New Year's Day in Chicago

Not much happens in the world on New Year's Day. A lot of stores are closed, and a good number of museums, like the Art Institute, are also closed. After sleeping in, my traveling buddy and I made our way up to Wrigleyville, walked past the mecca of baseball lost causes, Wrigley Field, and up to a place called The Full Schilling. To compensate for the relatively healthy meal eaten the night before, I had a very tasty 1/2 burger with swiss, tomotoes, sauteed mushrooms and bacon. For dessert: a deep fried twinkie.

We then ventured back out into the cold...and it was cold...and went over to Halstead Street and spent time in a store called "Gaymart." Lots of neat items: kitschy and campy...action figures, ornaments, cookie jars, more action figures.

We met up with our friend from yesterday's museum excursion, walked down Broadway and found a nice middle eastern restaurant and had some appetizers and middle eastern coffee. And lots of good discussion.

It was about 10:30 p.m., by the time my traveling buddy and I found our way back to the room. Both of us were crashed by 11.

Best part of the trip: walking around and seeing Chicago...eating at the Billy Goat Tavern, drinking at the Beat Kitchen, listening to jazz at the Hungry Brain.

Lesson learned: splurge the extra $100 - 150 for a hotel in the city. We would have made up the cost in cab fare between Extended Stay at Midway and the subway itself.