Chicago Day 2 Post 1

This morning when we woke up, we promptly did something very telling of our times: I made a reservation at the hotel restaurant on my phone. Why? Because we didn’t want to be bothered with getting ready and getting down there to find there was a wait. Also, I think OpenTable has a rewards program, but I’ll look into that later.

So we had brunch at Sable, the restaurant conveniently located in the hotel Palomar. It was fresh, new age food. I had an espresso because it was morning. I don’t know why I said that, I can have an espresso at literally any time of the day except when I am sleeping which is obviously a choking hazard.

Adrienne had a standard fast-breaking meal: two eggs (scrambled), two links, and browned hashes. I could tell they shredded their potatoes in house, which is a sign of freshness. The links were quite tasty: the meat had a strong (good strong) pork flavor and the skin was taught and broke apart in your teeth. I didn’t try her eggs because I do not like scrambled eggs, Sam I Am. Sorry, I know I’m being ridiculous: I simply do not like scrambled eggs, which is part of the reason I do not like omelettes. To be fair, she had her choice of bacon which she did not choose because my mother’s bacon is so good that she doesn’t care for anyone else’s attempts at cooking it.

I had a hot quinoa mix of sautéed mushrooms, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, and bok choi. There was a poached egg perched on top as if it were keeping a lookout below. The recent movement to revisit the ancient grains is one I support simply for the sake of dietary diversity. Too many people justify trying new foods because they read something is a “superfood”. This term is hog-wash; it’s completely meaningless and is used only to propagate sales. The real reason to try new foods is to stop eating boring food! This quinoa dish, whether you love quinoa or not, simply would not have worked with rice or oats.

We shared a side of mixed berries: blue, black, straw, and rasp. They were all amazing.

I was a little concerned because Adrienne had a glass of OJ, but I’ve always been told to avoid such drinks. She convinced me that it was okay.

At the end of breakfast, Jenny Jones came over and said hello, apparently Chicago this weekend is the place to have a dental emergency.

So we got our stuff together and made our way to the entrance to the Shedd Aquarium. I say the entrance because we were in line for no less than 13 solar years. I probably should have gotten another degree while I was standing in line. And luck would have it that little Max was in line behind us. Max is the absolute personification of the disintegration of discipline in American society. Accompanying Max was his mother and a bearded millennial. The beard, in addition to being out of season, is trend which has peaked. Max proceeded to bump into us so many times that I literally considered pushing him away from me. When we finally got into the aquarium, we both looked at each other and said in unison, “let’s go the opposite way that Max is going!” Our favorites at Shedd were a blue lobster, the octopus, a purple-and-gold fish, and a clear fish with a red and a black stripe.

We made our way then to the bean to get my Bean-Selfie (which I have been wanting for like ten years) and then to an undisclosed location for lunch (someone was hangry). After lunch we stopped at Argo Tea, which is a new place (to me). I got an Earl Grey and she a Pomegranate tea (further details not available at this time).

Back to the hotel for people-free down-time, then on to Smith and Wollensky for dinner, stay tuned, folks!