But Wait - There's More!

My trip out of San Francisco was easy but when I got to O'Hare, I found out that all flights to the North East had been cancelled due to weather. I stood in a long line of East-bound folks for about two hours before my infinitely helpful mother found a ticket from O'Hare to Manchester. The catch was that the flight left Monday morning so, it being Saturday night, I had to occupy myself for a day in Chicago. But hey, I like Chicago and I sure wasn't going to pout and ruin my own mood when I could make an adventure out of it.

United set us up in a nice hotel called the Intercontinental and I ate a pricey dinner at a seafood place next to the hotel. I chalk the price-trap part up to bad luck.

On Sunday, I checked out and found my way to the blue line with all the daring and naivety one needs if one is going to plop himself down in the middle of a city he doesn't know as well as he thinks he does. I figured that if I was to take the rail unto the Loop of Chicago, I could ascend to the street, walk right into a café with free wifi and get on with the business of exploring but I was not as lucky as I have been in the past. First, I should mention that, though I had the foresight to pack a pair of long-johns, I did not foresee the need for a hat and gloves. The last time I took a daycation in Chicago was during the summer so reality quickly bit me in the ears and knuckles when I got to the street and found out that I would have to walk for a while before finding free internet access. I don't know if whole sections of the city close on Sunday or if I just happened to show up on the wrong day but I walked past many cafés before I finally happened upon some chain-type place with microwaved eggs, terrible coffee and spotty internet. However, there was a CVS across the street so I went over there to buy a hat, some gloves and a bottle of water and when I returned to the brisk Chicago December, all things were born anew.

I drank a second and far superior cup of coffee, then I began to walk. Here is what I must always remember: the action is north of the river. I suspect that the reason I was more immediately successful in my previous trip is that I stayed near the northern part of downtown Chicago; I even seem to remember getting to the river from the north, crossing over, then turning around because the other side didn't look that fun. This could, however, be revisionist history. Anyway, I felt like if I just stayed between N. LaSalle and N. Michigan, I would be alright so I rumbled along the sidewalks and took lefts and rights as the spirit moved me. I got a little lost at one point when I popped into a bookstore for a warm-up then left and couldn't remember which way I was walking when I entered but Mom came to the rescue again and we talked for a while as I wandered my way back to more familiar territory.

At that point, I had killed enough time for one day so I walked back to N. Clark Street because I thought I had seen some interesting bars and restaurants there earlier. I took a chance on the Clark Street Ale House and was rewarded: there were dogs, there were excellent selections of both beer and whiskey, and there was a kindly bar keep who knew what he was talking about. That gave me a chance to relax and reassess the situation and who should call just then? My friend Chloe! She moved out to Chicago a few years ago and, though she had come home for the holidays, she knew some friends who were still around and could offer me a place to sleep.

I got in touch with her friend Marcos and took a taxi to meet him in another part of the city. After introductions, we two and his brother went down the street for dinner and PBRs at a bar called Cleo's where we watched some football and tried to out do each other in playing crappy songs on the jukebox. I never quite figured out what counted as a crappy song since I thought some of the songs they played were pretty good, so I just played whichever obscure song from my childhood came to mind but it was a good time nonetheless.

Marcos drove me to the airport and Jim picked me up in Manchester. Thus ended my trip.