A Weekend in the Windy City

I can't remember a time in my life when I enjoyed St. Patty's day as much as I did this year. Which, ... when you stop and realize St. Patty's isn't until this Friday, is pretty damn cool.

Jenn and I were planning to meet in Chicago for a playdate, but she got distracted by a job interview and couldn't make it, so I went on my own. My buddy Sam lives there and since we haven't seen each other in ages, he invited me to crash at his place, which was just killer. Sam lives in the Ukranian village in this beautiful flat with a view of a Ukranian cathedral. His 2 roommates are great guys -friends from NMU, and that really made sleeping at their place way more comfortable.

I took the train into Union Station (a gorgeous building!) and came out to find a carful of sexy men waiting to take me home. A perfect beginning to my adventure! We went out, walked around the town a bit, drank some beer, got caught up on life, and eventually made it back to the flat to crash.

Next morning was the downtown parade, so we woke about 9a, had a carbomb to get the engines running, poured our 'cokes', and bussed our way into the city center. We met up with some gal-pals and made it to the river in time to see it turn green. Really. GREEN. It was so bad tho - we were standing along this construction site, watching, and we weren't all that impressed. I mean, yea, the river was green, but c'mon, I live along the Detroit river -I've seen a green river before! Then Sam comes over and tells us to move, shifting our view a bit further downstream. HolyMoly! It was crazy, crazy green, just unbelievable.

The parade itself was fun. There were curly-haired ninjas, giant kilted Irishmen, candy, flying bottles of OJ and milk (seriously- who thought that was a good idea??), and of course, beer. The weather was INCREDIBLY sunny, warm, and clear. Afterward was naptime, a fondu party, and more incredible beer at a brewery, then a pub.

Sunday morning was similar, though things started a titch later. Bill drove us down to the southside parade. One of the boys made the observation that, despite the city's intentions, this was not about a parade. It was a massive street fiesta, with WAY too much green-coated, drunk-ass white kids. Beer was EVERYWHERE. It was sad though- the real Irish must just be sobbing in pain. I mean, the Irish were good drinkers, they new good beer. And all these kiddies, out there under the guise of celebrating St. Pat, and they are drinking High Life, PBR, and tons of other shitty ass beer.

We walked around, talking, meeting people, drinking, enjoying the weather. I think we saw enough of the parade to notice the ninjas, and then backed away. I guess there were men in little cars and on flying carpets. I missed that part, though. That neighborhood must just stink to high hell the day after. There's tons of spilt beer and broken bottles, some contained potties (or Drop Zones, as they are called there), but mostly people were just whizzing wherever they could.

We had time for a late lunch of damn good pancakes at the OHOP (yea, you saw right), and then it was time for me to get back to the station and on out of town. *sigh* Here I am.