It seemed like it would never come, but the long awaited Gospel Coalition had arrived! We met at LAX at 6 am, but Chris came a little bit later due to good reasons… However, everything went by smoothly and we boarded the plane at 8:30 am. The three of us sat in the same row and the girls sat 2 rows behind us. I have to admit, there is the kind of excitement going on a trip with our dysfunctional family, but to take a flight halfway across America most definitely left us giddy with excitement. Although it was exciting to fly, the flight for me was uneventful, pot marked with the occasional gastric discharge (I apologize if I offend).
At 2 PM Central Time, our flight touched down at O’Hare Airport and we decided to take the train into the city, but as we took the escalator down to the station a warm thick putrid odor wafted over us. Now let me just say if arriving in Chicago wasn’t exciting enough, there was the smell of urine to greet us. Yummy!
We boarded our train and on the way we saw all the great monuments of Chicago, turn of the century dilapidated brick buildings with graffiti and old wooden homes about to keel over and crumble. Adding to this picturesque scene was a gray sky and hazy clouds. Safe to say the view outside was as exciting as staring at the blue patterns of our seats.
When we finally arrived we gingerly stepped out of the train, for some of us had motion sickness. The ride from the airport left us deflating nauseous, but as crawled up out of the station our hopes were revived. Out of nowhere, massive glass and steel buildings flanked our every side. We were finally in Chicago!
It was a complete transformation from the soggy underground railway to the bustling city above; the sun was shining, people were passing by, and taxi horns sung the song of the city. Many of the skyscrapers were beautifully designed in the minimalist style, but it was the older buildings with their tarnished bronze impediments that exuded the character of Chicago.
Palmer House Hilton was a couple blocks from the station, but in that short distance we looked every which way and at every sign. Looking back, Chicago reminds me of downtown Los Angeles, but it was being in a foreign place that brought intrigue. The guys looked on with reserved amazement, but it seemed as if Sunny and Ann fell in love. Was it the towering buildings? Or perhaps truth be told by their shrill voices crying out, “OMG it’s Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters…AHHH, I love this place!” (Just imagine Sunny cupping her hands near her chin and shuffling her feet with excitement!)
When we entered the hotel we expected a dressier version of Days-Inn, but instead we entered into an opulent Art Deco style atrium, fully fashioned with trimmings and marble flooring. We thought we saw it all until we entered the lobby/reception area; it seemed as if we entered the Sistene Chapel, a 50 ft high barrel vault with depictions of various Greek deities in richly colored robes and an entire hall designed after the Romanesque style. As I looked around and saw the ambiance and the people I immediately felt inadequate. Most were dressed in an Oxford shirt with matching suits, but there I was in my Reebok kicks wearing jeans and a Puma sports jacket…oh well!
Our rooms were on the 18th floor, the girls in room 263 and the guys in 272. After seeing the lobby, one would half expect all the rooms to be proper for a king, but that wasn’t the case. The entire room solely consisted of 2 king-sized beds, a small desk a TV cabinet, and no coffee. Pretty plain, but honestly I didn’t really care. I was just so tired I plopped on the bed and closed my eyes. I would’ve slept for hours, but the group wanted to eat.
Downstairs we asked the concierge for directions, but instead we got a debate. The lady told us Weber’s, a steakhouse, was 12 blocks away, which was only 15-20 minutes walking distance, but Julian was so overwhelmed with that fact the that he kept making sure if that assessment was correct. I could see the lady was getting frustrated, but after 2-3 minutes of deconstructing the size of a Chicago block to a Torrance block we left.
When we finally got outside I took the initiative to ask the bellhop for directions. (Had I known he would’ve given us wrong direction I would’ve gladly kept my mouth shut.) We knew that Weber’s was a straight shot from the hotel, but we just needed to gain our bearings.
We ended up walking 12 blocks perpendicularly to Weber’s and we may have wasted time and energy, but it was a worth it to sight see and take picture…can you say “TOURIST”?
We got to Weber’s 10 minutes late, but we were immediately seated and served bread and water. To our surprise, Sunny had made plans to rendezvous with her childhood friend Hanna (who by the way did not remember any of the things Sunny reminisced about…which brought us to wonder…was she really her friend?). They had known each other since elementary school and were the bestest of friends. It turned out that they had lost contact a while back, but coincidentally Hanna sent Sunny a Facebook message right before she left for Chicago. Coincidence or providence?
The entire dinner was pleasant and somewhat pedestrian, but it was Julian’s short-lived theological debate that lightened the mood. Much could be said of what was debated, but it’s better that it be ignored in this account.
The food was superb and, of course, Ann had to take photos. We all had something good to eat and I had a half rack of ribs with cornbread and baked beans. I must say my dish was excellently cooked, neither well done nor rare. Usually one has to selectively wrestle the meat off the bone with gnashing one’s teeth, but this rack was so tender that the meat fell right off the bone. I was so excited over the food that as the waiter inquired of our satisfaction I quickly exclaimed, “It’s really good, the bone falls right off!”
Right away Jay starts laughing obnoxiously and Hanna, to my right, bursts out with laughter, but I was completely at loss. It was only when the waiter left that I had realized what I said. Dang it! I felt like such an idiot.
After a few more small conversations Julian left to meet up a friend, leaving the rest of us to make our way back to the hotel. Instead we went across the street to Starbucks talk and allow Sunny and Hanna to catch up, albeit Hanna couldn’t remember much of what Sunny said. Altogether we had some good laughs as Hanna guessed our current occupations and ethnicities.
We departed Hanna on a good note and made our way back to the hotel. On the way we had a couple photo opportunities near the Chicago River Bridge and under the bright lights of the Chicago Theater.
Once we got back to the hotel we met up with Julian and ate some dessert at Lockwood Restaurant, located within the hotel. We all got something good and talked for a couple hours then we turned in for the night.
Back in our room Julian slept on his own bed and Jay and Chris slept on the other, even though Jay was suppose to sleep on the floor. The lights were shut off at 12am and all slept fitfully. Julian fell asleep right away while Jay and Chris cuddled and dreamt of sheep...What a great start to this trip
-Me-
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