Hooray for targeted advertising!

Monday, May 25th, 2015.
Chicago, IL / Los Angeles, CA

It’s 9am again. I am just now getting used to Chicago time and it’s already my last day here. My flight is at 3pm, so we have half a day to kill. Erin has left this day open. Our only objective is to get a Chicago style pizza. Luckily, Erin knows just the place!

We walk over to the main strip in Erin’s neighborhood. I convince everyone to make a quick detour to Starbucks and then we are off to the pizza place (because coffee and pizza, right?!). Lunch service is just beginning, but they are already packed. There is not an open table, but the host proceeds to take our order anyways. It will take almost an hour to cook our pizza (I am so excited about this!). After 30 minutes of Kelly and Erin watching me drink coffee, we finally sit down and order a salad to accompany the unhealthiest pizza we could possibly order. We talk politics for a little bit (amongst AmeriCorps alumni its hard not to). When the pizza arrives, we take several photos and then dig in. It does not disappoint!

Now that lunch is over we still have a few hours to kill. I have been bombarded with commercials for Goose Island IPA on my Hulu account for the past month, so I suggest we go to the brewery, which happens to be located in Chicago. I can’t tell if Hulu somehow knew that I was going to Chicago or if it just knows that I like good IPAs; either way, 1 point for targeted advertising!

There is actually a real “Goose Island” where the Chicago River splits near the east side of town. The Brewery is located close to (but not actually on) the island.  Despite false advertising, Goose Island Brewery turns out to be pretty cool. I try all sorts of interesting beer and buy some souvenirs to take home.

Eventually it’s time to head back to the airport and I am definitely sad. I say goodbye to Erin at the curb and Kelly at airport security. I drink one more Goose Island IPA in the terminal as I wait for my flight. Eventually I make it back to LAX hassle free. My car is parked in Lot C and soon I am on my way home.

The girls hit boystown.

Sunday, May 24^rd, 2015.
Chicago, IL

It’s 10am and I am slowly waking for Day 2 of Chicago. Today will be a little less structured (and a lot more rainy). Kelly, Erin and I have a few Skype calls scheduled with other AmeriCorps members who were unable to make it to Chicago this weekend. Our first call is with Julio. He is great. I can’t believe how everyone looks exactly the same as they did 10 years ago! After we wrap up with him, we call Cate. I am super excited that she is joined by 2 surprise guests – Darcy and Mr. Bingsly! Her Americorps cats!! Since we’ve last talked Cate has completed 2 more degrees and was relocated to Belfast to work as a fulltime professor at Queens University. She also looks exactly the same.

Now that our morning calls are done we take a quick walk around Erin’s neighborhood and end up at a little café for brunch. Erin and Kelly order the only vegetarian option and I order a massive scramble. It is delicious.

Next stop – Bucktown. We spend most of the afternoon wandering in and out of various stores, most of them local designers from Chicago. I am amazed at how much I like the clothes here. Chicago is definitely my style!

For dinner we have a Groupon for ALOT of sushi at a BYOB sushi restaurant. We bring both beer and wine and have an awesome time.

After dinner we are slightly soaked, its been raining all day, and we are all bordering on tired. We have two options for our evening. Go back to the improve theater in hopes of getting a seat tonight or dancing in boystown. Naturally, we chose boystown. On the way to the bars, we end up making a quick side trip to Walmart. Kelly’s shoes are totally soaked and she has decided to buy a new pair. The Walmart is super nice, lending further evidence to my hypothesis that Chicago is the cleanest place in the world.

Around 8pm we show up at boystown. We are a little early, but its okay. It's time to dance! I start off with a couple of Red Bull and vodkas (a drink that was clearly invented for the gay bar). Soon we are dancing with everyone. I am wearing the same flannel shirt that had donned on this morning and I am pretty sure that people think I am a lesbian. It’s okay though, the crowd is strictly male and there is no interest in me regardless.

Around midnight we are getting tired and Kelly and I have the munchies. We try to get some donuts, but the line is out of control. Instead we end up at Subway.

Around 12:30am we are back at Erin’s place. It was a long, wet, awesome day. Tomorrow is our last day in Chicago and I am already starting to feel sad.

The cleanest public restroom I have ever seen

Saturday, May 23^rd, 2015.
Chicago, IL

Its 9am in Chicago (7am in LA… also known as earlier-than-I-have-to-wake-up-for-work) and I am slowly waking. I am completely engulfed in a slowly deflating air mattress. It’s strangely comfortable though; I feel like I’m being hugged. Eventually I navigate my way out of the center of the air mattress and get ready for the day. We all three enjoy a continental breakfast in Erin’s kitchen. We have a full day of Chicago awesomeness planned and I cannot wait to get started.

Our first order of business is to take the train into town for a boat tour of downtown Chicago. We will be meeting another long-lost AmeriCorps friend named Zakiya.

One the way to train station I mentioned to Erin that I would like some coffee. She assures that there will be plenty of coffee on the way to the station. There is not. 2 train rides later (and the train is awesome, by the way) we are in central Chicago. As we meander through the city to the docks on the river I am hawk-eying potential coffee shops and continue to come up short. I ask Eric for coffee a fourth time and she recommends 711 (a recommendation that can ony be given in earnest by a true non-coffee drinker).  10 more coffee-less minutes pass by and as I lose all hope we pass by a Starbucks. Crisis averted.

Soon we arrive at the dock for our tour boat; this is where we will meet Zakiya. I make a quick scan of the crowd and recognize her immediately. She looks exactly the same.

We politely line up and board the tour boat. We are ready! The tour is pretty cool. The buildings downtown come right up to the edge of the river. I have never really looked at buildings up until now. They are both majestic and awesome. We all take a ton of pictures, become slightly sunburned, and end up back where we started. 

Our next order of business is to walk around downtown, where Erin will show us lots of pubic art. First we visit Millennium Park, which has an enormous amphitheater and the cleanest public restrooms I have ever seen. From there we go to the bean and I get my obligatory photo (bucket list!). It is super crowded, but it’s a beautiful day and I can’t really blame all of those people for wanting to go to the park. We visit a few other famous outdoor art exhibits, including a courtyard filled with giant legs. It’s so freaking cool.

Finally we are exhausted and starving and Erin takes us to her favorite Indian restaurant. This is where we part ways with Zakiya, vowing to meet up again later.

Next we head to beach. Yes, the beach. Lake Michigan looks like an ocean and the buildings come right up to the sand. It’s incredible. After walking around and stopping for coffee / tea, we are all exhausted. It’s officially time for happy hour.

Erin has arranged for happy hour at a rotating bar on top of a very, very tall building. We have to wait a while for a table, but it’s worth the wait. The view is awesome and we order several rounds of drinks. The conversation quickly turns to memories of AmeriCorps. Erin remembers how I yelled Eli and his girlfriend one time for taking too long in the shower. I have no recollection of this, but I am proud of my past self. The conversation progresses and I realize that I barely remember anything that happened 10 years ago. Even though I have no memories, I still feel nostalgia for that time in my life. After 3 glasses of wine and a few small plates, we are ready to leave.

We take a cab over to an improv theater in Andersonville. I am really looking forward to seeing the late show. We stand in line and eventually learn that we are waitlisted. Soon we learn that we are not attending the late show at all. We are bummed but also ready to explore Andersonville. We end up at a small pub down the street. After a big plate of fries and several rounds of beer, we decide that we are exhausted. After all, it was a pretty big day.

We Uber back to Erin’s house and pass out for the night. Tomorrow is our last full day in Chicago. So much more to see!

It's happy hour somewhere.

Friday, May 22^nd, 2015.

Los Angeles, CA and Chicago, IL

It’s 6:00pm and I am finally boarding my flight from LAX to Midway Chicago. I worked a full day and caught a ride to the airport, offered by a very generous co-worker. For the first time in my life, I am on my way to Chicago. Hooray!

I am meeting two old friends from AmeriCorps VISTA. I have not spoken to either Kelly or Erin for a little over ten years. Somehow I am not nervous though. I am excited to see them, but I am more excited to see Chicago.

My flight lands right on time; 11pm Chicago time. I call Erin on her cell and quickly locate her and Kelly in the passenger pick up area. They have just left an outdoor techno fest and I cannot tell if they are tired or want to go out. It’s only 9pm in LA, so I want to go out. Eventually we decide to head over to a local Irish pub, which is close to Erin’s house. 

Kelly and I order beer and Erin orders hard cider (just like the old days!) and we sit at a long wooden table to catch up. We talk about work for a while, the last time we saw each other we were all college new grads. Kelly is working as an immigration attorney in DC. Erin is a professor of Latin American Studies at a small University in Chicago. They both speak Spanish on a daily basis. I am officially impressed. Next we turn the conversation to guys. Erin is single and refusing to date online (this is a situation that I intend to rectify). Kelly is living with her boyfriend and cute dog. I catch them up on my current relationship status, primarily involving a former child actor and strong secondary relationship with an orange cat named Conan.

I finish my beer mid-conversation and realize that everyone else is only halfway done. Since I am Pacific Standard Time, I announce that I will be ordering another beer and I am not ashamed. I end up flying solo for round two.

Soon it's nearing 1am and we are all ready to head back. We will be staying in Erin’s house I’m not totally clear on the sleeping plan. When we were in AmeriCorps we traveled frequently and consistently slept on the floor. I am prepared to sleep on the floor, but secretly hoping that doesn’t happen. We arrive at Erin’s ridiculously nice town house around 1:15am. I see a very large blow up mattress on the living room floor, but there are 3 of us and two beds, so I am still worried. Eventually it comes to light that Kelly and Erin will be sharing Erin’s bed and I will get the living room air mattress. A situation that brings me great joy as I strongly prefer sleeping alone.

After a quick shower and a few FB updates I eventually drift off to sleep. I have the distinct feeling that I am being sucked into the gigantic air mattress but I am really too tired to care (also it is pitch dark and I do not know where the light switch is located).

I concentrate on sleeping. I will be waking up on central time tomorrow and want to be well rested for our first full day in Chicago!

It's just the right amount of pretentious.

Saturday, April 18^th, 2015.

Napa, CA / Los Angeles, CA

Its 9am, we are slowly waking and seeing our hotel room in the harsh light of day. I was in charge of booking this hotel room and was aiming for maximum proximity to downtown with minimum cost. In a word, our hotel is Old. It’s 1970s-old. As we pack up and get ready for the day, we discuss whether with our room is charming or disgusting, a debate that will remain unresolved.

Once we are packed up and checked out we decide to have brunch at Grace’s Table. I order the quiche and soup and also split the iron skillet cornbread with Laura. Everything is wonderful, including the coffee. After breakfast, we decide to do a quick lap around downtown Napa. We stop at an olive oil company, where I pick up a few gifts for my co-workers. Next we go to an open market, which is just the right amount of pretentious, and we end our walking tour with a quick stop at the river walk.

Before we know it, its time to head to San Francisco for Laura and Sarah’s flight back to AUS. The drive back to San Francisco is quiet, we are all contemplating this awesome vacation. When we arrive, we have enough time for one more tourist stop; we choose the painted ladies, which are the famous houses shown in the opening sequence of Full House. Since there is no parking, we make a few blocks, driving past them slowly. 

OK, now its time to get to the airport. Eventually I drop off Laura and Sarah at SFO. Now it’s time for me to drive back to LA. There are multiple routes to choose from, so I pick the one that goes through Gilroy (also known as, the garlic capital of the world). I love stopping at fruit stands and this route does not disappoint! Eventually I re-enter Los Angeles county with a large bag of garlic, 2 kinds of salsa, a crate of strawberries, and 4 large avocados. When I arrive home it takes me four trips to carry all of my wine, food and bags into the house.

Whew, I am back. What an awesome trip!

Wonderful, I was hoping to be swaddled today.

Friday, April 17^th, 2015.

Calistoga, CA / Napa, CA

Its 8:30am and we are already getting up for the day. We have spa appointments scheduled for 10 and 10:15am and we need to pack, check out, and get breakfast beforehand. Around 9:15am we are heading over to Sarfornia; this is our favorite restaurant in Calistoga. The service is a little slower than we expected and we are wrapping up by 9:55. We quickly walk over to the spa and check in for our appointments.

We have all signed up for a treatment called “The Works”. We have no idea what to expect. The nice lady at the desk tells us that they can take 2 people back at a time. Clearly we all want to go by ourselves, but the problem is solved by Laura and I going together, since her and Sarah are sisters (logic I still don’t understand). It’s okay though; I have feeling that an awesome travel story is about happen as Laura and I are guided behind the curtain and into the lady’s spa area.

The nice woman shows Laura and I to a large, communal changing area and tells us to strip down and then walk over to the far end of the spa. There are lockers for us to store our clothes and shoes. I look skeptically at the nice lady and the communal changing room. She reads my look (which she probably receives 10 times a day) and basically tells me to buck up and loose my threads. Laura and I migrate to opposite ends of the changing area and bury our faces in the corner while we strip. We are friends, but we don’t want to be naked together.

After our clothes are safely stuffed away in lockers located on opposite ends of the changing room, we wrap ourselves in teeny, tiny towels and walk to the far end of the lady’s spa. In this area there are 3 attendants, 2 mud baths, 4 bathtubs overflowing with mineral/spring water and 3 showers. One of the attendants leads me to a shower, takes my teeny, tiny towel away and tells me to rinse off (meanwhile Laura is being led to another shower by another attendant. I mentally take note of my head start and rinse off super fast so that I can hop in my mud bath before Laura gets out of the shower. As soon as Laura is safely tucked away in her shower, I basically bolt out of mine and announce that I am ready for the mud. She walks me over to a large tub full of mud and gives an agonizingly, long explanation of how to properly enter the tub. I listen carefully and then plop in.

The mud is a lot denser than I had anticipated and I am basically lying on top of it, totally nude. I know that Laura is taking extra long in her shower in order to give me a head start, so I try my best to shimmy down into the mud before she arrives. Its takes a lot of shimmying on my behalf and my attendant shoveling mud on top of me before I finally sink halfway down into the pit. I am just being fitted with a spa pillow and cucumber slices for eyes when I hear Laura being directed on the proper way to enter the tub. I sit still with my eyes closed in order to give my friend some illusion of privacy.

At first the mud is relaxing. It’s warm and dense. After the novelty of it begins to wear off I become hyper aware of the smell (it actually smells like mud) and the heat. Just when I think I cannot take it anymore I am summoned by my spa attendant to get out of the tub and back into the shower. Getting out of the mud is also super awkward, but Laura’s eyes are cucumbered still, so I just try my best to go quickly. After my shower, I am led to a mineral bath, which is personal size tub with water constantly flowing into it and splashing out into the drains on the floor. I make it safely into the tub while Laura is still in her shower. The tubs are divided by curtains, so the illusion of privacy is easier to uphold.

The tub is pretty comfy. My attendant brings me several rounds of cucumber-flavored water, which I continue to drink very quickly. I am moderately hungover and the incessant heat is starting to get to me. After a few more minutes, my attendant comes back and shows me to the smallest steam room I have ever seen. There is another lady sitting across from me and I have to angle my knees to avoid hitting her (Dr. Wilkinson clearly had no understanding of personal space.). Soon the lady leaves and I have the space to myself. I am just starting to relax when Laura enters the steam room. We both have our skimpy towels cinched tightly around us, but it’s still weird. She leaves relatively soon. I want to leave too, but I wait an additional 5 minutes, providing the cursory naked-friend-time-buffer.

Once I exit the steam room my attendant swoops in and leads me into what looks like a small changing room with a cot off to the side. She takes my towel and asks me to lie on the cot, face up. Once I am lying there, she wraps me up in a thin blanket and then leaves. Okay. I lie quietly, swaddled in the blanket. I’m not really sure what to do. I know I should be relaxing, but instead I stare at the celling and wonder what will happen next.

After what seems like forever, a new lady comes in to great me. As she un-swaddles me, she explains that we are going to a massage room, where my treatment will be completed with a 30 minutes massage session. I happily follow her to my treatment room. After a pretty nice massage I am given a robe and sent back into the communal changing room. It is empty, so I grab my clothes from my locker and frantically put them on before anyone else arrives. Once I am dressed again I breathe a sigh of relief and wander over the vanity area where I put on make up and dry my hair.

Eventually we all converge in the vanity area. We are clothed again and ready to hit the wineries!

Since we will be staying in Napa tonight (on the south side of the valley), we decide to try some wineries in that area. Sarah suggests that we go to Andretti and we all agree. On the way there, I realize that I am hungry again. Laura and Sarah agree to make a quick stop at a deli in Yountville, which is on the way. The guy in the deli is Italian, so I order an Italian sub. Laura and Sarah get some food as well.

Soon we arrive at Andretti. It’s 2pm and the tasting room is about halfway full. A nice man pours several tastings and hangs around just long enough to answer questions and provide good service. I like the wine here a lot. After our tasting, we purchase a bottle of red and go outside to enjoy our deli sandwiches, wine, and the beautiful surroundings. 

Now that we are settled we do a quick debrief of our spa experience. We cannot stop laughing – what a strange experience!

Next we decide to go to a winery called Laird. When we arrive the tasting room is empty except for the barista and his cute daughter (who looks around 11 years old). The man insists that we go sit outside; we agree.

It’s a little hot outside, but once we find a place in the shade, we are all happy. We end up trying 5 different wines (3 of which are chardonnays – yay!). The service is great and the wine is great. All 3 of us end up buying one or more bottles on the way out. 

It's getting late, but today is our last day here, so we decide to go to one more winery. Sarah finds one called Trinitas Cellars, which is open late. Hooray!

Trinitas Cellars is actually located in a hotel called the Meritage Resort (which is like Disneyland for winos). We are irrationally happy to be here, even though we have to trudge through a small wedding party to get to the tasting room. Once we are inside, we are greeted by 2 baristas and given excellent service. The wine is okay, but I am not crazy about it. After we are done with our tastings, Laura convinces us to purchase a bottle to drink next to the fire pits. I am moderately drunk at this point, but it’s our last winery and I can’t say no. As we sip our wine and drunk babble about our various lives, I begin to feel sad that this trip is nearing its end. Eventually hunger overtakes nostalgia and we all pile back in the car for Napa, CA, our final destination.

Our hotel is about one mile outside of downtown Napa, a distance that seemed walkable when we were booking the hotel, but we are drunk and hungry, so we park in a garage downtown and head over to Zuzu for the best tapas in Napa. Its Friday night and the wait is an hour, but we don’t mind. There is plenty to do in the meanwhile. We wander around and eventually set up shop at a wine bar next door. By the time our table is ready we are all sufficiently starving (and bordering on too-drunk-to-be-in-public).

Dinner is amazing. After we settle the tab, its time to go check into our hotel. I am definitely drunk, so Sarah drives, I navigate, and Laura sleeps in the backseat.

Checking in is a total blur. We all eventually make it into our designated hotel room and onto our beds.

We may have overdone it. In our defense, it's our last night vacation and none of us wants it to end.