Summer road trip, part 1
Saturday, June 30
This will be a summer full of travel. To kick it off, Phil and I headed northwest.
After a long drive from Columbus to Chicago, most of it through our home state of Indiana, we arrived in the Windy City and checked into the Drake Hotel.
It's a lovely vintage hotel, full of charm and character and, on this day, hot sweaty people.
It was about 100 degrees outside and despite the best efforts of the air conditioning, it was probably 80 degrees inside.
We met Phil's brother and his wife and daughter, who also happened to be passing through the Midwest, and we all went over to Oak Street Beach seeking relief from the summer swelter. None of us had swimsuits so relief came in the form of cold beers under a pergola.
After we all headed back to our respective hotel rooms for cold showers and breathable air, we had dinner at Gene and Georgetti Steakhouse. And by dinner, I mean OH SO MUCH DELIGHTFUL FOOD! Prime rib, lamb chops, baked potato, mushrooms, creamed spinach, and meatballs the size of the child who ordered them.
I snapped not one single photo of our meals, an epic fail of a budding food/travel blogger. I would hang my head in shame but sometimes you just need to live in the moment.
We came nowhere close to eating it all. Zero food was wasted. All the remains were boxed and eventually consumed by our family since they were able to transport the leftovers to their next destination. Sigh of relief.
Sunday, July 1
Item to cross off the to-do list of my life: See the Cubs play at Wrigley Field.
Phil and I saw the Cubbies beat the Twins on what was the second hottest day I have ever experienced in Chicago (see above for number one.) It was stifling, oppressive, miserable -- all the adjectives. But the home team prevailed. We wimped out after the seventh inning stretch because even in the shade we were sweating like people who sweat buckets of sweat.
Making a mental note that lemon ice is the most delightful thing one can enjoy when attending a sporting event inside what feels like a pizza oven. Apply the frozen container to pulse points for extra relief.
After taking yet another cold shower back at the Drake, we could not possibly go back outside in the balmy air. We dined at Coq d'Or in the hotel, a beautiful lounge that boasts it holds the second liquor license issued in Chicago following the repeal of Prohibition.
We suspect the bar had a secret past as a speakeasy before that liquor license was awarded but that's only a guess.
The food was good -- I had a Southwest-inspired salad and Phil got the lobster roll -- and my "tequila daisy" cocktail was bright and refreshing. Elvis was our waiter and he was super slow and really inattentive. We'd go back but we'd avoid his section.
After a good night's sleep we were on to the next adventure.
