Part 1

At the present moment I am writing this blog from our hotel, The Park Hyatt. I really can’t say enough amazing things but more about that later. They are in the process of fetching me (I love that word – fetching) some batteries for my wireless keyboard but any on-the-go writer knows it’s a pain in the you-know-where to finger type on your portable device.

So… Chicago! Like any good story I will start at the beginning. My dad, who I haven’t written a whole lot about on M&W (but that’s about to change – he’s been warned!) is an amazing person. My mom and I are so lucky to have him in our lives. I can’t really say enough nice and good things about him except for he is a wonderful man and anyone lucky enough to have him in their lives are immensely blessed. He’s shown me the epitome of selflessness, unconditional love, humor, grace… the things he does for others no one else will know about it because he’s too humble to say. I could never be an actress because I can’t cry on command but when I think about my Dad and how much I love him and all of the things he has done for our family… Waterworks. One of my coworkers would always say, “He is going to make it really hard for some man to live up to!” Isn’t that the way it should be? Dads play such a huge role in their daughters lives… Major. I’m beyond fortunate – of course I’m biased but if you’re reading this and you know my Dad I think you’ll agree he’s a pretty cool guy.

Anyway, out of the rabbit hole! I had been wanting to visit Chicago for awhile and the only thing keeping me from taking the trip myself was the fact Dad had been here before several times and I knew he would like to probably go, too, and it would be a fun father-daughter trip.

The opportunity to go finally came in the way of the NRA Show (no, not the National Rifle Association although that is what I thought when I got sent the ticket information. This NRA Show is the National Restaurant Association Show which basically boils down to… FREE FOOD SAMPLES. Just kidding. But, I swear some people just bought the $50 tickets to gorge on free samples of lobster and cheesecake and beef and alcohol for three days. Whatever floats your boat, man. More about the show later.

Our trip started Saturday afternoon but I was up way before time running hill sprints at 6:30AM. One point for early morning dedication because I was about to blow it with the deep dish pizza I had been lusting after in my dreams.

While flying out of Chattanooga is well and great it is not what I’m used to so I found myself having to slow my roll. I found myself driving way too fast to get to a destination we had plenty of time to be at and I also found myself stripping my clothes way too early in the TSA line while everyone else just mosied along and slowly undid their belts and slowly took off their shoes and slooooowly went through the line. It’s just completely different from Atlanta. I can’t tell you how many cans of dry shampoo I’ve gotten through Atlanta (jk?) but somehow I don’t think that would fly in Chattanooga. Too much time = extra thoroughness.

 

I think the whole ordeal threw off my travel mojo as I then started dropping all matter of crap on the floor and had to have people help me pick it up. Struggle. I get worked up before trips and sometimes get a little ADD. We made it through security (not without Dad getting pulled aside for using his middle name as his legal name. He’s never gotten over the fact his middle name is what he’s known by instead of his first legal name. It was entertaining – I was amused, he wasn’t. Typical.)

 

 

We arrived in Chicago Saturday afternoon and much to my pleasant surprise, he announced we would be being “adventurous” and taking the train. Music to my ears! I love me some public transportation while traveling. The train took us down into the city where we had our first Uber experience. And, I use the term experience genuinely. With Uber you can track the location of your arriving ride on your phone. You even get a picture of your driving and their cell phone number! It’s the Tinder of transportation! Well, we saw one, two, three rides go by we thought was ours: “Here he comes. Aaand, nevermind.” So we stood outside for about 30 minutes waiting on our ride only to realize someone-who-shall-remain-nameless put in the wrong address.

 

A few things I first noticed about Chicago – it is nothing like New York City! I guess I was expecting another NYC type atmosphere but Chicago could not be further from the city. There is grass, there are flowers, there are tall buildings but you’re not surrounded by humongous skyscrapers so big you feel utterly consumed. People were SO NICE. Men opened doors for ladies and everyone said “please” and “thank you” and “excuse me”. No one was blaring their horn in the street too much. No yelling at pedestrians. It was SO CLEAN. I’d been prepared for machetes in the streets after knowing Chicago is so crime ridden but I didn’t see any of that. It was not what I expected at all and that was a good thing. Of course, it’s never good to expect anything out of life period because what does expectation get us? That’s right, let’s all say it together… disappointment -playing worlds smallest violin- However, that wasn’t the case in this story.

We found a Jamba Juice on the way to the hotel… a must when any of my family travels. We love our Jamba Juice.

We arrived at the Park Hyatt and got settled in. Everything about the hotel was perfect. The staff, the room, the view, the amenities, the location. We were on the 15th floor and it overlooked The Water Tower and Lake Michigan. My favorite thing about the room was the seating area in front of the big picture window.

 

I spent a nice amount of time reading in front of the bay window and having the windows open. Which, apparently, I’m not old enough to do on my own. I laid down on the seat and got my iPad to read the rest of Gone Girl and I opened up the little window to hear the city noise and get some fresh air. I also took the screen off so I could see outside without being restrained by the black netting. That’s when I was rudely met with:

“Put the screen back on that window!!”

“Uh, why? I want to see outside without the screen in my way.”

“Knowing you, you’ll drop your damn phone out of it.”

I can’t even.

 

The bathroom (you all know how I like my bathrooms) was gorgeous… I think we both were pretty geeked it had a TV in it, too! But, that wasn’t my favorite part… Upon visiting the restroom I was perusing my surroundings when I saw a telephone on the wall. I mean, why does anyone really need a telephone in the bathroom?  “Help, I’m out of toilet paper!” (Okay, that would probably be me so nevermind.)

I picked up the phone and dialed the room. *Ring Ring*

“Hello?” (I thought for sure he would know it was me)

“I can call you from the bathroom!”

“You’re retarded” *CLICK*

Giordano’s
Since I’m pretty well-versed in the proper way to use Pinterest and like to use it to my advantage while traveling, Dad let me recommend some places to eat. Saturday night led us to a pizza place I had read a lot of amazing things about – Giordanos. The wait just for your pizza is typically around 45 minutes. However, when you put your name on the waiting list you can go ahead and order your food so the time is reduced. We went with a traditional stuffed Chicago style pepperoni pizza and two caesar salads. The salads were just enough until the main dish.

OH. MY. GOD. Okay, so some people know this about me but my favorite food is pizza. I love it. Feed me pizza and pet me and be sweet to me and that’s all I ask, honestly. I haven’t had pizza in months so I was really, really, reeeeally looking forward to this. And, it was everything I could have hoped for… perfection. The pepperoni were snuggled under a thick layer of cheese which was topped with the most perfect sauce and baked into the most crispy, hard, thick crust. I found my true love pizza match. Good thing you can also get it shipped to your house, right?! #christmasgiftideas

 

After dinner, we made our way back to the hotel.

“What time is it?” Dad asked.
“7:45pm”
“What a bunch of losers”

It was at some point in this conversation he proceeds to say something like:

“You’re going to be 31 this year.”

“No, I’m not! I just turned 30! Thirty one isn’t until next year.” 

“Whatever. Same thing. I’m getting older and I want you to feel like I feel.”

Like… what do you even say to that? He kills me.

—

The Park Hyatt has a fantastic spa and fitness area on their 7th floor so I decided to check out the pool when we got back to the hotel. Lucky for me no one else was in there so I had the whole place to myself. The pool is a lap pool but a great size to accommodate several swimmers. I made a couple of laps and found myself sunk down in the jacuzzi. I could see part of the Chicago skyline, it’s quiet… relaxing. It was a good way to end my first day in the Windy City.

 

And, just because it was funny I decided to text Dad an SOS for the directions to our room since he thought I was inept earlier in the evening:

until part 2… xoxo, patty lauren