I'm back! Just landed a few hours ago from seven days in Chicago for a national conference at which my company was an exhibitor. Long days, late nights, lots of work.There wasn't much time for sightseeing I'm afraid, but we did make it out to see the bean and the other art at Millennium Park. I drove by Sears Tower a few times, and the lake of course, and Buckingham Fountain-- which I know nothing about and was dry as a bone, but cool all the same. And I now know McCormick Place like the back of my hand... well, at least 2 floors of the east building. That's where our booth was.
We stayed at the Palmer House Hilton, which is the oldest continuously-operating hotel in North America, or so it claims. Mr. Palmer apparently gave it to his wife, Bertha (I wonder if that name will ever become trendy again... methinks it unfortunate nonetheless. For me it will always conjure up images of cows and Texan truck drivers) as a wedding gift or something. It was a beautiful old hotel and right in the "loop" so just a stone's throw from the theater district (Wicked- sold out; Jersey Boys- sold out... sad for me and my hopes of seeing a show. Oh well, H&M was within walking distance too and that was plenty of entertainment on my one free afternoon) and from Michigan Ave.
The hotel also claims to be the inventor of the brownie. I guess when you're around for over a hundred years you can claim to have invented pretty much anything obscure enough that people won't know if it's true because it probably wasn't documented anywhere at the time. (Note to self: on 100th birthday be sure to make wildly inaccurate claim to have invented something-- perhaps mineral makeup or those little half-socks we all wear with flats.) The highlight for me was the food, of course. (Seriously, I'm pretty sure my headstone will simply say "Here lies Laurel Johnston, a very good eater.")
We started out the trip with Chicago-style deep-dish pizza (yummers-- but I still vote for NY pizza as the penultimate slice) and ventured throughout the week to other recommended places such as Vermilion, an Indian-Latin fusion restaurant where the menu took 30 minutes to explain and all the waiters had "assistants." My two favorite places, however, were Tavern at the Park (a dessert of white chocolate fondue with chunks of Oreos and fruit, rice crispy treats, pretzels, etc. for dipping? heaven) and an outskirts-of-the-city chop house where I met up with some of relatives who live in the Chicagoland area on my last night in town. Delicious!
Chicago was a great town! Hope to go back soon-- perhaps next summer for a Cubs game or something.
Next year's big conference will be in Dallas. Yee-haw! I look forward to the drawl, the "Don't Mess With Texas" t-shirt I intend to buy and possibly actually meeting someone named Bertha.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I was wondering where you went...glad you are back!
Sounds like a fun trip - H&M and good food, what else does a working vaca need? And the Indian Latin place sounds fab. Can you just throw the word "fusion"onto the end of anything and it will sound cool? Maybe.
Anywho - on your 100th bday you will claim nothing other than the invention of cupcakes. DUH!
i heart chicago. i'm going to apply to internships there next year. boo ya!!
Sounds like fun. I like Chicago a lot too. (I've only been once for two days, but still). Hopefully it wasn't too stressful and went well. We're glad you're back to keep us entertained with new posts. :)
So, when you were in the windy city did you find yourself thinking all about a roommate you once had and her Chicago accent?
It's good to find you.
I would love to go to Chicago...someday. It sounds like you had enough time to do the important stuff--eat! What would I do without food. I live to eat (of course not the other way around :)
Post a Comment