfectly. With the exception of the shitty ass excuse for fries it was a great lunch. I already want to come back here and have it again…and I’m not even gone yet!

I had 1 more session to attend and I was not about to walk BACK to the damn thing. I took a cab, which I’m learning isn’t quite as bad as the mental whatever I’ve had in my head about them. Conference was well but I just kinda started feeling lost. My legs were completely obliritated from all the walking, I wasn’t happy with my clothing choice, my feet hurt like hell and I was out of cash and couldn’t find an ATM to save my life. Much like day 1 at the airport I was losing it. Finally I found an ATM, hailed a cab and made it back to the room safe and sound.

While sitting around not doing anything it dawned on me that dinner wasn’t until like 8 days later and I knew I’d be hungry before then. So I set out on a mission to find a Chicago style hot dog. Luckily it was only a few blocks, and man was it worth it. So far I’ve had a deep dish pizza, an amazing reuben that totally lived up to the hype, and a hot dog. Aside from Wrigley field (which we’re off to tomorrow) I think I’ve covered all the things to do here in Chicago. But I’m sure I’ll find something else tomorrow.

So far so good. I had the best night sleep I’ve had in a week or so. There’s something quite calming about taking a bath and reading a book. I never really appreciated such a thing. The rest I got and the awakeness I feel today was/is totally worth it.

So I’m at the conference and things are about to get under way. I’ll finish this up later on today.

Quick uppdate while I’m on a break. At the recomendation of Jenny I went to Potbelly for lunch. DIZAM this was a good sandwich. It was pretty basic, but I mean whoa! I love this town. So far everything about it (excpet for the urine filled sandy beaches) makes me want to move here. Aight, I only have a few moments before this thing get’s started back up. I’m going to do my best to hang for the duration, but the weather and the city are calling me. Damn you awesome weather.

So I stayed fairly true to my conference. I ducked out only for the last session. They didn’t really have anything I wanted to hear anyway. So I got a cab ride back to the hotel, changed clothes and headed out. I’ve been hearing great things about Millennium Park so I figured I’d go for a walk. Well, I got a little side tracked and ended up at the Navy Pier instead. Not that there was anything wrong with that, it just wasn’t where I expected to end up. I was pretty f’n tired by the time I got there that I decided to just hang out and not really do anything. I didn’t walk all the way out because that would’ve taked another mile or so onto the 3+ miles I was slated for (to and from the park from my hotel room).

So I sat…and just took it all in. I had my moment of Zen. It was good to just breathe and experience what life had to offer. I really did enjoy it. I think I’m going to have to start doing that a lot more. After a while of just being, I set off to find some food. No I typically don’t like to eat at the same resturant more than once (save for breakfast) while I’m on a trip. So I scoured all around for some place to go that I could only experience in Chicago. I wanted something that was a bit different. Well, as luck would have it, I made it all the way back to the hotel and nothing had really struck my fancy. So I settled for Gibson’s. I was already planning on eating there for lunch tomorrow, but I was hungry and a bloody meaty steak was calling my name. And my friends, let me tell you…that’s what I got. I got a perfectly cooked (in my book) medium rare steak with a nice char on the outside. This steak was second only to the steak I had in Las Vegas. Huh, aparently I can’t seem to find my CraftSteak story anywhere on here. Oh well, I’ll tell it one of these days.

So yeah, I got my steak and I was happy. Now, I’m back at the hotel and I’m just gonna hunker down until Jon gets here. We’ll probably go out and have a few drinks, but it shouldn’t be anything too crazy.

Oh, and I re-established my Flickr account. So maybe I can get some photos uploaded through that. We’ll see.

So far so good. The day started out pretty rough. 5am, no matter how many times I get up that early, is always too early. Today was no exception. But, unlike a time before, we managed to make it to the airport on time.

The plane ride there wasn’t to bad. I was in an asile seat, so I got to touch a ton of bums, some weren’t so bad, but other’s I could’ve done with out. I landed and like any lost puppy, I started looking for a bathroom, then I started pouting, and then I made a wrong decision, which led to more pouting. But the more resiliant me (I’ve started finding a lot more strength in myself) pulled through and didn’t break down. I called the hotel, asked what the most effective way to get there was and went with that. A quick little jaunt in the taxi and here I was.

Oh, what’s the real reason I’m in Chicago you ask? Work is sending me to a conference.

Ok, back to the day. First thing I did was get situated in my kick ass room with my kick ass view (getting pictures off my phone is costing me more than I would like, so I’ll post phone pics later.) So after getting settled in, I hit the road. I was hungry like the wolf and the first thing you have to eat in Chicago is a deep dish pizza. I went to Edwardo’s (again, I have a pic of the pizza I had, but don’t want to risk it costing me $4mil). So yeah, had some pizza then came back to the room to drop off a few things I picked up while out.

Then I was like, this day is too nice and there’s too much to do, so I headed out…again. This time I went to the John Hancock Observatory in the John Hancock Center. The view was spectacular and I really enjoyed it. Unlike every time before today, I didn’t just go up there, make my rounds with the camera, I actually took time to appreciate the amazingness that this building represented. I read all the little plaques and I just enjoyed being there in this modern marvel.

Back to the hotel to drop of yet more stuff and try to figure out what to eat. I finally decided that I was just going to take a strole and let my nose guide me. Before eating I wanted to check out the beach, which just so happens to be right down the road from the hotel. The beach was good times. I sat there and just sat. I took it all in and let time pass with out stressing over things. Right then and there it was me, the sand, a group of drunk early 20-somethings, a towel, a hole and some piss. WHAAA!? Yeah! So this dude decided that he needed to go, and I reckon it’s common practice, but he wrapped a towel around himself, and laid face down over a hole he had dug in the sand and proceeded to fill it with pee. Then just like everything was good, he burried it and went about his business. I guess the sand acts as soap? Anyway, I thought I had witnessed the begining of the end of the world, but little did I know, that things were just getting started. So this CHICK who was with the drunk people…well, she had to go as well. So she dug a little hole of her own, wrapped a towel, squatted over her hole (that just doesn’t sound right), pulled the bathing suit to the side and went to town. What the fuck is up with that?! I mean, there were kids running around and it was in broad daylight. For me, I get stage fright when someone else walks in the bathroom, even if I’m in a stall. For them, they’d probably walk into the bathroom and just start peeing before they got to the toilet. Oh well, I reckon that’s the times.

So I collected my toughts and headed off to get some food stuffs. As luck would have it, my hotel is situated between like 5 amazing steakhouses. Like places that are known for steaks. I found one I liked and despite my strong desire to hit up one of the steaks, I got the Jalepeno Pretzle crusted halibut and a side of chiplote corn. DIZAM was it good. I’ll probably be going back to one of the other places for some steak at some point.

After that it was back to the room and though I wanted to go for a jog in the gym, I got caught up with Intervention on A&E. So that was it. The rest of the night was just hanging out in the room, watching tv and just relaxing. Something I don’t do enough of for myself. If this week will help with anything, it will help with that.

I have a good deal of pics, I’ll just make a picture post at the end of the week.