One Week in Chicago

Back in May, I attended my cousin's wedding. Unfortunately for the family, several cousins told me if I was ever in the Chicago area, look them up. Little did they know that I was going to be in the mainland for 25 days. Just a few website clicks, and Chicago was added to my itinerary. Several relatives will forever be scarred by my visit.


Here's my cousin Smooth's house. There were extensive renovations taking place. Dust was everywhere. The bathrooms had no doors. Debris was everywhere. But it was still way better than staying with Belize. The house was just three blocks from the train station, and my cousins made me feel at home.


The younger of my cousins: Father D. D not only stands for his name, but also for dyslexic. He originally thought I was staying until Saturday, and made plans for me with my other cousins for Friday night. When I told him I was leaving Thursday morning, he called the cousins and changed the plans to Thursday night.


The Hood.


For a second, I thought Father D was gay. I mean, why else would he have a calendar with naked men on it? Turns out it was Bruce Lee.


My cousins have a "thin" mirror.


There was a chocolate stream near the house. At one time it was clean and children used to raft and swim in it. Now it's a biohazard soup.


I frikkin love cities with extensive public transportation.


I love the ads they post in said public transportation even more.


I got a transit map and figured out the lines. Ended up in Chinatown. Sweet.




I hopped back on the train, got off one stop later, jumped on a bus, and ended up...


At the Shedd Aquarium.






Downtown Chicago looks great.


Oh hey, here's the Field Museum. I had a pre-paid ticket for admission.


Fat lot of good that did me. The "purchase ticket" line people got in faster than me.




OMG! Sue the T-Rex!


You'll never know when you'll need a copy of the Book of the Dead to combat mummies.


Downtown Chicago.


You know how I know you're gay? All three of you have the same haircut, same blue colored shirt, same style cargo pants, and white sneakers.


Oh, you know where I'm going.


To the top, Baby.







AHHHH! It's King Kong! Oh wait... this ain't the Empire State Building.


The next day I found the Magnificent Mile. It's high priced shopping along Michigan Avenue. Took me a while to find it though. It was cloudy, so I couldn't tell which way was north.




Oh, so close to buying jewelry for a girl again.


I went in to the GAP to use the restroom. This poor sap was sitting there waiting for his wife while she shopped. He was still sitting there when I left.


My family will get this inside joke. BTW, $220 for a pair of men's jeans is highway robbery.


Mensuits of New York. And like NYC, they had scaffolding all over the building.


WTF?


Chicago River Taxis.


Hey Billy from Family Circus. The Lego Store had several all-lego displays like this.


The one thing everyone said I must do in Chicago. See a Cubs game at Wrigley Field.




I got to see the 2 run homer in the 4th inning. Cubs beat the Reds 6-2.


After the game, we went out for deep dish pizza. Smooth made conversation with the hostess and waitress and had them eating out of his hand. Of course he used me as the hook. "Well, my cousin from HAWAII said he wanted to..."


Odelia the waitress came by with another pizza. "The other guy gave you guys the wrong size pizza. This is yours. We'll only charge you for one." Sweet. Burp. I felt 5 months pregnant after that.


Cousin Smooth did not want to be seen with me.


The next day Father D an I rode bicycles to the lake. This path goes on for 35 miles.







Thar be palm trees... in Chicago. They were setting up an arena for professional beach volleyball.


Navy Pier. Mall, museum, and amusement park all wrapped in one.






"Can I take a picture of your shirt," I asked.

"Sure," the girl replied.

"Is it fun working out here on the pier," I asked.

"Most of the time, yes," she replied. I noticed her accent.

"You're not from here, are you?"

"No. I'm from Ireland."

"No kidding? I'm practically Irish. My name is Seamus."


Love and marriage, love and marriage...


Some random fountain at an art institute.


This fountain was cool.


The faces were animated, and once in a while, they would spit out a gush of water.


The swung around on poles. That's all they did.


The Bean.



My other cousin, Musicman, played a concert here in the evening. He plays violin.


Musicman and my other cousin, Big Sis's house.




Note how nice the neighborhood is. It's a place where everyone knows their neighbors, and whole families go out for walks. Big Sis walked me around and introduced me to everyone we saw.


Big Sis drove me to the Bahai Temple. I'm not sure what it is, but it looked cool.


Chicago was the first place I ever saw fireflies. I made my little cousin run around and catch one for me.


They took me to a fancy steakhouse called Pete Millers. The waitress came out with a tray covered with different cuts of steak. She explained the difference to us, then we ordered. The cheapest steak was $36. Ouch. I also won the Guess-the-Accent contest. I correctly guessed that our waitress was from NY. She was from upstate NY, like Roktt.

I ran out of time before I could catch a play. I wanted to see Wicked. Oh well. I guess I'll have to come back to Chi-Town again. Either Big Sis or Smooth would let me crash at their places.

Luckily Smooth remembered when my flight was, and got me to the airport in time.