Chicago, Cubs, and Chris

The first weekend in May Adam and I went to Chicago for Chris Durbin's 40th b-day party.  Yes, ADAM (not me!) is old enough to have friends that are turning 40.  Seeing has how I am only 25 it would be a little odd for me to have friends that old.  Anyway, we left Dallas in the height of the swine flu and on the day that Joe Biden said he would advise his family not to fly unless absolutely necessary.  DFW seemed to be business as usual...our 6:15pm flight to O'Hare was delayed until 7:15pm by the time we got to the airport.  As we waited, our departure time somehow surpassed our original arrival time.  We boarded our flight around 9pm.  There were literally 10 people on the entire flight.  We see now why the flight was delayed.  I assume so they could get on as many standby passengers as possible.  I have never been on an AA flight to/from DFW/ORD that was not at least close to full...maybe the swine flu scared off some travelers???

 

We FINALLY arrived and got to our hotel around MIDNIGHT!  Vinnie picked us up at the airport and drove us to our hotel on Michigan Ave.  I was completely beat and pretty much unpacked and went to bed.  Adam and Vinnie went out for drinks at a pub that was near by.  

Friday Tom and his daughters, Jessica and Elaina, came into the city to go with us to see the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry.  It was completely awesome!  At the start of the tour they select children from the group to sit under the sorting hat and find out which house they belong to.  Jessica was a Griffindor!  You go into a room where they show short clips from all the movies including the yet to be released, Half Blood Prince.  When the clips are over, the room goes dark just for a second and then a curtain opens to reveal the Hogwarts Express complete with steam and blowing whistle.  What a way to start an exhibit?

There were so many great things to see but the highlights were:  pulling mandrakes from their pots and hearing them scream, throwing quaffles through the quidditch rings, sitting in Hadgrid's chair, and viewing countless costumes and props from all 6 movies (including Half Blood Prince).  The tour ends in the dining hall complete with floating candles and Hogwarts food...pumpkin juice, chocolate frogs, and many more.   I couldn't resist getting a "Harry Potter Exhibit" hoodie, to document the moment.   Adam and I were interviewed for a local newspaper as we exited the exhibit.  I'm sure I told the columnist way more than she wanted to know.  After the museum, Adam and I had lunch at Heaven on Seven, a cajun restaurant off of Michigan Ave.  It was so completely bad for you but so good.  We had such an amazing day, but super exhausting.  I had to go back to the hotel and take a nap before going out for dinner.

Friday night we had dinner at Due (like Uno's) with Karen, Monica, Freddy, Lori, David, Reneau, Saneata, and Amir.   It took forever with that many people, but it was really good.  Afterwards, we tried to find a bar that wasn't super crowded and ended up at ESPN Zone...hehehee...total tourist trap.  After 1 round, we had to call it a night.  We had a big day in front of us.

Saturday was Chris's 40th b-day party which was to start at 10am at Murphy's for bloody mary's prior to the noon Cubs game.  Adam and I rode to the Wrigley area with Amir and then walked to the game.  We had to stop at Nuts on Clark to get some chocolate covered peanut brittle for the game which they were sold out of so we 'settled' for chocolate covered english toffee and chocolate covered cashews...YUM CITY! and Amir had to stop to get peanuts.  Needless to say, we did not make it to Murphy's by 10am....more like 11:30.  I was with Adam and Amir, I don't think anyone thought we would be anywhere close to on time.  We met Chris at Murphy's and then went to meet the others in the bleachers.

The Cubs game was packed...no swine flu worriers there!  It was so much fun despite the cold...yes, cold.  It was the first weekend in May and I had to wear a sweatshirt to a baseball game.  I don't even think they make Texas Rangers sweatshirts because I doubt they would ever sell any.  After the game, we headed to the Gingerman to continue the festivities until we were to head to dinner at Tango Sur.  Here is a pic of the b-day boy at the Gingerman....

We stayed at the Gingerman until about 7:00 and then headed to Tango Sur.  There was about 14 of us and Tango Sur does not accept reservations except for parties larger than 6.  Selena, Chris's wife, called to make reservations and they would not accept anymore large parties and thus we would just have to wait.  To kill time we went to the Blue Bayou across the street to watch the Bulls playoff game.  About 9:30pm, Tango Sur called to say our table was ready.  I was completely exhausted and decided to go back to the hotel, lay on a comfy bed and order room service.  Adam was in for the long haul...he made it to dinner and to the bar afterwards.  I think he got in around 4:00am.  I really don't know how he made it that long and I certainly have no idea how Chris could do it...maybe I need to hang with 40 year olds more often ;oP

Sunday morning we met Vinnie, Monica, and Freddy for brunch at Reza's.  It was great as usual.  Afterwards, we went for a walk on Michigan Ave and walked down to see 'the bean'.  Michigan Ave was completely lined with fabulous tulips.  They had ever color you could imagine.  Here are the pics from Michigan Ave....

               

We had such a fun trip to Chicago and it was so great to see everyone!