U2 in Chicago

About a month ago Doug and I took an incredible trip to Chicago. WOW! What a city! Did you know that Chicago became known as the windy city not because of the gusting winds, but because of the one time "windy" lawyers. Just an interesting tid bit I learned. I think Chicago should be called the "cool" city. Because well, it is super cool. It's the kind of place where you assume everyone IS SOMEBODY, like in the star kind of way. Everyone dresses cool, walks cool, talks cool, etc. I just did my best not to stand out, and settled for "Mom" cool, cuz well, that's what I am. The city is rich with history, beautiful architecture, and really good food. So much good food, so little time, so little stomach space. Sigh.....guess some of those good food places are reason to go back and go back I must. Here are some of the highlights.

1. Our hotel was amazing. We stayed at the Sofitel. Here is the view from our room:

2. Fun dinner at Lux Bar, sliders, beer and football

3. Horrible seven mile run around the lake, which was beautiful, but run was lacking.

4. Train ride to the Cubs game, I love public transportation

5. Food at Murphy's which looks to be a billion years old, and built on to a billion times. Charming.

6. Cubs game. Not a cub fan (shocker) but being in that old ballpark, without the modern day whistles and bells was pretty awesome. And they have great fans that make watching the game very enjoyable. And even cooler, guess who was sitting behind us? Nope not Bono, but Bo Duke from the original Dukes of Hazards. How cool is that? I remember watching that show, I was so in love with Luke Duke, but Bo was ok too. Know he is old and looks old, plays jazz and lives in New York City. He seemed pretty genuine and nice.

7. Catching up with old college friends (At Lux Bar, very much a coincidence that we ended up going to the same place twice) Tons of thanks to Missy who came in from the burbs to see us. And to Josh whose extreme knowledge of the city help us choose what to do in our limited time.

8. Dinner a Graham Elliot UNBELIEVABLE! If you didn't know he was on Top Chef Masters and is super cool and very talented. To give you some idea, he is famous for making fois gras lolly pops coated in pop rocks. He has very interesting take on comfort foods. It's a classy food in a casual atmosphere, with loud music and truffle popcorn. It really not priced all that bad. We sat somewhere on this row......

9. Architectural boot ride, lots of info

10. Roaming the city, taking in the sites and people

11. Chicago style pizza, yummy. Didn't think I was a fan, but it is actually good.

12. The main event: U2 at Soldier's stadium. A long train ride, one mile hike, couple of t-shirts purchased, standing, singing at the top of our longs for the ENTIRE show, long one mile hike back to the train station, too short train ride, collapsing in bed. Incredible Show! Those almost 50 year old rock stars, know how to rock. Before Doug I wan not all that into U2, but he loves them in a psycho school girl kind of way, so like the Astros, the Rockets, (and sort of) the Texans, the have nudged into my heart. But seeing them live, you gain a whole new perspective about them. They really do put on a show. It one thing I find amazing, is a song you make hate, when hearing it live, turns into something different and it because love. This is my second time seeing them. We saw the Vertigo tour some years back. So what is really awesome, is how different the two shows are. Much of the same music, but totally different feel. The stage is crazy, the lighting awesome and of course the music stands on it's own. We are going to see them in Houston next week and I know it will ROCK!

(Thanks to the besties for watching little L for us, you guys kinda rock too!)