Kanye West feat Cold Play – Homecoming

Happy belated 4th of July!  We spent the weekend in Chicago with our friend, Morgan, to celebrate two important birthdays – America’s and Morgan’s (the day after).

We rolled into town around 5pm and hopped on the blue line at O’hare to Chicago.  The smell of the train brought me back to the NY subway system.  I didn’t realize I missed that nasty smell, but I’m a pretty sentimental guy and that was a surprising blast from the past.  Anyway, this post is about Chi Town.  A place that is remarkably similar to NY.  Big buildings, walking culture, some heightened aggressive tendencies, great food, and perhaps, above all…am amazing sense of identity.  People identify with their town with great pride, and I was happy to see the pride Morgan has for his city.

We started our Windy City tour with dinner at Portillo’s – a classic, family-friendly spot argued to have the best Itialian Beef (sandwich) in town.  It’s similar to a French Dip with mozzarella and choice of sweet or hot peppers.  I don’t have anything to compare it to, but must say it was pretty damn good.   From there, we continued on foot to an engagement party at one of Morgan’s friend’s place.  But we had to interrupt the festivities after about an hour to meet our friend, Joy, who also just got into town to spend the weekend with Morgan and us!

When we returned to the party, the evening had progressed nicely and things were bumpin’.  We got to meet most of Morgan’s friends, and he’s got a big network.  Most of his good friends from college relocated to Chicago from Indiana Uni, so they’ve been able to carry on where they left off, but with paychecks!  I admire, with a healthy dose of jealousy, Morgan’s friend base.  Not everyone has that.

After a couple stops by their favorite bars, we came home to Morgan’s phat new bachelor pad.  Get a load of these views (press play)!

 

It was clear that if tonight was any indication of how the rest of the weekend was going to be, we had better strap in (and hydrate).

 

Cheers!