Chicago, like all big cities, has a great blend of intellectual, educational, high-culture attractions and crazy excellent party places. Okay, admittedly I haven’t really been to the crazy excellent party places. I’m poor and socially awkward and super nerdy, which means you won’t find me at a club or wherever.
But! Here, in my opinion, is the best way to spend a rainy Saturday in Chicago, as I had the pleasure of doing last weekend:
1. Visit the Field Museum, which is your run-of-the-mill natural history/science museum with an excellent array of special exhibits.
2. Meet one of your best friends at the museum.
3. Decide that in addition to the run-of-the-mill exhibits of Native American families and polar bears, you also will go to see the new Chocolate exhibit.
4. Walk through the Chocolate exhibit. Learn about cacao beans, spicy Mayan hot chocolate, the European combination of chocolate and sugar, and the evolution of candy bars.
5. Become ravenously hungry.
6. Buy two extremely expensive chocolate bars.
7. Have a bite to eat in the museum café because your friend insists that “chocolate is not lunch!”
8. Go see the Native American families and polar bears.
9. Get gently kicked out at 5 when the museum closes.
10. Discover that you should not have worn those cute boots that are making your feet hurt so much now.
11. Accept when your friend offers to get you two a cab.
12. Go to TJ Maxx.
13. Buy way too much, including new cowboy boots to replace the miserable ones you’re wearing.
14. Go to Filene’s Basement.
15. Buy a fuchsia minidress that you wouldn’t normally be caught dead in, but your friend says it’s hot and it’s about time you wore something with a little color.
16. Go to Quartino, an Italian tapas place, for dinner.
17. Discover that there is an hour and a half wait.
18. Put down a reservation and decide to kill time by visiting the Signature Lounge at the top of the John Hancock Tower.
19. Discover that there’s a 20 minute wait to get into a Chicago bar with a view of Indiana on a Saturday night.
20. Go to the ladies’ room and take a picture of the view from the enormous window:
21. Get a cab back to Quartino.
22. Sit down to dinner at 9:45.
23. Order your first taste of sangria and love it.
24. Order delicious Italian tapas. Eat skate for the first time. Love it forever.
25. Devour every bite.
26. Order limoncello dessert drinks and a tiramisu.
27. Make a promise to yourself never to eat anything again. Ever.
28. Decide to leave when you realize it’s past 11.
29. Tiptoe through the rain to the train station.
30. Go home and sleep for 11 hours.
In conclusion, I love Chicago. The end.
No comments:
Post a Comment