The personal wall

Today's daytime mission was to reacquaint myself with the near north side of Chicago.  My evening plan was to hang out with two TravBuddy sisters from Miami, Joanne (Flyinhigh) and Maria (MiamiMaria).

I walked north on Clark Street.  This is yuppie land.  Condos and high rise apartments line the street.   I'll bet you'll see people walking their dogs with booties in the winter :p  At North Avenue I turned west towards Old Town.  The Second City Comedy Group is located here.  This famous group has included performers John Belushi, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers and Chris Farley, just to name a few.  I was about to head north up to one of my favorite parts of Chicago, the Lincoln Park Zoo, when my phone rang.   Surprise!!!  An old friend of mine heard I was in town.  He wasn't too far away so we agreed to have lunch together.  The zoo would have to wait another day.

Down Wells Street, through Old Town and back to the near north.  I met my friend at a Thai restaurant for lunch.  We chatted about old times and had a few laughs.  Time passed quickly and soon it was time for him to go back to work.  I decided to do a little shopping and then head back to the hotel for a nap because I'm lazy :D

Joanne and Maria were due in Chicago at 6:00 pm.  We planned to have a bite to eat and head off to a blues bar.  There's a good Chicago blues bar called Kingston Mines in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.  I used to live near here and had been to Kingston Mines many times.   Well, 6:00 pm came and went.  So did 7:00.  That's okay, delays happen.  Next was 8:00 pm.  I was getting hungry, so I decided that if I didn't hear from them by 8:30 I would go eat dinner without them.  A little bit after 8 pm, I received a text message.  Their flight was delayed and they just arrived at the hotel.  I said I would be over in 30 minutes.  They were staying fairly close to me so I walked over to their hotel and waited in the lobby.  Look!!  Here they come, drinks in hand.  Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into!!!  Aloha Jo.  Aloha Maria.   Blah blah blah.  Let's go eat some food.

We got into a cab and headed to a restaurant in Lincoln Park named John Barleycorn.   We sat outside and continued on with the getting to know you conversations.  Red bulls for the high energy ladies and some type of liquor, I don't remember.  Then Maria realized she lost her hat.  Must have left it in the taxi.  Bummer.  Maria went outside for a smoke and when she returned she had her hat!!!  It was on the curb.  How fortunate.  We finished our dinner and walked a few blocks north to the blues club.  The sisters paid my cover charge, how nice of them.  We couldn't find any seats in the main bar where the band was playing.  However there was plenty of seats in the adjacent room.

Now the evening really starts to get moving.  More red bulls for the ladies.  I'll have a glass of vodka.   Sure, we may as well have some shots of Jagermeister too.  I really don't remember what we talked about.  But that's a good thing because it meant that we were past the introduction phase and were comfortable just talking rubbish to each other.  Yes waitress, let's have another round.  Wheeee!!!!  A table of barely legal aged guys sat at a table near us.  Poor unfortunate souls.  Joanne and Maria began to tease the guys about how young they look.  Not too long after that, they left.  Hahaha!!!  Maria was getting restless and wanted something more lively.  Joanne paid the bill.  She's so generous!!  Okay, let's go up to Wrigleyville.  TAXI!!!!!

Wrigley Field is an icon in Chicago.   It is the stadium where baseball's Chicago Cubs play.  We got out of the taxi in front of Wrigley Field and took some photos.  Now we were in search of a bar where we could shoot some pool.  We stopped in a few bars but none of them had pool tables.  Thirsty, we stayed at a bar called Lucky's.  There was a band playing and they were pretty good.  Yes, we will have more red bulls, vodka, Jaegermeister and whatever else sounds good.  I don't remember how many rounds we had there.  The doorman directed us to another bar where we could play pool.  Bye bye Lucky's.  Hello Gingerman's!!!  It was a few blocks away, an easy walk.  Yes, more red bulls, vodka, Jaegermeister and some other liquor.  Maria and Joanne were shooting pool when all of a sudden, Maria hits a wall and leaves.   Not a real wall, her personal wall.  You know, when you know you have to call it quits?  Yes, that wall.  She got into a cab and left.  Bye Maria!!  Joanne and I had more drinks and played pool.  The bartender announces LAST CALL!!!!  Thanks for the advice.  Yes, one last round sounds good.

It is now 2 am.  What do you want to do Joanne?  Sure, let's go into this bar.  It's a punk bar called the Smart Bar.  Don't let the name fool you - there is NOTHING smart about this place after 2 am.  Yes, more drinks please.  You know that wall I mentioned?  Joanne finally hit her wall.  The doorman got us a taxi.  Thanks pal, take us to the Intercontinental Hotel.  After some initial confusion, we found her room.   Goodnight Joanne!!!  It was now around 3:30 am and I had a 6 block walk to my hotel.  You know that wall I've mentioned?  Well, I hit mine.  I was a couple of blocks from my hotel but I couldn't find it.  I must have seemed very confused because a homeless man asked me if I was okay.  No, I can't find my hotel.  He escorted me back to my hotel, which was actually a good thing because I had been walking in the opposite direction.  In my drunken appreciation, I gave him $20.  Thanks buddy!!!!  Once safely in my room I put the Do Not Disturb sign on the doorknob.   I already knew that tomorrow was going to be a very NASTY day.  Thanks Mr. Vodka and Mr. Jagermeister!!!