Woke up super early this morning after very little sleep last night to catch a flight to Chicago for Scholarship Junkies work. I slept the whole flight—didn't even get a drink when the drink person came around. I did, however, capture a picture of SNOW in Western Washington before knocking out.
Arrived in Chicago to humidity and heat that I had not experienced in a while. Definitely did not check the weather before packing. Today's high: 86 degrees. Whoops.
Dad picked me up from the airport though, which was really nice, since this is my first actual trip to the Windy City. Chicago is a massive city, and I'm realizing the whole "public transportation-only" plan is not such a good one. I promptly booked a Zipcar first chance I had Internet.
I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast at Burger King in SeaTac's N-gates, so Dad and I Yelped a place and ended up at Al and Joe's Deli near the airport. While the Italian sub was indeed tasty, it's not a place I'd go out of my way to visit.
We were planning to drive downtown to walk around, but I remembered that I needed to post a trivia question for my Intrepid work. So we headed to Dad's hotel for a bit. No one new answered today, so after an hour of waiting, we decided to head out. Due to traffic though, we ended up going straight to my friend Paul's place.
Paul and I were both Fulbrighters in Germany last year, and he was kind enough to offer a bedroom at his sweet apartment near the University of Chicago. It was cool for Dad to meet him too. I dropped my stuff off and then Dad and I went downtown for dinner. The drive was nice. Got to see more of the city.
We were going to go to Navy Pier, but our GPS led us in a terrible wild goose chase around downtown Chicago, which is freakin' huge. Driving near the riverfront, I was reminded of the Dark Knight, and as it turns out, the Dark Knight was indeed filmed primarily in Chicago (thank you, Wikipedia).
As we got increasingly frustrated with the GPS, Dad and I decided to just park and go find some place to eat at. We ruled out any fast food chains (no brainer), considered a Chinese restaurant (despite seeing the sign above the street, we didn't find it but we did find a Japanese restaurant), and finally decided on a grill house.
The wait was about 15-20 minutes, and so I thought it was a busy night. But, as the hostess who led us to our table told me, tonight was actually not busy. I'd hate to be there when it actually is busy. I don't like crowds (unless I'm speaking to them...haha).
Dad and I both got awesome burgers that were huge. We also had a starter sampler full of grilled goodies. Probably why we each only ate half of our burgers. Still, very delicious.
The beer was also good. When it was cold, that is. Dad had a Sam Adams, which I normally like but can get at Shultzy's in Seattle. So I had a beer from Chicago's Goose Island Brewery. Forgot which one, but it wasn't bad. I've grown increasingly fond of trying local brews, while still maintaining just a hint of my German beer snobbishness.
Overall, the day was a good one, and I am especially happy to have gotten to spend the day with Dad. Hooray for travels and thanks for the food and the rides, Dad! :)
Tomorrow, I will give the first of my two workshops at Loyola University Chicago (the other is on Friday). Looking forward to it! I will also get to have lunch with my old friend from the GMS program, who actually is the one who organized my even being in Chicago. Then in the evening, I will get to have dinner with more Fulbright friends and one of the students I mentored through Scholarship Junkies starting back in 2007—it will be our first time meeting in person after countless emails and phone calls!
Bis morgen,
Sam
Arrived in Chicago to humidity and heat that I had not experienced in a while. Definitely did not check the weather before packing. Today's high: 86 degrees. Whoops.
Dad picked me up from the airport though, which was really nice, since this is my first actual trip to the Windy City. Chicago is a massive city, and I'm realizing the whole "public transportation-only" plan is not such a good one. I promptly booked a Zipcar first chance I had Internet.
I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast at Burger King in SeaTac's N-gates, so Dad and I Yelped a place and ended up at Al and Joe's Deli near the airport. While the Italian sub was indeed tasty, it's not a place I'd go out of my way to visit.
We were planning to drive downtown to walk around, but I remembered that I needed to post a trivia question for my Intrepid work. So we headed to Dad's hotel for a bit. No one new answered today, so after an hour of waiting, we decided to head out. Due to traffic though, we ended up going straight to my friend Paul's place.
Paul and I were both Fulbrighters in Germany last year, and he was kind enough to offer a bedroom at his sweet apartment near the University of Chicago. It was cool for Dad to meet him too. I dropped my stuff off and then Dad and I went downtown for dinner. The drive was nice. Got to see more of the city.
We were going to go to Navy Pier, but our GPS led us in a terrible wild goose chase around downtown Chicago, which is freakin' huge. Driving near the riverfront, I was reminded of the Dark Knight, and as it turns out, the Dark Knight was indeed filmed primarily in Chicago (thank you, Wikipedia).
As we got increasingly frustrated with the GPS, Dad and I decided to just park and go find some place to eat at. We ruled out any fast food chains (no brainer), considered a Chinese restaurant (despite seeing the sign above the street, we didn't find it but we did find a Japanese restaurant), and finally decided on a grill house.
The wait was about 15-20 minutes, and so I thought it was a busy night. But, as the hostess who led us to our table told me, tonight was actually not busy. I'd hate to be there when it actually is busy. I don't like crowds (unless I'm speaking to them...haha).
Dad and I both got awesome burgers that were huge. We also had a starter sampler full of grilled goodies. Probably why we each only ate half of our burgers. Still, very delicious.
The beer was also good. When it was cold, that is. Dad had a Sam Adams, which I normally like but can get at Shultzy's in Seattle. So I had a beer from Chicago's Goose Island Brewery. Forgot which one, but it wasn't bad. I've grown increasingly fond of trying local brews, while still maintaining just a hint of my German beer snobbishness.
Overall, the day was a good one, and I am especially happy to have gotten to spend the day with Dad. Hooray for travels and thanks for the food and the rides, Dad! :)
Tomorrow, I will give the first of my two workshops at Loyola University Chicago (the other is on Friday). Looking forward to it! I will also get to have lunch with my old friend from the GMS program, who actually is the one who organized my even being in Chicago. Then in the evening, I will get to have dinner with more Fulbright friends and one of the students I mentored through Scholarship Junkies starting back in 2007—it will be our first time meeting in person after countless emails and phone calls!
Bis morgen,
Sam
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