Day 2 of our Chicago stop was another full day of activities and excitement. We started off the day by heading to the American Girl Place on Michigan Avenue. To say that Amanda was excited about this part of the trip is the understatement of all time. She planned on having her doll’s hair re-done into a new style, and Debbie said she could buy one or two new outfits. The boys, on the other hand, would rather have been sitting in school taking a test.
When we pulled up to the store, I dropped Amanda and Debbie off while the boys and I looked for a place to park. In what seemed like a plan hatched by the boys to stall going to the store, every time someone pulled out of a spot the car in front of me took the spot. The boys seemed generally pleased by my bad luck. After about 15 minutes or so, I finally found a spot and we walked very quickly to the store, for two reasons. One, I really wanted to be there for Amanda, and two, the Venti Ice Coffee I had earlier had now worked its way to my bladder.
We got into the store shortly after Amanda’s doll had gotten her new hairdo, and I raced past Debbie and Amanda while heading to the bathroom (which, frankly, could not have been located any further into the store). After that crisis was averted, I was able to enjoy the rest of the experience with my daughter. Amanda picked out two very cute outfits, and she could not have been happier.
When we pulled up to the store, I dropped Amanda and Debbie off while the boys and I looked for a place to park. In what seemed like a plan hatched by the boys to stall going to the store, every time someone pulled out of a spot the car in front of me took the spot. The boys seemed generally pleased by my bad luck. After about 15 minutes or so, I finally found a spot and we walked very quickly to the store, for two reasons. One, I really wanted to be there for Amanda, and two, the Venti Ice Coffee I had earlier had now worked its way to my bladder.
We got into the store shortly after Amanda’s doll had gotten her new hairdo, and I raced past Debbie and Amanda while heading to the bathroom (which, frankly, could not have been located any further into the store). After that crisis was averted, I was able to enjoy the rest of the experience with my daughter. Amanda picked out two very cute outfits, and she could not have been happier.
We left the building a little after 1:00, and figured the appetizers would tide us over until we had a regular lunch later in the afternoon after we took in the Museum of Science and Industry. What we didn’t plan on was spending almost 4 hours at the museum. The museum is located in an enormous building south (I think) of downtown, and has so many exhibits (genetics, weather, internet, planetary, inventions, etc.) and areas that you really could spend a few days seeing everything there. It even has its own coal mine, with a 30 minute coal mine tour. Not sure how much of the mine was real, but it sure seemed real. We tried to hit as much of the museum as we could, but had to stop at some point to have lunch. And once again we channeled our inner-Elvis, and had ice cream for lunch.
We ended up leaving the museum at 5:30 (we kind of had to leave then, since the museum closes at 5:30), walked to our car and then tried to figure out dinner. We assumed the Roadfood book and the travel book would be filled with suggestions on where to get deep dish pizza. However, we were surprised that only one restaurant was listed, and not even in the Roadfood book. Fortunately, it was (evidently) the home of deep dish pizza in Chicago, Gino’s East (no relation, and no similarity, to Gino’s of Great Neck – in fact, Gino’s of Great Neck should change its name out of respect).
After all of the over-the-top meals we had eaten through Tennessee, we had actually gotten into a rhythm of more normal eating, and I was feeling a little less like John Goodman. But, all that went out the window once we got to Gino’s East. When you get there, you just tell the hostess how many people are in your party, then wait in the outside line, which is the line for the inside line. After about 20 minutes, they finally had a table for 5, and in we went.
The walls of the restaurant are covered in the signatures of customers, and we dutifully added our names to the wall in our booth. We asked the waiter how much we should order, and he suggested that one large pizza would be more than enough for the 4 of us. But wait, you say, don’t we have 5 in the family? Yes, but Amanda instead opted for the kiddie thin crust pizza, which she really ended up not liking. We were so hungry from basically not eating all day that we were a little skeptical that one pizza would suffice, so we ordered an appetizer for the table and the large pizza (half supreme and half cheese). Well, the waiter was correct. The one large pizza was plenty, and I once again feel like a pinata, but I don’t think candy is what will come out of me.
After dinner we headed back to Glencoe for what we thought would be a quiet end to the evening. We got back around 9:00, and after the boys watched the end of the White Sox – Yankees game (Evil Empire won) and Amanda dressed her doll in one of her new outfits (and new earrings), we got the kids ready for bed and Debbie and I set up for work.
Let me set the scene here. We are on the 2nd floor of Marti and John’s house, with a house next door. We have the windows in the room open to get a nice breeze. I was working at the desk working on one laptop and Debbie was on the bed working on the other. Sometime around 10:15 we heard a very loud crackle and sizzle. We looked out the window and saw a small flame at about our eye level.
Debbie said “What was that? I think something is on fire!” And in my infinite wisdom I said “I think the guy next door is just doing some soldering.” Why I came up with that response I will never know, because in actuality the power line that connects this house to that one had burst into flames, luckily at the other end. I went in to tell Marti and John what was going on and that they should call the fire department. Right about then, it must have burned through the line and we lost power, along with most of the neighbors.
John called 911, and the police and the fire department showed up, and confirmed that the line was down. Amazingly, a large number of the people on this street have generators, including Marti and John. So John revved up the machine, and sure enough, we have power. Not sure how long the oil will last in the machine, because he doesn’t think the tank is full, but if we are lucky it will last 8 days and we can start a whole new holiday – Solderkkah.
We ended up leaving the museum at 5:30 (we kind of had to leave then, since the museum closes at 5:30), walked to our car and then tried to figure out dinner. We assumed the Roadfood book and the travel book would be filled with suggestions on where to get deep dish pizza. However, we were surprised that only one restaurant was listed, and not even in the Roadfood book. Fortunately, it was (evidently) the home of deep dish pizza in Chicago, Gino’s East (no relation, and no similarity, to Gino’s of Great Neck – in fact, Gino’s of Great Neck should change its name out of respect).
After all of the over-the-top meals we had eaten through Tennessee, we had actually gotten into a rhythm of more normal eating, and I was feeling a little less like John Goodman. But, all that went out the window once we got to Gino’s East. When you get there, you just tell the hostess how many people are in your party, then wait in the outside line, which is the line for the inside line. After about 20 minutes, they finally had a table for 5, and in we went.
The walls of the restaurant are covered in the signatures of customers, and we dutifully added our names to the wall in our booth. We asked the waiter how much we should order, and he suggested that one large pizza would be more than enough for the 4 of us. But wait, you say, don’t we have 5 in the family? Yes, but Amanda instead opted for the kiddie thin crust pizza, which she really ended up not liking. We were so hungry from basically not eating all day that we were a little skeptical that one pizza would suffice, so we ordered an appetizer for the table and the large pizza (half supreme and half cheese). Well, the waiter was correct. The one large pizza was plenty, and I once again feel like a pinata, but I don’t think candy is what will come out of me.
After dinner we headed back to Glencoe for what we thought would be a quiet end to the evening. We got back around 9:00, and after the boys watched the end of the White Sox – Yankees game (Evil Empire won) and Amanda dressed her doll in one of her new outfits (and new earrings), we got the kids ready for bed and Debbie and I set up for work.
Let me set the scene here. We are on the 2nd floor of Marti and John’s house, with a house next door. We have the windows in the room open to get a nice breeze. I was working at the desk working on one laptop and Debbie was on the bed working on the other. Sometime around 10:15 we heard a very loud crackle and sizzle. We looked out the window and saw a small flame at about our eye level.
Debbie said “What was that? I think something is on fire!” And in my infinite wisdom I said “I think the guy next door is just doing some soldering.” Why I came up with that response I will never know, because in actuality the power line that connects this house to that one had burst into flames, luckily at the other end. I went in to tell Marti and John what was going on and that they should call the fire department. Right about then, it must have burned through the line and we lost power, along with most of the neighbors.
John called 911, and the police and the fire department showed up, and confirmed that the line was down. Amazingly, a large number of the people on this street have generators, including Marti and John. So John revved up the machine, and sure enough, we have power. Not sure how long the oil will last in the machine, because he doesn’t think the tank is full, but if we are lucky it will last 8 days and we can start a whole new holiday – Solderkkah.
1 comment:
laughing so hard i have tears in my eyes - do i have to buy gifts for the kids for every night of solderkkah and will debbie be selling holidays cards for it - luv ya - mom fishman
p.s. all kidding aside thank g-d everyone was safe
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