Chicago, I Love You

It's official: I love Chicago. I mean, I love Boston a little bit more. But in a head to head competition, these days I may have a tough time picking between the two cities. If I ever left Boston for good (and I have no plans to do that), I'd make a beeline to Chicago. That's just how I feel after a fantastic long (and yet still too short) weekend in the Windy City. It was my annual July 4 trip to Chicago, which means I also spent time in Michigan City, Indiana. Combined, it was just awesome. Some highlights:

• For the first time in a while, I hung out on Michigan Ave. with people, and that made for a more fun day (and better pictures too). Typically I get a day on my own because, you know, folks have to work. While that's fine, and I can very easily (too easily) amuse myself downtown, it was so much better to spend the day wandering around with friends.



• In Michigan City, I was crowned Drunken Salami King — an honor I shared with Sporkful podcast co-host Dan Pashman. What's Drunken Salami? That's a secret. But suffice it to say, it's a salami that's been marinated for months (seriously) in scotch and Russian dressing (and maybe some other stuff too) and then cooked on the BBQ grill. It's delicious. (Really.) Every year there's a king or queen crowned, and suffice it to say, it's a very big honor.

Other highlights? I don't know ... It was all good. I'm not going to go on and on about my awesome Blizzard from Dairy Queen, or my first trip to Sprinkles, or the ominous-looking clouds over Chicago on Friday that passed right over, or the great conversations, or the Sporkful meetup, or the fact that I got a sunburn but not really, or the awesome fireworks pictures I took Saturday night, or the great flights on Southwest Airlines. The whole trip was a highlight.

Best of all was that I was out of Dodge, I was happy, I relaxed, I laughed, and I really enjoyed myself. Just sitting on the beach Saturday afternoon, listening to the waves crash on the shore ... That didn't suck. I needed this trip, and it delivered. If only I'd stayed longer.

So now I long for my next trip to Chicago, and look forward to the next time I'll be able to see the people, the buildings, the Bean, my friends, the whole scene. Damn, I love that city.