Bukkit Tour: Windy City Day 3

Sunday August 22, 2010 - Today was the big day, the whole reason we went to Chicago. I wanted to make sure I got a chance to go to a Cubs game to experience "The Friendly Confines" of Wrigley Field. We made sure to wake up around 9:00am on Sunday. I arose with butterflies in my stomach because i was so excited. I was dressed in about ten minutes (after tending to my feet....again) and impatiently waited for the girls to follow suit. We wanted to make sure that we were on the subway bright and early so that we weren't late for the game. We didn't want to have a repeat of New York, where the train broke down and made everyone get off and back onto another train which caused us to be late for the game. So with the girls finally primped and prettied up, we set out for breakfast.

Right on the corner by the hotel was a Corner Bakery Cafe. We had eaten in one in Philadelphia and Miranda had French toast that was out of this world. We were all eager to eat there again and had decided on Friday that we would do so on Sunday. So here we were two days later all primed up and ready to go. Fortunately it wasn't terribly busy for a Sunday morning, but it was definitely full. All three of us ordered the same entrée: the French Toast. The only variation in our orders was beverage. Disappointingly, the Chicago Corner Bakery Cafe's French Toast was not nearly as good as Philly's. In Philadelphia they used cinnamon raisin toast and it was almost like a little loaf of bread. Not so in Chi-town. Not only that, but it was barely warm. Don't get me wrong, it was good but it wasn't what we all remembered from Philadelphia.

So with our bellies now full and me with a cup of coffee, we set out for the red line subway. Wrigley Field is a short nine stops away from where we were staying downtown and fortunately we got on our way early enough that there wasn't a crush of Cubs fans trying to get on the train. It certainly got more crowded the closer we got, but it wasn't terrible.

We got off of the train at the Addison stop and could see Wrigley Field as soon as we stepped onto the platform. I was giddy as a school girl. We made our way onto the street and snapped a few photos across the street so we had the obligatory Wrigley Field sign in the background. We crossed the street and walked into the stadium and there was quite the buzz about the place. You could just feel that it was a different place to watch a game than all of the newer stadiums. It was very similar to how it felt walking to Fenway Park. I was expecting the fans to be a little more rabid than they were, but it was also nice not having non-baseball-know-it-all-guy sitting right behind me telling the person he's with everything about baseball (but being wrong about things more than half of the time).

Our seats were in the fourth row of section 226 so we had a fantastic view. It was also nice that the seats were in the shade. It was the most comfortable ball game I'd been to all year. I was actually wishing I had a sweatshirt and was a little envious of the one Miranda had on. Unbeknown to us prior to arriving at the stadium, we were about to witness history. It was Sweet Lou Pinella's last game before retiring and the last time that Bobby Cox would visit Wrigley Field as the manager of the Atlanta Braves (due to his impending retirement at the end of the season). As a Cubs fan for the day, the game was laughable. The final score was 16-5 and I swear, if that was the best effort that Cubs 3rd baseman Aramis Ramierez is capable of, he is a complete piece of crap. I've seen rec league girls softball players put in more effort to field a ball than he did. It was absolutely disgraceful. Wrigley Field is an absolutely gorgeous ballpark and I'm ecstatic that I had an opportunity to see a game there. At least my streak continues. If I come to your ballpark and I'm rooting for your team, you are going to lose and lose bad. The only exception to this rule that I've during the 2010 baseball season is the New York Yankees. They are the only team that I've rooted for that won. I don't think that really counts though because although I was rooting for them on the outside, in my heart of hearts I wanted them to lose.

When the game was over, we boarded the red line and left Wrigleyville. We got back to the hotel and as usual, it was time for me to take a little nap before we went out and did anything else. When napping time was over, Laela had decided that we should eat dinner at the Weber Grill Restaurant. It was Sunday evening and it was absolutely packed. It was a 45 minute wait to get a table, but it was well worth it in the end. All three of us had the same three things on the menu that we couldn't decide on so each of us ordered one of them and we all shared. We ordered the following: the hickory smoked prime rib, the filet mignon, and the skirt steak. The skirt steak is marinaded in a ginger-soy sauce and then topped with smokey grilled onions and peppers. All three steaks were delicious and they were all served with garlic roasted mashed potatoes. I asked to have my mashed potatoes substituted by a baked one. It was quite honestly the largest potato I have ever seen in my life. It was the size of a pee-wee league football and could have been two meals all by itself.

Having sufficiently stuffed our gullets again, we had one more adventure to embark upon for the evening. We wanted to use our City Passes to visit the Skydeck in the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower). We arrived at about 9:20 and the observation deck closed at 10:00 so we had made it just in time. Coincidentally, this was the same time and day that we visited the observation deck of the Empire State Building so we were expecting long lines. Much to our surprise there were not that many people there. The lobby was under renovation, so it was kind of beat but after a quick elevator ride up to the 103rd floor, the view was incredible. I love getting to go to the tops of tall buildings at night and getting to see the cityscapes all lit up. The Skydeck also has a unique feature for visitors. It is "The Ledge" which is a glass cube which extends off of the side of the building. You can step out onto it and see right through the glass floor to the street 103 floors below. It is quite the experience. Miranda was really nervous about going into it. We walked in together and her knees were completely wobbly and it took her a minute to adjust to it but she finally gained some confidence that she wouldn't be plummeting to her untimely death, relaxed and enjoyed it. It was a really weird feeling being out there. Don't get me wrong, I had to back into it while looking at the exit sign and then turn around and look down or else I might not have done it either. 10:00 rolled around a little quicker than I would have liked and thus concluded our last full day in Chicago. We went back to the Palmer House, set our alarm for 7:55am Monday morning and went to sleep.

Bukkit Tour: Windy City Day 2

Here we are for our second day in Chicago. As usual, I was the early riser and got dressed. As I was going to leave to get coffee, Laela stirred and asked what I was doing. To my surprise, she hopped up and got dressed to join me. I wasn't going to do anything fancy, just run down to the Starbucks that is in the lobby. So that's what we did. We got coffee, a hot chocolate, and a starbucks milkshake for Miranda. I think she calls it a "cream based caramel frappuccino." I guess it's not as hip to say milkshake. We also grabbed a blueberry muffin, apple fritter, and a cinnamon roll which we all shared. Now that we were all nourished, we were able to get our day started.

Our first stop of the day was the Navy Pier. We decided to walk from the hotel because it's pretty easy to get to. Walk to the Lake Michigan, take a left and follow the path to the Pier. We decided to take the "alternative route" and walk down Michigan Avenue. Well we ended up overshooting the Navy Pier by about 3/4 of a mile and ended up on Northwestern University's campus. After getting ourselves turned around, we finally made it to the Pier. Our friends the Brannaman family relocated to Chicago about a week or two ago and we were meeting them at the pier. They had taken the Metra train into the city. So we up with Brad, Ann, Ellie, Ginnie, and Marty on the pier and started walking. I'd liken Navy Pier to a "cleaned up" smaller version of the Coney Island Board Walk. There are lots of simialar things to do but it's just not as dirty. The first thing we did was walk to the end of the pier and get some photos and after all of the walking, everyone decided they were hungry. We had lunch at the Billy Goat Tavern. Apparently there was a Saturday Night Live sketch in the 70's that made fun of it, but I don't remember it. Something about someone yelling "Cheezborger, Cheezborger,Cheezborger!" and that's exactly what they do as you walk in. It was okay, but it wasn't fantastic. That's alright though, I washed it down with a couple of margaritas to get my afternoon going. On the pier there are also a bunch of lake tours available by boat. They looked interesting and it was beautiful weather so we decided to take one of the boat tours. The tour that we decided to take was cash only so we needed to get some money. While Brad and I went to go knock over an ATM the women and children bought some ride tickets at Pier Park went to the giant Navy Pier Ferris wheel. Miranda and Ginnie rode in their own car while Laela, Ann, Ellie and Mary rode in another. We met back up at the end of the ride and went to board our boat. I somehow managed to turn myself around (which became a recurring theme for the entire trip to Chicago) and started walking the wrong way toward the boat. It was about 1:15 and the boat departed at 1:30. Once we realized that we needed to turn around we hastened our pace to get to the boat and made it with just a couple of minutes to spare.

The boat tour was about 45 minutes long and went out on Lake Michigan and strafed the city so that you could get a view of the Chicago skyline. The tour guide was decent but you could tell he'd done it a million times. He provided lots of factual information about the city and the pier but nothing that you couldn't pick up by reading the City of Chicago or the Navy Pier Wikipedia page. It was a real nice boat ride though.

The kids still had some ride tickets left after we did the boat tour, so we went back to Pier Park and the kids rode the Wave Swinger. That had pretty much exhausted the quick things to do at Navy Pier. So with the afternoon still being young the group decided that we'd walk over to Millennium Park and then stop to get something to drink. Turns out that Millennium Park is about 1.75 miles from the Navy Pier. I had underestimated how long the walk was. I got us turned around (again...remember the theme) and had to resort to my GPS to get my bearings. I guess that's the lousy part about visiting a city that you aren't familiar with. We finally made it to Millennium Park and there was a little fountain that you could dip your feet in so everyone sat down to take five. We hung out there for a few minutes but it was pretty crowded and the park rangers made it anything but stress free. Feet only! Sit down! You can't be in the fountain! Relax grandpa, it's just people putting their feet in the water. It's not like they were performing some kind of precision task like open hear surgery.

We still hadn't gotten those drinks yet and after the death march that I led everyone on, the gang was thirsty. So we got back up, crossed Michigan Avenue and went to the Jamba Juice. I had never been in one of these establishments before so i didn't know what to expect. The place was packed. It stands to reason since it was a hot August afternoon in the middle of downtown. the staff was quite boisterous and there was a pretty sizable line. I had just planned on getting a water or a Coke. Well, no dice on the Coke in a Jamba Juice. I'm not really the adventurous type when it comes to fruit drinks or smoothie type things so I figured that I'd just stick with the tried and true orange juice. Little did I know that they'd pulverize a fresh bag of oranges to get me a 32oz OJ and I've got to admit, it was one of the best cups of juice I'd ever had and it wasn't even crazy pulpy. We managed to get a table and "collected" enough chairs so that most of us could sit. So we enjoyed our juices, the air conditioning, and and each other's company.

It had been a pretty long afternoon and as most of you who have been following the blog know, around 3:00 or 4:00 o'clock, I tend to get tired enough to need a nap. I was past due at this point so we all went back to the Palmer House for a bit so that the Brannaman's could look up how to get back to the Metra from where we were at and so that I could lay down. By the time we got back to the hotel we'd walked a solid five miles and I was plum tuckered out. The train left a little later in the afternoon so there was some time to kill. Most everyone went back over to Millennium Park to play in the Crown Fountain but I stayed behind to get some shut eye.

The Brannamans and Behlers parted ways at about 6:00 so that they could catch their train on time. It was great to see them and we're honored to have been their first guests in Chicago. Saturday was a really fun day and it was nice to be able to catch up.

All of that walking makes one hungry, so now that I was rested up we decided to find something to eat. We walked around downtown for a bit but really didn't see anything that caught our fancy that all three of us would eat. We finally happened upon and Italian restaurant called Pizano's. It was a pretty long wait to get a table but the food sounded delicious and the family was finished walking for the day. So while we were waiting we went to the bar. The place was wall to wall people and very loud. They finally called us to get our table and to our surprise they led us to a downstairs portion of the restaurant and it was MUCH quieter. Not only was it quieter, but we got a nice secluded table that was bordered by 2 1/2 walls. Chicago sports memorabilia covered the walls and the Chicago Bears pre-season football game was on television so it was kind of fun. All of us ended up having pasta. How I managed to not eat another Chicago style pizza is beyond me, but we were warned when we walked in that a pizza would take 45 minutes to make and I just didn't feel like waiting that long. I chose the fettuccine alfredo with chicken and it was out of this world. In fact, it was so good and the portion so large that both of my girls ended up sharing it with me. As the meal concluded we decided that we'd like to get a piece of cheesecake for dessert, but our lackwit waiter (terrible service and zero personality) informed us about 10 minutes later that they were out for the day. So sweet tooth unsatisfied we set off back to the hotel.

We went back to our room and started watching television when one of us and I don't remember who (it was probably Laela because she's always full of good ideas) decided that we should go to the hotel's restaurant to get our sweet on. The Lockwood Restaurant is the name of the hotel eatery and it is S-W-A-N-K-Y. I felt like a complete dirtbag walking in wearing my camo shorts and my Thrasher t-shirt, but hey...my money spends just as well as anyone else's. They sat us in a round booth that had a mesh divider right next to the hotel lobby. It was awesome because it gave us the opportunity to do some people watching while we had our dessert. Laela and Miranda each got tea to drink. Laela ordered Kahlua cheesecake and Miranda had some kind of apple and ice cream concoction. I ordered three freshly baked cookies. The were in ascending order of awesome: chocolate chip, macadamia nut, and oatmeal raisin and I washed them down with an icy cold glass of milk. We must've sat for nearly an hour people watching and enjoying each other's company. It was one of those perfect, spur of the moment, unplanned activities that ended up being my favorite non-baseball related experience of the trip. And with that, we made our way back to our room and called it a night.

Bukkit Tour Sequel: The Windy City Strikes Back

First off, I'd like to wish my daughter Miranda Behler a very happy 14th birthday. In this chapter the Bukkit Tour brings us to Chicago for a long weekend. We're here just to visit and take in Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

We arose bright and early on Friday morning and got to the airport at about 7:30am. Getting my girls out of bed and motivated to get into the car is a task of monumental proportions so I'm very glad we made it to Port Columbus International airport on time. We're travelling light this time and all had carry-on bags. This is the second trip in a week that I've tossed my belongings in my new Seagull Bag and set out on a trip. It's kind of liberating being able to throw all of your stuff in one bag and just going. Port Columbus was pretty uneventful other than the fact that the TSA decided that one of our bags was "unattended" and then had to go through the whole thing. Bye bye shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, and toothpaste. Our flight left Columbus promptly at 9:15am and we were safely on the ground at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago at 9:30. We were on a small commuter jet, only three seats wide. Miranda sat by herself and Laela sat next to me. It was an uneventful flight; although, leaving Columbus was kind of fun because we essentially followed I-270 and were able to see things like Hoover Reservoir, Zoombeezi Bay, and most of the North end of Columbus from the sky. When we made our travel plans, we made a conscious decision to not get a car and just use Chicago's mass transit system. I believe we made a good choice. We were able to take the subway from the airport to within three blocks the Palmer House Hilton which would be our home for the weekend. The subway ride provided us ample entertainment in the form of a group of six people who had been drinking since the early morning and were on their way to see the Cubs game on Friday. They swayed too and fro on the train like a field of wheat on a windy late summer day. They were loud, obnoxious, and truth be told, and ready to be cast in MTV's next reality show. One of the things that I really love about Laela is that after almost nineteen years, we can just look at each other and know from the look in one and other's eyes what the other is thinking. In this particular case, it was "dumb asses."

Since we had packed lightly, it didn't take long to get settled into our room and get going for the day. We promptly went back out the hotel entrance and got a cab to take us to Gino's East of Chicago. It was one of only two things that I HAD to do while we were in the windy city. Laela and I had travelled to Chicago not long after Miranda was born in order to see the Descendents on their 1996 tour in support of the album "Everything Sucks." One of my enduring memories from that trip was going to Gino's East and getting authentic Chicago Style pizza. What makes Gino's unique is that everywhere you look in the restaurant, people have graffitied their names. Every surface is covered by sharpie or paint marker. I had loved the food there and had vowed to return if I ever ended up in Chicago again.

After we finished lunch we decided to try to take in some of Chicago's sites in the time we had left for the day. We made our way to Shedd Aquarium. From wikipedia: "The John G. Shedd Aquarium is an indoor public aquarium in Chicago, Illinois in theUnited States that opened on May 30, 1930." It was Friday and it was PACKED with people. I'm not a person that is prone to feelings of clausterphobia, but I came pretty close on Friday. fortunately, when we made our way away from the exhibits on the main floor and went downstairs the crowd thinned out. The highlights of the aquarium were in reverse order of awesome: the beluga whales, the smile sharks (Pacific white-sided dolphins), and the sea otters. The penguins were pretty cute too, but the family's favorite was without question the sea otters (although I had an affinity for the sea lions myself). We bought tickets to their water show spectacular called "Fantasea" and it was "Fantacrap." The best part of it was when the lights came back on. Laela, Miranda, and I all had a good time making fun of it while it was going on though. We were smart enough to not sit by anyone who might have been seriously trying to watch it.

When the show was over, Shedd Aquarium was then closed. So we left the building and walked along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. We walked through Grant Park and saw the "Married with Children" fountain, and also stolled through Millennium Park. From their website, Millennium Park is described as: "Millennium Park is an award-winning center for art, music, architecture and landscape design. The result of a unique partnership between the City of Chicago and the philanthropic community, the 24.5-acre Park features the work of world-renowned architects, planners, artists and designers." The Crown Fountain was definitely the most interesting part of Millennium Park for me.

Went back to the hotel to freshen up and by this time we were pretty hungry. So we went out onto Monroe St. and just started walking with the idea that we would just stop at the first restaurant that caught our fancy. We passed a few and decided that we'd just double-back and go to the first one we passed. It was the Grill Room Chop House. It is a steak house that is close to our hotel and the food was amazing. Unfortunately, I had over done it at lunch and wasn't all that hungry so I had a Caesar salad, French onion soup, and crab cakes. Laela had tillapia, and Miranda had filet mingion with garlic mashed potatoes. When Miranda had finished her birthday dinner, she exclaimed that it was the best meal she had ever had.

So that pretty much ended our Friday in Chicago. We returned to the hotel, watched a comedy special and turned in for the night. It was a perfect day.

No New Tale To Tell

Well, here we are a full one week out since I began treatment. Here are my impressions of the first week:

Monday August 9th was my first day of infusion. Other than the Benadryl making me sleepy and the fact that I was there for six and a half hours, I felt no ill effects on day one. Day two I also felt fine (and truth be told started to get a little cocky).

I woke up on Wednesday still feeling good so I thought that I would go on a training walk for the Spirit of Columbus Half-Marathon. I had set out to do eight miles. Everything started out great and the first mile was a breeze. Unfortunately I had neglected to check the weather forecast before I left the house. Really dark clouds rolled in and before I knew it I was walking in a torrential downpour, complete with heavy lightning and thunder. The rain had completely soaked me to the bone within a minuted. Being the dumb-ass that I am, I ignored these as signs that I might want to turn around and go home, so I forged ahead. I walked West on Bethel Rd from Godown Rd to Riverside Dr and back. On the way back, by the time I got to Bethel and Dierker, I felt pretty bad. My feet hurt and my body was starting to get really sore. I finally got home a little over a 1/2 hour later and took a long hot shower. It felt fantastic and I didn't want to get out. I finally did get out and was a complete wreck. I chalked it up to not having trained as much as I should have and that it was just a shock to the system. That turned out not to be the case. For the next two days I had body aches all over like a really bad case of the flu and I was really tired. Lots of Advil and naps.

By Friday morning I was mostly recovered and rode my motorcycle to Dayton to hang out with my good friend Dan and his family. The ride there was fantastic. Rather than taking Interstate 70 West, I took US-42 South to US-35 West. It was a lot more scenic. Lots of long straightaways and fresh pavement. I managed a new speed record for myself too...he he he. I got to Dayton and had no trouble finding Dan's house. We hung out, went out to dinner and then went and saw a Dayton Dragons game at 5/3rd Field. It was a good game but the Dragons ended up falling to the Lugnuts.

Saturday morning we got up and went to have breakfast at a local eatery and then I made my way home. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was Matsuricon 2010 at the Doubletree Hotel in Worthington. I had promised Miranda that I would take her. So I got home, showered quickly and took Miranda to the con. Miranda had worked for days on her cosplay costume, She had worked on it so hard. I was really proud of her. We got to the convention and went in. She had met a friend from the library there so I was instantly the third wheel. I hung out for about an hour and went home. Saturday evening we went to Val and Kevin's for a party. It was nice seeing a bunch of our good friends again in a relaxed atmosphere. Thanks to Tim for pulling DD duty again.

Sunday we dropped Miranda off at Matsuricon again and Kevin came over to help us transport our new lawnmower home. I also parted with a couple of old friends on Sunday. My 1983 Yamaha Virago 500 and my 1981 CB750k both got new homes on Sunday. They went to Kevin. He's the only one I trusted to make good things happen with both of them and I'm happy that they have a new home where they'll be loved. That Yamaha and I made a lot of good memories together and Kevin was around for most of them so I know she'll get the respect she deserves.

Which brings us to Monday August 16th, my second infusion. It was a much shorter duration this time because I only received one of the three cancer killing drugs. So I was in at 9:00 and out before noon. It was not the six and a half hour ordeal that the 9th was. Today is Tuesday the 17th and again I'm feeling no ill effects yet but I'm not feeling nearly as cocky as I was last week. I'll just wait to see what transpires and I'll let you know next week.

Hump day and beyond

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. My treatment decided that it would punch me in the face Wednesday afternoon. I had been feeling good in the morning (and truth be told starting to get a little cocky about the treatment not affecting me) and decided to take a training walk for the Spirit of Columbus half-marathon. I had planned on walking eight miles. Well, I only got through seven and a half miles and I really started to feel like ass. I got home and I was wiped out. I had figured that since I hadn't been training as much as I should that it was just my body's reaction to a long walk. Last year while training for the Columbus Marathon when I would come home from a long run (16 miles or more) I'd be a wreck and couldn't do anything for the rest of the day. That's how I felt on Wednesday, but the ache was different.

Rather than just the muscles that I used being sore, my whole body was sore. It was like I'd contracted a really bad flu and just had a really dull ache that took everything over. I just didn't want to do anything the rest of the day. I ended up napping for a few hours, got up and just lazed around the house for the rest of the day and finally went to bed at 11:00. On Thursday when I woke up I still felt pretty bad. My appetite was still good and I hadn't had any nausea to deal with as of yet, so that's a plus. Laela and I went out and did a little bit of shopping and then came home. We rode our bicycles to lunch with my mother-in-law at Hunan Lion. That whopping three miles worth of bike ride would end up being all of the exercise I would have on Thursday.

Here it is Friday and I'm feeling much better. I certainly wouldn't say that I'm 100% but I definitely feel good enough to go out grab the day by the horns. I'll be riding my motorcycle to Dayton a little later today and am going to take in a Dayton Dragons game with my friend Dan this evening.