CHICAGO! Day 4

Yay!  Dave agreed to write a post - now if I can get him to write another...

Day four of our trip to Chicago began with a visit to Garrett Popcorn, which Kristen had read about on a blog. We picked up a bag of Chicago Mix (a combination of caramel coated and cheese coated) and a bag of caramel-cashew mixed. We were fortunate to hit the store early in the day, as the second time we went (yes, second) the line stretched down the block.

This was the first big trip that Kristen and I have taken alone since our honeymoon. On other trips we’ve taken, we’ve either gone or met up with friends/family. However I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to catch up with one of the coolest, most unique people I’ve known. And yes, she’s an ex-girlfriend.

**This is Kristen** What Dave didn't tell you is that he took this ex-girlfriend to McDonald's for Homecoming dinner.  Classy.

**Back to Dave**

Awwwwwkwwwwward!

Actually, it wasn’t, really. We took her advice and met up for lunch at Hot Doug’s to have some gourmet hot dogs. Now, you know a restaurant is good when the line stretches down two blocks, where people stand in the hot sun (despite the manager coming outside telling the patrons to consider other restaurants and avoid sunstroke), with ice cream vendors circling like buzzards selling overpriced bottles of water to the sweltering masses.

It was great catching up with Noel. She’s a makeup artist for The Blue Man Group, and does her own one-man and three-man shows as a clown.

We laughed about old times, bitched about work, all while eating duck-fat fries. 

We’d seen double-decker buses around town and wanted to take a tour. Unfortunately, when we got our tickets, we had to take the first available tour bus, so we were stuck with a single-decker. The ride did give us a good tour of the city, but frankly the tour guide was… well… shitty. He was like a used car salesman. Admittedly though, it was entertaining when he’d bust people trying to get on, thinking it was the free transit bus.

The worst part of being in the sweat box trolley instead of on the upper level of the double decker bus was that most of the pictures turned out like this:

and this:

and this:

But Dave managed to get some gems, like these:

Buckingham Memorial Fountain

Wrigley Building

After the trolley tour we walked around Water Tower Place - it was hot and it seemed like the best way to cool off.  Plus I got to shop :)  We had dinner at Mity Nice (most fabulous Cobb salad) and picked up a treat (cupcakes!) from the bakery next door before heading back to the hotel for more HGTV.