When Rob mentioned that he entered the Chicago Marathon, it was the perfect opportunity to visit a new city. I’ve visited many cities and lived in a few, and I’ve always been curious about Chicago, minus the weather. While considering colleges in high school, the University of Chicago, UPenn, and Boston University came to mind. In the end, I didn’t consider U of Chicago, but visited Penn and BU and chose BU. I’ve always had a certain intrigue and interest in Chicago.
I’ve had a mentor-friend since 1998 who lives in the Chicago area and decided to meet him for the first time! We had five major highlights to look forward to on this trip: Seeing Rob and Andy, watching Rob in the Marathon, meeting one of my mentors, meeting our cousin Ken from New Mexico who was in town for a conference, and exploring a new city.
I shed tears of joy on the plane in anticipation of meeting my mentor, a genius who prefers to live a low profile life. I wish I could say more about this person; I’m overjoyed that we know him. We landed Thursday morning, rented a car and headed west to meet our friend. We treasured every minute with him and didn’t want it to come to an end.
We took a nice walk along the Fox River and had a delightful lunch at Tusk Thai Cuisine, a locally owned restaurant that makes food fresh, daily, in house. He showed us around town, as he explained the rich, interesting history. Later that evening, we had dinner at a quaint family owned Italian restaurant, Riganato’s. The food, atmosphere and personal service was unique. Our friend has a warmth and magnetism in which people are drawn. I cherish these type of people and found myself smiling inside. Bob and I soon realized that 20 hours with him wasn’t enough and we’re already planning another trip back, when we can set aside 4 or 5 days. I was unable to sleep that night, as I had so much on my mind.
On Friday, we headed back to Chicago to sign into our hotel for the next 3 days. Although the weather was cool and rainy, we got familiar with the Loop, walked around Navy Pier and met my son, his wife and 2 of their friends for dinner at True Food Kitchen. Later that night, we headed over to the Sheraton to meet cousin Ken and didn’t get back to our hotel until 1:30 am. I thought I would fall asleep standing up on the way back. We walked about 9 miles that day.
Saturday morning was a day of sightseeing. 8 more miles of walking to places such as the Signature Lounge in the Hancock Building, the Cathedral, the “Bean” and a few nearby parks. We went to St. Peters Church and at the end of the mass, the priest called all the Marathon runners up to the front for a blessing. Over 100 runners proceeded to the front. Everywhere we went, there was awe and admiration for the runners. It’s quite an undertaking to be well trained to run and complete a marathon!
I really wanted to go to The Italian Villages: La Cantina, and was disappointed to call in the morning and be told that they were completely booked until 9:00pm. That was too late and that was a pattern we kept running into in trying to make reservations. Our runner wanted to be finished eating by 7:30 or 8pm, if possible. We decided to wander around in search of a restaurant when the need arose. I was a little nervous about this, but we had no other choice.
At 6:15pm, with no reservation, we found ourselves in front of the Italian Villages! The restaurant was crowded, the maître d’ greeted us and said he would seat us within fifteen minutes if we could be done by 8:00pm. Absolutely! The service was very good, the food was delicious and the atmosphere was cozy. I would recommend La Cantina.
Sunday morning – the big day! We arrived at mile 14 around 8:40am, and like clockwork, Rob ran by around 9:00am. We scooted over to mile 17 and saw him again and waited for Christian. I began videotaping and although we never saw Christian, we later took a closer look at the video and viola – there was Christian!
By 11:00 am, we were texting Andy back and forth, trying to meet at the finish line staging area, waiting for Rob to emerge. He was walking slowly, with a big grin on his face. He didn’t dare sit down for fear of not being able to get up! We went back to his hotel and Bob and I rested in the lobby for a few hours while Rob showered and napped. We were all refreshed and enjoyed some hors d’oeuvres with a great view in the Cityscape Bar. We were happy to sit down. I didn’t dare complain, but my feet and legs needed a rest after walking 25 miles during the course of 4 days. Later, we returned to a restaurant that Rob and Andy liked: Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria. The wait was over an hour, the restaurant was crowded, but the Chicago style pizza was delicious, especially the vegetarian pizza.
It was sad to say goodbye to Rob and Andy, but we’ll see them again soon. The most surprising thing about our trip to Chicago was that Bob and I really, really liked the city! We’d like to return next September or October. Actually, since I prefer warm weather, I’d be most happy visiting the windy city in June, July or August. Our 2020 calendar is going to be busy, so the fall might work best for us.
Monday was our travel day. We returned home after a wonderful time filled with new adventures. I wanted a few more days in Chicago, but sometimes it’s better to end a trip on a positive note than to overdo it. Rob and I kept texting back and forth and were still on a high from the trip for at least a week afterwards. Knowing and seeing athletes inspires me to solidify a few goals of my own…
This is why we liked Chicago: It wasn’t as crowded as I expected; the parts we saw were clean, well-maintained and graffiti-free; there were not as many police, taxis and loud blaring noises on the streets. Taxis were white, not yellow, so they didn’t stand out. For a city, I felt a positive level of politeness by employees and tourists. Public transportation worked well for us. We rode every color of the Loop except pink, green and yellow. There’s more to explore and we look forward to going back.
I was surprised to see less diversity as opposed to NYC or Washington DC. I thought Chicago would be a lot like NYC, but smaller in size. Not at all. Goodbye Chicago – hope to see you soon.
LynnMGriesemer 