Vacation in Chicago, IL.

So two weekends ago, a few of us (Marie, Sohel, Vikram, and I) took off to Chicago to meet up with Mai.

Thursday, June 19
Vik left for Chicago around noon.
Sohel was supposed to leave around 3:30 PM, but it was delayed.

I left work a little early to start packing and leave with Marie to the airport. I check the status and our flight is also delayed…cool more time to pack. So I pick up Marie and we head to the airport. The storms have subsided and weather looks fine for flying. By this time the Portugal has completely lost to Germany and were giving Sohel shit about it on the way from the parking lot to the terminal.

I get a phone call from Orbitz about our flight being delayed by an hour; they’re a little late, but a notification nonetheless. So we go through security and Marie didn’t believe me when I told her that we had to take off our shoes. What a NOOB! We arrive at the gate and I check the screens…11:20PM. Wait. ANOTHER delay?! Well, what can you do, right? So we sit and wait. I get a little pissy so I walked around to find a drink. EVERYTHING IS CLOSED. We’re heading back to the gate when I see everyone who was just there five minutes ago leaving. THEY CANCELED THE FLIGHT. Marie and I are walking back with the group with our two bottles of Vitamin Water. Long story short, our flight was rescheduled to 1:20 PM the following day and we got to extend our Sunday morning flight to an evening one.

Anyway, I remember Sarah wanted to go to Deco to see Kaba Modern. It was filled with teenie boppers, blah. I had a few drinks, relaxed and just hung out with Sarah and Marie.

Friday, June 20
I got my rest and we were off to the airport again. Marie took off her shoes at the security line without question. She’s a quick learner, hahaha. At the gate, we learn that our flight is delayed, but this time due to mechanical problems. They couldn’t tell us how long the delay was since they didn’t know how long the mechanical problems were going to take to fix. Eventually, they found another plane for us to take and we moved to another gate to wait to more. So we finally board and I don’t have to sit next to Marie on this flight, WHEW! We take off and I’m thinking, “what else can go wrong?”

Well, on our way in, we were in a holding pattern because of the weather in Chicago. After about thirty minutes, the captain comes on and lets us know we need fuel. Ok, cool fuel…let’s land in Chicago and get fuel. We landed in St. Louis. We didn’t have a gate ready for us to get fuel when we landed, so we hung out at the tarmac fora while. By this time I’m even considering taking a train from St. Louis it Chicago, lol. We finally fuel up, take off and FINALLY land. Awesome, time to PARTY.

The captain comes on as we’re taxiing, and tells us that the original gate we were assigned was taken and we’d have to move to another gate. OMGWTF. We head to the other side of the airport it looks like and right when it looks like we’re about to be done with this adventure, we end up going back to the original gate we were assigned. I’ve never been on any delayed or canceled flight before, so I guess I’m taking my fair share of it on this trip to Chicago. Hopefully, I don’t get this crap again…

So, it’s time to party at the Enclave with Mai. Here’s a summary:

• We drink.
• Vikram drops his drink.
• Marie wants to sleep. Marie gets shot with cold air. Marie wakes up until the next shot of air hits her.
• We bump into a couple who are also Chicago noobs and we all try to go to another club, but it’s packed as hell.
• Mai and Chris take Marie home because she’s weak sauce.
• Sohel, Vikram and I go to Rush and Division. We somehow end up at Dunkin Donuts.
• The Octagon.
• Security pays us a visit.
• ZZZzzz…

Saturday, June 21

Marie left without getting her wallet and phone from me the night before. She would have had a really hard time finding her way back, but thanks to Mai’s phone she finally gets back to the hotel. I was hungry as hell, so I popped open a bag of sunflower seeds while everyone was getting ready. Once that was done, we started our day trying to find Giordano’s. We got lost a few times, but we finally got to it…and man was it worth it! We were way too stuffed to finish ALL the food.

We decided to take the Architecture Tour. We tried finding a bus to get us there, but waiting sucked, so we took a cab. We got in line and guess was in front of us? That Chicago noob couple from the night before, crazy. If anyone visits Chicago, I highly recommend this tour. It’s really relaxing (so relaxing Sohel passed out) and you get to hear about all these artsy-fartsy terminology I kind of remember from Art History class a few years back.

We start heading back and trying to figure out what to do. We go to the theatre district and took a few pictures in front of the Chicago Theatre. I’m not too interested in this, so no pictures.

The night in summary:

• Sohel lost his ID…possibly at Rush and Division, Dunkin Donuts or in cab on the way back to the hotel, BOO.
• We go to SoundBar and the anal bouncer wouldn’t let Sohel in.
• It was supposed to be free, but the anal lady upstairs said we were one minute late.
• More drinking.
• Guys in the corner throwing ten whole one dollar bills in their own area, talk about ballin’!!!
• “Dough for a Blow” bachelorette party girl.
• Marie falls down on the stairs trying to walk up.
• We all head to Wiener Circle.
• Vikram takes a pit stop in a low-lit area with a metal gate.
• Vikram passes out on one of the red benches.
• The crowd DAWGS on the Canadian’s inability to drink.
• Mai orders and we eat, YUMMMM!!!
• Vikram throws up while we try to head over and get a cab.
• Vikram almost gets a chocolate milkshake.
• Back at the hotel to find Sohel up, packed, and ready to hit the airport due to some new ID requirements.
• ZZZzzz…

Sunday, June 22
Morning comes, and the alarms sounds, but Vikram still sleeps. He’s supposed to make the same flight back with Sohel, but because he’s Canadian and can’t take the alcohol, he misses his flight. Good thing United doesn’t charge for rescheduling a missed flight! Marie and I are on our own and we go to Millenium Park and Shedd Aquarium.

After getting our bags, we head over to Mai’s area to have dinner and we headed off to the airport. Good thing Mai checked us in! On our way in, we check our flight take a wild guess what the status was: DELAYED. This time by an hour. You have to love flying! I guess through all that crap, I got lucky, on the flight back, I sat next to a United employee. He got the first class meal, but when he got it, he offered it to me! Cheese, meat, fruits, crackers, YUMMMMMMM!!!

I need another trip to Chicago to do all the stuff I want to. Hopefully the flight won’t be as bad as it was on this trip.