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: "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: "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.