Still a Toddlin' Town

Went back to Chicago this weekend for Andrew and Fun Summer Rachel's wedding. As always, a good time was had; Chicago is truly — say it with me — my kind of town. Here are a few tidbits from the weekend:

They did: The wedding itself was great. Very nice venue. An awesome band had me up and dancing all night. Andrew sang "Some Kind of Wonderful" (and he was good). Sat with all of Andrew's doctor friends from Boston — it was just like old times when I was the only non-doctor in the room. Wine was tasty. Bride was beautiful. Good to see the boys from the bachelor party again. The couple was so so happy. And I had a blast.

Swingtown in Chi-Town: After the wedding and the after-party, Robin and I hung out at the bar at the Four Seasons with members of Steve Miller's band. Yes, the Steve Miller Band. We talked for a bit with his manager and met one of his guitarists, but the man himself was MIA. Apparently, Steve "doesn't do the 'hang out thing' anymore," his manager told us. So I replied that he must just "Take the Money and Run." And we went back and forth with similar references. On the way out, I seized an opportunity. Knowing I'd likely never again have the opportunity to hang out with the Steve Miller Band or their manager, I asked the manager what "the pompatus of love" is. His reply? "Hell if I know. Steve just likes to make stuff up." And there you have it. (Incidentally, Robin got to hang out with Joe Cocker earlier in the day on Saturday. Apparently, the Four Seasons chain is quite popular among touring singers.)

Back to the Bean: I just can't help it sometimes. Like a moth to a flame, I'm drawn to the same places over and over when I visit. In Los Angeles, it's the Getty Center. In Chicago, it's Cloud Gate, aka the Bean, which I think I've now taken every conceivable picture of. I just think it's so cool. But considering this was the first time I'd been to Chicago in warm weather (the other times were in October and November), I felt compelled to revisit some sites I'd seen on previous trips, like Buckingham Fountain (which was going at full blast) and Navy Pier. And yes, I took a ton of pictures at all three of these places. Actually, the ones at Navy Pier are pretty cool because I went up in the Ferris Wheel and the view was real nice.

Good food, bad food: Another trip to Chicago and again I didn't eat at Ed Debevic's. (Most would say that's a good thing, though.) Instead, on Saturday I went with Samara to Giordano's for lunch for some Chicago-style stuffed pizza. Yum. So good, but so so filling. One slice was enough. And that one slice sat in my stomach for most of the day. Ugh. On the other hand, I tried the new SoBe Coolatta from Dunkin' Donuts this weekend. In addition to the sugar in the coolatta itself, now it has an extra kick. And, it tastes good. So ... I'll be needing one of those Monday morning.

Anyway, it was a great weekend. If you want to live vicariously, here are my pictures.