Gilligan's Island The Chicago Series: "The Gang"



Cast of Gilligan's Island via Google Search

 Well, I sat right back and told you a tale...a tale of one GREAT trip!! A tale that brought my husband and two friends through the streets and eateries of Chicago and a story to match each cast member from the show Gilligan's Island. How did we come up with of all things, this show? Well it actually started with the last day when we met "Mary Ann". The fellas said that this cute girl sitting at the bar looked like her from the show...and well, after laughing, we started to match up each character to someone we met while visiting the Windy City!

So, to work backwards, before meeting Mary Ann, we met the Howell's while dining on a delicious steak dinner at Gibson's Steakhouse and noshed on a chocolate dessert that just wouldn't die...

We heard of the dancing legend, and finally witnessed the Skipper getting down with all the ladies at Howl at the Moon....such a smooth operator...

We met Gilligan while eating the beyond delicious Chicago style pizza at Lou Malnati's after finishing our own three hour tour on a Segway!

And who could forget meeting Ginger at the House of Blues? Oh, we will never forget her...and neither will you-she gained the most comments of all the series posts...so true to form from a "movie star"- always wanting all the attention!

Last (or first!) but not least, we matched up The Professor, jacket and all, while enjoying a celebratory brew at the Oktoberfest in downtown Chicago.

 Chicago really is one of my favorite cities to visit. There are so many more things I look forward to exploring on my next visit. If I ever feel the need to be connected, I can always order a deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati's... That's right!!!! You can order that pizza to arrive right at your doorstep and bake up your own bit of heaven. That is exactly what we did to have a "debriefing" meeting...really it was to exchange pictures from the trip...but this was a fun way to bring Chicago back!

Lou Malnati's Pizza-straight from Chicago!



We ordered 2 Cheese and 2 Pepperoni

And they were DELICIOUS!!!

I hope you enjoyed the stories and pictures of our trip! We had a blast and this was a fun way for me to share it with you!

Which character was your favorite? Let me know in the comments below!

Gilligan's Island The Chicago Series: "Mary Ann"

Mary Ann via Google Image Search

There is always that one girl that makes the boys swoon. The girl next door, sweet, pretty and wholesome. The girl you want to bring home to meet mom. The girl we noticed sitting at the bar could be that girl.

It was our last night in Chicago and after leaving the Hancock Building, we decided to have a night-cap at our hotel establishment. We grabbed a high top table and ordered and chatted about our evening. It wasn't too crowded, but it was starting to pick up.

A group of girls stopped just outside the front door. They were there for a long enough time that it grabbed my friend's attention and she asked me what they were doing. I watched them do a "Mr.Rogers"...they leaned on one another as they took out there stilettos and placed them on their feet as they tucked flip-flops into their handbags. The door swung open and they waltzed in about 10 feet or so and grabbed a stool at the bar.We joked that now we understood how the young girls were able to walk around this city with such high heels. The secret: have flip-flops at the ready!  The other secret-sit immediately.

As they got comfortable, my friend and I noticed this young woman, hair pulled neatly back into a ponytail, very nicely dressed, in casual preppy clothes. She was chatting with a young man and they looked as if they were enjoying a first date. My girlfriend and I ooh-ed and ahh-ed over her very cute bag and the guys mentioned how she looked like Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island. We chuckled and noticed that the two lovebirds got very close and made their way out the door. Aww. How sweet.

We lost interest with the bar area and got lost in our own conversation. This was the first trip the four of us had taken with each other and it was really fun. There are some friends that you can hang with and then there are friends you can travel with. We learned on this trip that our friends possess both qualities!

We started to notice that the bar was starting to get busy and crowded. At the table next to us, we heard a young man talking on his cell. He was trying to figure out where his lady friend was. He was explaining into the phone the bar he was sitting in...that he had been there for a while and would continue to wait til she arrived. The girl on the other end was being witty because he was laughing nervously...almost the panic nervous- don't stand me up- laugh. The phone rang again and he started describing the bar again...a little more nervous laughter and then a "Ha! No way....haha" He was looking toward the bar area.

And who was sitting at the bar on the other end of the phone?! "Mary Ann"! The nice girl we saw leave the bar about an hour ago with a DIFFERENT guy than the one next to us. MMmm....hmmmm. Our young Romeo walked over to her at the bar and they giggled as they closed their phones in unison.

We all gave each other that "what the....." look. That's when the fellas chimed in with "You know, all the boys liked Mary Ann way more than Ginger!"

Uh, huh.

Don't let the girl-next-door looks fool you! I don't think the boys are planning to bring her home to meet mom....

At least not tonight!

Halloween and Upcoming Events

To test my bloggy speed, I am going to try to tell you as much as I possibly can in 10 minutes, since I decided to watch Modern Family last night rather than write this post. I know, bad! Oh, well...I have been under the weather for the past three days and believe it or not, I just needed to relax.

Halloween is upon us and a fun weekend is about to begin! We are having our annual pumpkin carving party on Friday. We invite some friends over and the kids go to town with their gourds...have a few snacks and many laughs. When all is said and done, we line up the Jack-o-Lantern masterpieces and light 'em up. It looks awesome! The kids ooh and ahh at the final product. I think this year, we may have a judging contest with prizes.

Pumpkin Parade 2009

Not sure how my son will top his creation from last year.....



Yes, a Puking Pumpkin

But we will see!

I am also going to participate in a weekend long Halloween Contest by the SITS Girls....The prize is a sweet new fancy camera...one that I am drooling over. I love to add pictures to the blog and I have a little Nikon, that takes some sweet shots, but the prize camera, well, if I win, wait til you see *those* shots! Look for my Halloween themed posts on October 30, 31 and November 1. This would be such a cool prize, because what you may not know is....I am a Halloween Baby! That's right! So this could be the best birthday ever! :)

November 1st is also the day that we meet our new Blogger of the Month! I hope you have enjoyed our October Blogger of the Month, David! If you haven't visited yet, please check out his site. I think you will be quick to follow him!

The Chicago Series is about to wind down...we have met The Professor, The Movie Star, Gilligan, Skipper and Mr & Mrs. Howell so far. Next week meet Mary Ann! We will then have a recap party, Chicago style! I have had so much fun writing this...and I am glad you have enjoyed it too.

Since the Chicago series has been so well received, I decided to run a "I am Thankful For......" series in the month of November. Look for Thankful Thursdays, which will be written by guest bloggers sharing their story! Can't wait! Speaking of guest posts....

Nirvana Mamma wrote a guest post to kick off Blog it Forward!! Did you see it? Well, hop on over to www.blogitforwardnow.com to check out her fabulous post! You can find the first task announced at the bottom of that post. Join in! It's a good thing!

Ok. Ten minutes are up! Hope I didn't miss anything!

Have a great day!

Gilligan's Island The Chicago Series: "Mr. & Mrs.Howell"



via Google Image Search


The morning greeted us with a downpour and rumbles of thunder. Such a difference from the day before. We decided to make this a shopping day and walk through downtown. We planned for a dinner at Gibsons Steakhouse later that evening and I needed a pair of shoes to go with the outfit I brought.

We walked to Macy's (formally Marshall Fields) to see the famous Tiffany ceiling,

and then made our way through the store, floor by floor all the way up to the Walnut Room. I'm sure if these beautiful wooden panels could talk, they would have wonderful stories to tell. After reading through the information placards, the guys were starting to get antsy, so my friend and I set them free to venture down the way to belly up to the Elephant & Castle while we continued to shop.

Giving ourselves only an hour, with shoes being the focus of this store, we grabbed an elevator and saw this:

The shoe department had its OWN BUTTON!

We  realized that we were on the express elevator which only traveled to certain floors, shoes not being one of them, believe it or not!

To the escalator we went, as time was ticking. Not sure if the floor we were on was the shoe floor, two older gentlemen sitting in chairs just off the moving stairs quipped "If you are looking for shoes, you are on the right floor! Our wives have been there for over an hour! It's that way." they both said in unison as they pointed to the left through a pile of bags, which no doubt were handed to them to hold. "Tell them to hurry up if you see them!"

We found our way to the shoes and my, oh my, were there shoes. almost the entire floor! After a quick scan, I found the perfect pair and best of all, only paid $11 smack-a-roos! Deeming this a success, we headed downstairs and across the street to visit one of my fav-or-ite stores, Ann Taylor Loft. AT's clothes fit me like a glove! Every dress I have ever tried on, I usually buy it because, well, it fits perfect. Cannot beat off the rack shopping. Love it. I was a little disappointed in this visit though, because the dress selection was zero.

We eventually met up with the fellas and had a snack to hold us over until dinner. The E&C was a great place; good food and good beer.

 



We decided to head back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. A few hours later, we were all gussied up and in Gibson's. As we settled into our booth, we enjoyed our cocktails and salad. A big white cake passed our table, carefully handled by a waiter and behind him, followed the rest of the wait staff. They all wished a family in the corner a Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary! The couple sitting next to us proclaimed "We have them beat! We are married over 50 years!" So, of course we struck up a conversation with "Mr. & Mrs. Howell."

He is the owner and head baker of a prominent bread company in the city. He and the missus just spent the day at the Navy Pier celebrating Italian Fest. He asked if we had gone. We replied no, that we shopped down in the "Loop" instead. He told us that was too bad, because they were giving away bread like crazy and it was good stuff. We chatted about visiting and where we were from, and learned that he grew up with and was close friends with the owner of the steakhouse; that his wife's cousin owned another well known establishment: Morton's Steakhouse. He told us stories of the good old days and fun that had him give up drinking: to which his wife said "As you can see, I didn't!" shaking her glass like a dinner bell with a giggle. Can't you just picture Mrs. Howell doing that?? They were gracious when our dinner arrived and bid their farewell.

This is one meal that I did not take a picture of!! I can't believe it! The steaks were out-of-this-world delicious, cooked to perfection. We decided to split the sides: 1 double baked potato and a dish of spinach, broccoli and garlic. I wish you could have seen the potato that was served. It was huge! It was cut in half and then each couple split a half! I could not finish my quarter. I had no idea that potatoes grew this large. WOW.

The only picture of food that night, was rightfully saved for dessert. I thought the potato was big. This thing was mammoth! You know it is one serious, bad-ass chocolate dessert when it comes with a steak knife plunged into the center of it. Look at this thing!

We couldn't finish this either. We saved it for breakfast the next morning! Mmmm!

It turned out to be a beautiful evening. My husband had the idea to go to the Hancock Building to have a night cap. When we arrived in the lounge, it was so ungodly hot. We found a table just behind the tables next to the window. Not the best view, but you could see parts of the cityscape. We ordered from the waitress and then it hit me. The building was swaying. I am not a boat fan because of the motion. In fact, if the kids are fooling around in the back seat, I have to yell at them to stop because the movement of the car makes me sick. The building is built to give and move with the wind. Now mind you, it is only moving inches and to the normal person is probably not even noticed, but to me it felt like yards. Combined with the heat in the room I was getting sick.  I excused myself to the ladies room and found a line, but not to the stalls. It was to take pictures!

This is the view from the ladies room!!

I returned to the table and felt bad to say that I had to leave and that I would meet them downstairs when they finished. They were kind and chose to leave with me. I guess our friend was feeling the same way, so it was fine with them if we found another spot.

We decided to take our nightcap back to the establishment at our hotel.

Here is where we encountered "MaryAnn". Every boy's favorite, right? She lived up to all expectations. And then some!



Gilligan's Island The Chicago Series: "The Skipper"



The Skipper via Google Image Search

We left "Gilligan" in search of a place to have fun. The bouncer was extremely kind to the "early bird" -older-crowd (aka: us!) that showed up at his door. We peeked in and asked if it was open and he said it was. Our next question was how quickly did the tables fill up, because we definitely wanted a table. How sad is this...it was only 6 pm! He said they would probably be full in an hour. We all exchanged looks and said we should go in now and asked if there was a cover. Here is where our new friend won all our hearts....I believe he ducked inside and asked the hostess to let us in without a cover charge. We had our hand stamped and off to a table we went inside "Howl at the Moon."

There was a pretty sizable group celebrating a retirement party for a woman named “Feathers”. Now, I have no idea if this was her real name or her “stage” name, but she was referred to this all night long.

Next to Feather’s party was a smaller crowd of all ladies celebrating an 80’s reunion. Who says older folks can’t have fun? We just have to party early! We've learned to like our sleep.

My husband and I had gone to a Howl at the Moon while visiting San Antonio, TX. He surprised me for my 40th birthday by planning the whole trip-(I know. He is awesome!)-we stayed on the River Walk, saw the Alamo and had the best margarita’s I have ever had. Ever! One evening we decided to visit the dueling piano bar to see what it was all about and ended up having so much fun! We were really hoping that it would carry through with Chicago for our friends to enjoy, and it did! The songs were flowing, folks were dancing and the musicians were playing and cracking snarky remarks getting the crowd going. About an hour after we sat down, more musicians joined on stage; In addition to the 2 pianos, there were drums, a bass, guitar, harmonica and even a trumpet! Three guys and two girls-all rotating between instruments. I can say that I was impressed. What a talented group on stage!

What was that bobbing to the beat up on the dance floor? Is that….a…skipper hat?

My husband told us of a legend that had been spotted around town wooing the young ladies with his soft shoe and that he caught a quick glimpse of him at the Oktoberfest while we were chatting with the "Professor". Seems everyone knows who the dancing Skipper is but can never say where he will show next. As luck should have it.. he was here! I would say put one of his "crew" members in a mix of young ladies, add some music and you have caught yourself a Skipper!

He did not confine himself to just the dance floor either…he made it around the whole bar, like a silent shark, grabbing a hand here and there and pulling in a giggly girl. At one point it got a little creepy because right in front of  our table, we caught a glimpse of his dance moves that went way too low and with a little too much gyration for an 80+ year old guy. I thought he was going to break a hip! He found his way back to the dance floor and to a pretty retiree named Feathers who was now wearing a fuchsia boa and was kicking up her heels as well. That was the last we saw of the Skipper and of Feathers.

I mean, really. Who can resist a man in uniform? Such a smooth operator!

Gilligan's Island The Chicago Series: "Gilligan"



Gilligan, via Google Image Search


Gilligan's three hour tour should have been by city rather than sea. Instead of his weary travelers suffering from "sea-legs" and then being stranded, they could have suffered from "Seg-legs" and found oasis at the local pizza joint.

After our encounter with "Ginger" aka Rude Girl, we needed to put some fun back into our trip, so we set out to have a day touring Chicago by Segway! Since I am not a huge boat fan, I found this three hour tour more my style and really, really fun! If you have ever thought of taking a Segway tour of the city you are visiting, do it! It is well worth the money and you see quite a bit!

When we checked in at Tour Central, we were already planning what we would have for dinner and that was authentic Chicago style deep dish pizza. We asked the clerk where she liked to eat such pizza and immediately said "Oooooh, Lou Malnati's! The. Best. I eat there all the time!" She was very nice to write down the phone number and directions, which we safely tucked away to use later.

We picked out some rocking helmets, and feeling much like a tough roller derby girl, headed down with the group to meet our tour guide and grab our rides.

Our tour guide (I will call her "Belle") was a cool surfer-chick kind of gal, with a funky, artsy vibe. She was from San Diego and was so glad to have just finished nursing school. Chicago's winters were a bit harsh and she was looking forward to getting back home to warm weather and the chance to grab a surf board rather than snow shovel this winter. Belle got us geared up on our Segways and taught us the basics of how to operate one. We were a small group and we picked it up quickly.

  
We signed up for the River Tour which, you guessed it, brought us down by the river! We cautiously moved down the path in the direction of Lake Michigan. Making our way through the crowd as a newly "licensed" driver was a bit scary; maneuvering around an empty plaza is one thing, add tons of people on a narrow paved path is quite another! Thank goodness these things are equipped with bells! I kept pushing the black button on mine. It wasn't ringing, so I stuck close to my friend, who was "ding-dinging" her way through the crowd. 

We made it through without casualty, and greeted the harbor filled with sailboats. It was beautiful.

We toured the harbor, Planetarium, Field Museum and Aquarium, which we were told was THE best place to visit. Did you know that when the Aquarium first opened, they spent so much money that they could not afford to fill it with marine life? So they brought sea water by train and filled the empty tanks charging folks to come and see the ocean!  

After shaking out our "Seg-legs" we made our way past the beach, then Soldier Field and back through Grant Park.

What are "Seg-legs" you ask? A term aptly coined by Segway tour guides after spending hours on the personal transport machines.

On the way back to the Tour Center, one of the Segways stopped working. Oh, no! The three hour tour did end with one of us stranded!! Not to worry, "Belle" was on top of it and coasted back to our 'land-wrecked' friend and brought them back safely. She apologized for ending on such a bad note...but we felt the opposite. Belle did a great job and was an excellent tour guide!

By this time, we could not get out our directions to pizza fast enough. We were all starving. We finally found Lou's and were seated. A lanky fellow introduced himself and took our drink orders. "Gilligan" was working hard to remember that we wanted water and a menu. He brought the menus and then said "Oh, the water!" He returned with three and forgot the fourth. We put in an order for appetizers and beer and waited for him to return to ask for utensils to eat our snacks....he came back with the fourth water then hit his forehead remembering that he didn't have forks and knives in hand. Not the sharpest tool in the box. Every three hour tour needs a little comic relief, right? Lucky for us, he did remember to bring dinner and when the pizza arrived, we all thought my goodness, this was like heaven on a plate. It was so incredibly delicious, I wish I could have eaten a second piece! This picture does not do it justice:

If you head to Chicago and want fabulous authentic pizza, go here. You will not be disappointed!

We walked our stuffed selves out of Lou's and headed down the street where we came across "Howl At the Moon" a dueling piano bar. It looked fun and we made our way inside. Little did we know that in less than an hour, we would finally see "Gilligan's" buddy the Skipper!

Gilligan's Island: Chicago Style: "The Movie Star"



Ginger, The "Movie Star" via Google Image search


The "Movie Star" shooed her hand at me dismissively and with a huff stated:

"Well, I'm a real writer. Not just a blogger. I write for real."

That is a verbatim quote that I typed into my ipod (don't you just love technology?) after experiencing my first ever rude encounter in the city of Chicago. Now that that has set in for a moment, let's go to the beginning of our tale to get the full story...



Trump Tower, Chicago

After enjoying our tour of the city, Oktoberfest brews and run in with "The Professor", we decided to start heading back to the hotel, which was in the direction of the newly completed Trump Tower, and if you remember, was the job of Chicago native, Bill Ranic, season one winner of The Apprentice reality show. He was a nice guy, wasn't he? Come to think of it, wasn't Omarosa on that season as well? She was a really rude girl, wasn't she? Hmmm...I think so.

My husband was itching to stop at the House of Blues to show off one of his favorite places to our friends, so we decided to swing by to grab a bite to eat and listen to some live music. We arrived just before the dinner crowd and quickly found four empty stools snug nicely at a little bar looking toward the stage. The main bar ran behind us, which made for easy serving and beer fetching. We were so glad to finally be able to take a load off- we had been walking &/or standing all day and let me tell you, it felt great to sit!

As we tapped to the beat of the music and took our first sip of beer, a very attractive, young woman, in her mid-20's, sauntered over toward my husband and asked him a question. "I would like to ask you if you are a gentleman and would give up your chair for a lady?" We both looked at each other and she repeated the question. My husband said that he was sorry, but we just sat down to have some dinner, but he thought there were some stools further down the bar. Her reply: "Go get it for me."

Is it just me or does it seem that generation x,y,z...(whatever it is now) is completely full of the entitlement attitude? I am; therefore, I should have.

My husband does not bother easily, and has on many occasions, given up his seat for a "lady", but right now,  I could see all over his face that he was upset. He said a flat "no." She repeated the phrase "Really....you would not be a gentleman and give up your seat for a lady?" two or three more times, emphasizing the word really. Then "Rude Girl" moved her way down to our friend and asked him in a syrup-y voice for his seat to be given up by a gentleman for a lady. It is here that I interrupted and said to her "We are here visiting and want to have a nice dinner with our friends. We just sat down- we've been walking all day and now we just want to grab a bite to eat." With a flip of her hair, she turned to me and said "Look, I live in Trump Tower. I am not expecting you as a woman to give up your chair. You sit and have a nice time. I just cannot believe that these gentleman will not give up their seat for a lady. You tourists are all alike."

"Rude Girl" turned back to our friend and asked if chivalry was dead in New York. He must have mentioned where we were from. He answered "No. Not at all. It just is for you." Ouch.
With that, she stomped down to the end of the bar to grab an empty stool and as she danced back in the direction of her two girlfriends sitting behind us at the bar, hit me with it. No apology...but she did come back to my husband and asked for his name. "Mike" he answered. (FYI-his name isn't Mike)...then asked his last name because she found this so interesting. When she got back into her place in Trump Tower, she was going to write all about this, since she is a writer. What did living in Trump Tower have anything to do with it? And what's up with all the medieval terms: Gentleman, Lady and chivalry?

Then I joined in on the conversation and said "You know, that is not a bad idea! I think I will write about this too! This will be a GREAT story for my blog."

Which brings us to the beginning of this post. With her friends in the background pleading with her to shut up, she shooed her hand at me dismissively and with a huff stated:

"Well, I'm a real writer. Not just a blogger. I write for real."

I thought her words might sting with that kind of delivery, but you know what? I asked myself in that split second is "Rude Girl" a real writer? Sure. If she writes, then she's a real writer.

Am I a real writer? I'm typing this story for you to read. I guess because I am writing, then I am a real writer too.

So, "Rude Girl",  put that on your stool and sit on it.

Word"less" Wednesday::Upcoming Announcements

Chicago

Ok, I admit it. It is hard for me to keep my Wednesday's wordless!! I try and I try, but it is just too difficult! Heh. One of these days I will surprise you....and myself and keep it to just a photo.

Today is not the day! :)

A lot is coming up here at Mom Got Blog this week, so words are necessary.

Tomorrow we will have another guest post from the Crayon Wrangler! She has once again created a fabulous post, so please come back to read it and enjoy.

Friday is October 1st, which means we will welcome our new Blogger of the Month! I am so excited to introduce you!

This weekend marks the start of speedskating season. Yes! Skaters have traveled to Milwaukee, WI to compete in Short Track American Cup (AmCup) series races-look for the latest updates and a story or two about those skating fast and turning left.

So I caught you up through the weekend with lots of words. Maybe next week I will try to zip my lip.

Gilligan's Island The Chicago Series: "The Professor"

It's Monday and it is time for our Chicago trip series to begin! For the next few weeks, I will be writing about my recent visit to one of my favorite places. I wasn't sure how to share all the great fun we had in just one post, so I decided to break it up. It worked out nicely because mid-way through our getaway, my husband and I and the couple we were traveling with said something along the lines "Isn't this trip kind of like Gilligan's Island?" From there we started to match up characters from the show to those we crossed paths with. Before we knew it, we had the entire cast done! Names, if known, have been changed to protect the innocent, but the story and places are real, seen and experienced from my perspective.

So, grab a chair and

"Sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip...."

The Professor

from Google Search

The day of departure, I was traveling to Chicago with friends. The plan was to meet up with my husband, who was already there attending a conference. He would wrap up his meetings and then meet us at the hotel for lunch.

When we arrived, we hailed a taxi. As we made our way into town, I noticed our driver kept looking at his phone and was texting while darting through traffic. This of course was making me very nervous, so I started asking about the weather, buildings, etc. I realized the more questions I asked, the more he left the phone unattended. In our 20 minute commute we learned that he was from Somalia, he has lived in the US for 18 years, his two children made him very proud (his eyes and face softened as he spoke of them), and his parents still lived back in the homeland. He said he could tell that we were from the East Coast because we were so chatty and friendly.

We do look pretty friendly, don't we?

We thanked our new friend for getting us to the hotel and wished him good luck with his family. After checking in, we wasted no time! First and foremost was to find a place for lunch- we were starving! We settled on Harry Caray's. A great place to satisfy the appetite and baseball fix!

Our waiter was very nice and helpful when it came to the local beer selection. I ordered up an Eliot Ness and a Bison Burger, and we all decided to share a plate of Fried Ravioli. The food was out of this world good! A little gossip for the Yankees fans out there- a little bird told us that the night before, A-Rod and Cameron Diaz were cozy in the corner having dinner. I must confess, I am not a Yankees fan, but our friends are and that brought out an "Oh, reeaaaallllyyyy." which quickly left our minds as food and beverage arrived at the table!



Fried Ravioli



Bison Burger





Our waiter kept saying that he wanted to take our picture on the cow before we left-I was convinced that the staff in the back had a running bet who could get a customer on top of the cow. My girlfriend and I decided to sneak into the restroom and then we would all make a dart for it, but as we came out of the ladies room, there he was with a s-eating grin and a chair. The fellas were not helping by standing with cameras at the ready. Well, we were good sports and up we climbed onto the "Holy Cow!". Before we left, we said "Oh, no. You need to get in the picture with us." Payback is a bitch, isn't it? Although I guess the laugh was on us, because we were riding the bovine and I'm sure waiter was getting some greenbacks.

We set out to see other great sites: Millennium Park, The "Bean", Michigan Avenue and the Segway Tour place.

We talked about renting Segways as a fun way to tour the city. We found a place and booked a tour for the following day. It was around Happy Hour time by now and my husband mentioned a square that was blocked off and set up for an Oktoberfest. We were game, so we walked a few more city blocks. That night was 80's night and the band was in full swing. Tables were set up family style and folks were everywhere.

The guys grabbed the beer as my friend and I found a place at one of the tables. As we were discussing the different styles that were walking by, a new group of folks took the spot next to us. They too were enjoying a brew and some brats.

The gentleman standing next to us we deemed to be "The Professor". He totally looked the part, right down to the patched elbow jacket. Do guys still wear those? He was in town for the same conference my husband was attending. He was a little full of himself, touting how it costs too much money to operate his private company jet...yet was holding frequent flier cards fanned like a hand of "Go Fish". I would say that you should work harder on your inventions and less time trying to impress people you don't know with your claimed riches. Can you tell we were impressed? He kind of left a creepy vibe after that...sort of like "The Professor" of the tropical island. It was time to move on and leave him behind on the Oktoberfest "island".

We made our way to the House of Blues to grab a snack and listen to some good tunes. After walking all day and standing for most of the evening we were glad to make it in time to grab four stools and order some dinner. **As a side note, the B-52's are playing there on 10/7. So bummed I will miss that! I love them!!** 

It is here that we met the "Movie Star". Only for our story purposes, her name has been changed from Ginger to Omarosa or "Rude Girl". This my Twitter friends, is who I tweeted about after returning to the hotel.

Tune in next week as we hear Rude Girl throw around the difference of Blogger vs. Writer.



The Start of Our Three Hour Tour: Chicago Style

Last week I mentioned that a few posts would be dedicated to my trip to Chicago-one of my favorite cities-that I took with my husband and some dear friends. We had an absolute blast; even joking that for some reason, this trip felt a little like the TV show "Gilligan's Island" with the characters we met along the way.

Well, I think I am going to switch it up a bit and make this a series. It will be fun to reminisce and share with you why each encounter seemed to fit this show's characters perfectly! Check back each Monday for the next 5 weeks to see who we met and how they became the back story of our visit to the "Windy City"!

Ready to set sail?

Alrighty then! Let's go!

Wordless Wednesday:: Wild Horses Couldn't Keep Me Away

Chicago

*** Be sure to check out my post over on Scary Mommy today!! I am so excited! Did you know that I have been a huge fan of her blog since I started blogging? So wicked cool!***

Would love for you to leave some comments so I know you came for a visit!

The Pauper & The Princess is the article to look for! :)