It felt weird being in a huge city by myself. I was also tired from the previous night I had spent drinking at Quarks in Vegas. I think I made the mistake of mixing my Romulan Ales with my Borg Spheres and I had a massive hangover when I went to the Vegas airport. Luckily it cleared up before I boarded my plane to Chicago.
One of the first things I did in Chicago was go shopping for a loaf of bread, ham and TEA BAGS. There was a huge communal kitchen and I kept my stash there for when I got back from outings hungry. I ate quite a bit of Subway...it's half as expensive as it was in Vegas.
I wandered the 'Magnificent Mile' which is like a 'mile' stretch of road lined with boutiques and stores. Nothing special because they were all the expensive designer stores like Guess, Louis Vitton, Hugo Boss, etc. However, I discovered LEGOLAND in one of the malls heehee. There was a giant solid YODA made from lego and you could go into a competition to guess how many lego pieces went into building it.
One night I headed out intending to have dinner in 'Little Italy' but I must have taken the wrong turn when I got off the 'L' and ended up in Little Greek! I dined in a wonderfully warm and inviting restaurant that was designed with several layers of dining space to recreate a little Greek village.
I signed up to go with some other travellers at the hostel to an 'improv' comedy night in Wrigley, which is the sports area of Chicago as it's where their baseball stadium is. Megan (a volunteer Chicago resident who takes hostel travellers out on group outings to see Chicago) took us bar hopping afterwards and we had an awesome time. I ended the night by going to Tacobells with a few of the stragglers before heading back to the hostel. MMm tacos...
Thursday I went to Chinatown and had dim sum. US$10 for four dishes and including a tip. I must admit their chicken feet had nothing on the chicken feet I get in Northbridge, but it was still yummy overall. Later at night I went to a seafood restaurant and had a really delicious whole fish in a really really delicious lemon herb butter.
After dinner I met up with some of my new friends in Millenium Park and we splashed around in the fountain there for a bit. The really enjoyed the nightlife in Chicago. It wasn't buzzing at a frantic pace but was more laid back so you could enjoy it.
One of Megan's friends, Henry, invited us back to his place one night after we'd partied ourselves out at the clubs. He really looked after us and was extremely worried when Megan passed out while he was cooking us something to eat and we called the paramedics to check her when she hit her head on the way down. Talk about some excitement while on holidays!!
I also attended the Stargate Convention at a hotel outside the main city of Chicago. I got off the train and got onto a bus thinking it would take me to the hotel but I ended up being dropped off in the middle of nowhere beside a highway. I went into some nearby buildings but no one could help me find where I was supposed to go. I was nearly in tears thinking I was lost in the middle of nowhere until I found a taxi who was waiting for someone but he was kind enough to take me to the hotel (about five minutes away). *phew*
I got befriended by a fellow Stargate fan by the name of Milo when I was waiting in the hotel lounge. We chatted for a bit but I got alarm bells when he started telling me owned a porsche that was 'amazon green' and he had the frame of his glasses tinted that same colour to match his car. Needless to say I quickly made an excuse to leave when he offered to take me for a drive haha. He seemed harmless...just a bit too geeky for me =P
I bumped into Don S. Davis in the corridor on the way to the auditorium for the convention on my second day there. I was speechless...all I could do was ask him have a photo taken with me and I felt soooo terrible that in my awe I could not remember his name!! I also managed to catch Cliff Simon (that sexy sexy Ba'al) for a photo later on. I got signed photos from Michael Shanks and Jason Mamoa. *drool*
Me with Don S. Davis a.k.a 'Hammond of Texas'
Me with Cliff Simon a.k.a Ba'al
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