I Visit the Windy City and Get Blown Away

It's funny what a bunch of schoolwork will do to you. The weeks just sorta pass by.

Anyway, I went to Chicago recently with the school bands. We had a lot of fun.

We went to the Sears Tower. It was cool. Unfortunately, it was just after a rainstorm, and the skydeck was at cloud level. Needless to say, we didn't see too much. Which was a good thing, since I'm somewhat acrophobic. Good thing the skydeck was enclosed in glass, or I'd have been as I was when I visited the Empire State Building -- making noises like a frightened schoolgirl.

After that, we went to Comiskey Park. On opening day, no less. Being a school band, we ended up in the nosebleed section (although the view wasn't that bad, in my opinion -- just dont look down anywhere but the field). This being the first major league game I saw in person, I noticed a couple of odd customs -- like the "races" held with weird inanimate objkects on the Jumbotron. Would someone explain this to me? While you're at it, could you explain the incredible amount of peanut detritus all over the place -- even on the damn steps? Are all baseball goers a bunch of lazy bastards, or what?

On our way out of the game, we saw a guy peeing on a school bus. With children watching. We all laughed at that. Some took pictures, which landed on our band room wall. That guy is famous now.

We arrive at the Navy Pier. Not a bad place to shop. I ended up sticking with some of my friends in the local vendor area (since the schools treat even seniors like kids and require the buddy system in public). Not much else to tell.

Saw the Blue Man Group at the Briar Street Theatre. Hil-frickin'-arious. Go see it if it's in town. It's worth the 50 bucks. They took a member of our band, put him in a bunny suit, painted him blue, hung him by his legs, and smacked him into a large canvas. Wouldn't you pay 50 bucks to see that?

We went to eat at three memorable places -- Gino's Pizzaria, the Hard Rock Cafe, and Medieval Times. Gino's was your standard pizzaria, except for the graffiti room, where you can mark on the walls. Somewhere on there is my signature.

The Hard Rock was the same as any Hard Rock. You've seen one, you've seen 'em all. A lot to do with rock 'n' roll, with some real rock 'n' roll memorabilia. Interesting.

Then there was Medieval Times. It's dinner with a faux medieval tournament as entertainment. It was okay, except for the end where they told the knight to show the colors, and they flew the American flag. I mean, can't we enjoy a little escapism without having to do all this nationalistic bullshit? The purpose of escapism is to escape, no?

One more thing we liked to make fun of was a street in Chicago called Wacker Drive. Everybody loved that, especailly the derviatives of this, like the Wacker Express and the Hotel Wacker. I trust this needs no explanation.

There's the trip. I hope I get to do this sort of thing in college. Of course, with Virginia Tech, that possibility is slim. But that's a whole 'nother story...