The Chicago Report
We got off about 30 minutes later than I had wished, but it never really affected our trip. The temp in Wisconsin when we left was right above freezing and when we got to Rockford, a hour south of Madison, it was very foggy. The drive in was uneventful, save for a back up at the Elgin toll plaza because of lane painting. I thought it was going to put us at Lou Mitchell's at 9:30 and potentially smack in the middle of a packed house; i.e., line out the door. I suggested to the Espousa that we skip breakfast and just plan on doing lunch at the Walnut Room. No, she told me, she wanted breakfast and we could just have a very light lunch at the Walnut Room.
We got to the west side of the Loop with no problems at 8:45. I let her out in front of the restaurant to get a table and I'd park the car. Fine, but I later learned upon walking in that they do not seat partial parties. No prob. We were seated as soon as I walked in and I excused myself to the restroom, never even sitting down. I told the Espousa she could order for me, coffee and a feta cheese and spinach omelet. Mmmm... good. I haven't found another place that makes them and mine ended up being delicious as usual. When I returned from the restroom, the Espousa excused herself and said she had ordered for me. Immediately after she returned, the meal was in front of us. They don't fool around at Lou's. The Espousa also commented the coffee was the best she had ever had. High praise indeed.
Now onto State Street. We called the Progeny in route to tell him what we were doing and wish him a good day. We parked across the street from Field's and walked through on our way to Filene's Basement down the street. Ho, hum; nothing for me to be found there. However, the Espousa did find a modern quartzGruen Curvex ladies tank watch with deployant. She loves it and kept commenting that she now has a watch just like mine. (Well, not exactly. She has watch with a deployant clasp and I have a genuine vintage Curvex of my father's. That's where the similarity ends.) We then went upstairs to a TJ Maxx. Nothing there to pique the interest save for a discounted men's summer shirt by an Italian maker for about $25. Caused me to pause but not pull a trigger.
Back to Field's and wandering around through there. The Espousa was in her element. We spent about an hour piddling around with me parked in a chair paying games on my PDA/phone. At about 11:15, the Espousa suggested we head towards the Walnut Room. She asked the hostess for a seat near the State Street window and we got it. She pointed out her last visit was with my mother in the early 80's and where the two of them were seated relative to our seats. I looked out the window and noted Daley Plaza and the Cook County Building across the street from it. I reminded the Espousa of an Easter weekend in (I believe) 1980 when she was visiting me in which we watched the filming of the 'attack' on the Cook County Building from just off camera. In the scene where all the police cars roll up to the door of the building (while unseen) we were amazing close to the shot that is seen in the film. No more than 25 to 30 feet to the left. During breaks in the filming , we walked through all the staging areas and even past their 'broken' and smoking Chicago police car. If we only had a camera!
It was decided that I would leave Field's and find my way to Filenes on north Michigan Avenue and she would continue at Field's. We'd meet up in an hour. Done. She later told me she had sat in the restaurant sipping coffee for another 40 minutes just relaxing. I hopped a cab, got to Water Tower, went in Filenes and found nothing. Back I came on schedule.
We then departed for Woodfield Mall. We first stopped by the Filenes at Woodfield. Nothing for me, but $4.99 earrings for the Espousa. Then, while we were there , I suggested a stop at Saks Off 5th. Nothing and nothing except... I found a couple Tod's shoe dust covers laying on the floor of the men's shoe department. I could certainly use them in packing for trips to keep my shoes away from other items in the luggage.
I asked a salesperson what the price on them might be as I would like to buy them. "Take them, we throw dozens away every day." Great. When later I showed them to the Espousa on the way to the car, she suggested we go back in and get some more. I thought discretion the better part of valor and decided not to push our luck.
Onward to Woodfield proper. I really dislike this mall, as the only interesting store is an Apple store. I walked with the Espousa and suggested she go in the Apple store so I could show her the new iPod shuffle. We entered and the place was packed as I imagine it must have been at Christmas. There was a line at the cash register. I took her over to see it, it was my first time to hold one myself. It is tiny and I explained how it will hold in the larger version about 240 songs. The kick is since there is no screen on the thing, you simply load your music and it will automatically shuffle your library in a random order. Your only control is to skip or repeat a song. Both of us wouldn't want it. She did seem to show interest in the iPod mini with it's various colored "skins." No she's not getting it, she has a list of jewelry that she would prefer much more than any electronic gadget.
We continued on our way,; she went into Williams-Sonoma and I into Harry & David's. To my amazement, that H&D was closing and everything was 50% off. Everything does not convey the scene in the store. There was basically nothing left but store fixtures. And those were on sale too. We ended up buying several baskets, picture sign holders (for use at my seminars and conventions, dish holder racks and a custom-made sign from the check out area. The sign is about five feet long and says "Baskets by you" in eight inch tall letters. Don't ask me what she'll do with it, but we got a ton of stuff for $50 and most of it is actually useful! Out to the car with the Espousa carrying the sign and yes! we did get a lot of turned heads walking through the mall. Deposit in the car and back into he fray. We both wished to go to Nordstrom's. She because of the belief that it has the largest and finest shoe department to be found. I went to the men's department and found myself looking around their large cologne selection. Well, what did I find there but the fragrances from my favorite barber shop, Trufitt & Hill. The Espousa was suitably impressed.
It was closing in on 5 PM and time to use the Espousa's language skills to get us into the Brazilian steakhouse without reservations. It worked. We were seated and the waitstaff burst into smiles the moment the Espousa ordered in Portuguese. The staff seemed very attentive, even more than usual, with her speaking to all the servers. I stayed away from the caipirinhas and stuck to Antartica Guanrana. I stuffed myself, the Espousa eating just from the massive salad bar and the fried plantains. She was very happy.
We headed home and slept the rest of a couple that had a very wonderful day.
We got to the west side of the Loop with no problems at 8:45. I let her out in front of the restaurant to get a table and I'd park the car. Fine, but I later learned upon walking in that they do not seat partial parties. No prob. We were seated as soon as I walked in and I excused myself to the restroom, never even sitting down. I told the Espousa she could order for me, coffee and a feta cheese and spinach omelet. Mmmm... good. I haven't found another place that makes them and mine ended up being delicious as usual. When I returned from the restroom, the Espousa excused herself and said she had ordered for me. Immediately after she returned, the meal was in front of us. They don't fool around at Lou's. The Espousa also commented the coffee was the best she had ever had. High praise indeed.
Now onto State Street. We called the Progeny in route to tell him what we were doing and wish him a good day. We parked across the street from Field's and walked through on our way to Filene's Basement down the street. Ho, hum; nothing for me to be found there. However, the Espousa did find a modern quartzGruen Curvex ladies tank watch with deployant. She loves it and kept commenting that she now has a watch just like mine. (Well, not exactly. She has watch with a deployant clasp and I have a genuine vintage Curvex of my father's. That's where the similarity ends.) We then went upstairs to a TJ Maxx. Nothing there to pique the interest save for a discounted men's summer shirt by an Italian maker for about $25. Caused me to pause but not pull a trigger.
Back to Field's and wandering around through there. The Espousa was in her element. We spent about an hour piddling around with me parked in a chair paying games on my PDA/phone. At about 11:15, the Espousa suggested we head towards the Walnut Room. She asked the hostess for a seat near the State Street window and we got it. She pointed out her last visit was with my mother in the early 80's and where the two of them were seated relative to our seats. I looked out the window and noted Daley Plaza and the Cook County Building across the street from it. I reminded the Espousa of an Easter weekend in (I believe) 1980 when she was visiting me in which we watched the filming of the 'attack' on the Cook County Building from just off camera. In the scene where all the police cars roll up to the door of the building (while unseen) we were amazing close to the shot that is seen in the film. No more than 25 to 30 feet to the left. During breaks in the filming , we walked through all the staging areas and even past their 'broken' and smoking Chicago police car. If we only had a camera!
It was decided that I would leave Field's and find my way to Filenes on north Michigan Avenue and she would continue at Field's. We'd meet up in an hour. Done. She later told me she had sat in the restaurant sipping coffee for another 40 minutes just relaxing. I hopped a cab, got to Water Tower, went in Filenes and found nothing. Back I came on schedule.
We then departed for Woodfield Mall. We first stopped by the Filenes at Woodfield. Nothing for me, but $4.99 earrings for the Espousa. Then, while we were there , I suggested a stop at Saks Off 5th. Nothing and nothing except... I found a couple Tod's shoe dust covers laying on the floor of the men's shoe department. I could certainly use them in packing for trips to keep my shoes away from other items in the luggage.
I asked a salesperson what the price on them might be as I would like to buy them. "Take them, we throw dozens away every day." Great. When later I showed them to the Espousa on the way to the car, she suggested we go back in and get some more. I thought discretion the better part of valor and decided not to push our luck.
Onward to Woodfield proper. I really dislike this mall, as the only interesting store is an Apple store. I walked with the Espousa and suggested she go in the Apple store so I could show her the new iPod shuffle. We entered and the place was packed as I imagine it must have been at Christmas. There was a line at the cash register. I took her over to see it, it was my first time to hold one myself. It is tiny and I explained how it will hold in the larger version about 240 songs. The kick is since there is no screen on the thing, you simply load your music and it will automatically shuffle your library in a random order. Your only control is to skip or repeat a song. Both of us wouldn't want it. She did seem to show interest in the iPod mini with it's various colored "skins." No she's not getting it, she has a list of jewelry that she would prefer much more than any electronic gadget.
We continued on our way,; she went into Williams-Sonoma and I into Harry & David's. To my amazement, that H&D was closing and everything was 50% off. Everything does not convey the scene in the store. There was basically nothing left but store fixtures. And those were on sale too. We ended up buying several baskets, picture sign holders (for use at my seminars and conventions, dish holder racks and a custom-made sign from the check out area. The sign is about five feet long and says "Baskets by you" in eight inch tall letters. Don't ask me what she'll do with it, but we got a ton of stuff for $50 and most of it is actually useful! Out to the car with the Espousa carrying the sign and yes! we did get a lot of turned heads walking through the mall. Deposit in the car and back into he fray. We both wished to go to Nordstrom's. She because of the belief that it has the largest and finest shoe department to be found. I went to the men's department and found myself looking around their large cologne selection. Well, what did I find there but the fragrances from my favorite barber shop, Trufitt & Hill. The Espousa was suitably impressed.
It was closing in on 5 PM and time to use the Espousa's language skills to get us into the Brazilian steakhouse without reservations. It worked. We were seated and the waitstaff burst into smiles the moment the Espousa ordered in Portuguese. The staff seemed very attentive, even more than usual, with her speaking to all the servers. I stayed away from the caipirinhas and stuck to Antartica Guanrana. I stuffed myself, the Espousa eating just from the massive salad bar and the fried plantains. She was very happy.
We headed home and slept the rest of a couple that had a very wonderful day.
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