Big J and I took a couple of days off from the usual grind and popped down to Chicago for a little R&R and a concert. The trip started off with a little traffic but nothing majorly unsettling until we tried to locate our hotel. Don’t get me wrong, this is a major hotel just off of the magnificent mile – not hard to find at all.
Unless your GPS is telling you it is in one place when it is actually in another.
In defense of the GPS, I think it was directing me to the back of the building (I’m not sure why!) rather than to the parking garage, which is what I was looking for. In any case, I finally turned the GPS off, circled the block a few times, and found it on my own.
The next glitch came when Big J asked one of the men at the front desk where the restaurant we were having dinner at was located. The gentleman informed him it was about a 15 minute walk and gave him a map. An hour later, we were still circling the same general area trying to find the street. I had gotten up that morning and already done a 4 mile walk/run and by now my feet were killing me. At that point, I strongly suggested we give up and take a cab. When we gave the cabby the address of the restaurant, he started laughing as we were within a stone’s throw of it all along. He was nice enough to just point us in the right direction and we arrived in time to enjoy an excellent meal.
After dinner, we headed over to the United Center for the George Michael concert. Having no idea where the United Center was, we wisely took a cab there since it turned out to be quite a hike. I briefly wondered about getting back, but was assured when I saw a line of cabs parked outside the center upon our arrival.
The concert was great – much better than we had even expected. The stage was set up with a curved screen that constantly showed videos and images while George performed. He was in great voice and performed a wide variety of his hits. The crowd was very responsive and danced through the entire concert, including two encores. The show lasted almost two and a half hours and we were pretty beat by the end.
When we came out of the United Center, I noticed that the line of taxis was gone. At first we figured that they must have to stay on the main street since the exiting traffic quickly became a mess.
As we walked around, we realized that there were no taxis anywhere. We also realized that there were quite a few people in the same boat that we were. (A few people who had enjoyed a few too many cocktails mistook a police car for a taxi and attempted to catch a ride home that way. A little comic relief is always welcome.) We started to get a little concerned about how we were going to get home.
After about half an hour of trying to flag down a cab and failing, we spotted a bus heading toward Michigan Ave and decided to take it. Once we boarded the bus, we recognized a number of people from the concert and began chatting. Luckily, one of the guys sitting near us lived near our hotel and gave us a heads up when we got to the stop where we needed to get off. We walked the rest of the way with some other people staying in our hotel.
I’m still not sure why there were no taxis outside the United Center after the concert, but a huge business opportunity exists here! We would have paid quite a bit to any taxi willing to take us at that point. (Just an idea.)
We took our time getting home and stopped to do some shopping along the way. It was nice to have a mini-vacation in the middle of the week!
Are you finding that you are needing a vacation too? Then you need to know about Beaches’ WonderFALL celebration! It is taking place during the off-peak season months of September and October. Not only do you get to enjoy everything Beaches offers year-round but you can SAVE up to 45% off** published rates and get 2 Nights Free** (on stays of 7 nights or more).
And as part of this WonderFALL Celebration, Beaches has a great fall line up of special events and activities. From even more Caribbean Adventures with Sesame Street® that includes the premiere of a brand new stage show and a new activity with Abby Cadabby, exclusive Gordon and Elmo live performances and special parenting workshops hosted by Sesame educators, to Dive In Movies, “Baby You’re A Star Photo Contest”( where your child could win the chance to be featured in the next Beaches brochure) and even a celebration for Grandparents! Go HERE for more information.
Oooooh! Aaaaaah!
Kerry McKibbins says
I love the idea of a mini vaca in the middle of the week.
Kathryn says
I was wondering about how those GM concerts were going. When I saw him on American Idol he sounded awful. I’m glad to hear he is back in voice.
Glad you had a great time! -except for the sore feet.
Melisa says
Just stopping by to say hello: thanks for stopping by my place!
(and I highly doubt that my cell phone takes better photos than yours: LOL)
Dana says
Wow! I’d have loved to see George Michael in concert. You lucky gal! 🙂