An insane summer
So far this summer my schedule has been nothing short of insane. Since it began, let’s say when Dori was done with school around the end of May, we’ve had 2 or 3 weekends free here - the rest of the time we’ve either been traveling down to NYC, had guests, or been out of town for work. Its been a lot of fun but a bit of a grind.
Last week I attended a work retreat which dovetailed with the Yearly Kos convention, in Chicago. This was by far the best work retreat I’ve ever been on. Here’s a brief overview of my trip:
Arrive Wednesday midday, realized in the cab that O’Hare is significantly farther from downtown than I expected.
Half-day of work meetings, which are interesting and not drowned in process-oriented discussions. Dinner + bowling in the evening. The lanes were vintage - no covered ball return and no electronic scoring. I bowled a 136!
Thursday - full day of work stuff, which was really interesting, then at 4 we went to the Art Institute of Chicago. I was really impressed by the collection there, particularly the impressionists. I saw 10 or so Picasso pieces, some by Monet, Manet, Seurat (including the giant one). Elsewhere I saw the American Gothic. After the art institute, Matt led a group of us to his favorite burrito place, and to a beer garden near where he lives. We celebrated the evening with rounds of PBR!
Friday - the retreat ended earlier than I expected, midday on Friday, so I suddenly had a lot more free time than expected. Patrick had rented a car (the Beef bus!) to facilitate the shooting event, so he drove a small group of us to Al’s #1 Beef - a Chicago landmark, for some dipped roast beef sandwiches. Suffice to say these were fantastic, and the lemon ices sold by the guys across the street were a perfect compliment. We headed back and relaxed for a few hours, then the whole group went to Gino’s Pizza along with a small crew of blogger friends from the convention. That much was ok - the pizza was great - but I wasn’t entirely interested in talking to random bloggers. Next we hit a bar of Anna’s choice with a smaller group, and this place was a classic dive, with badly-done pornographic paintings above the bar and some vintage pieces (the jukebox selections were a hint). Afterwards, still more hotel-bar antics were in order.
Saturday - slept in a bit to deal with the aforementioned hotel-bar antics (Mari’s tab was very, very generous), then hit up a Matt-recommended place for brunch in a neighborhood where the hipster army was still gaining a foothold. Patrick transformed the beef bus into a Simpson’s Movie bus, and we picked up another group and got to go see that. I was a bit disappointed with the movie honestly - it was funny, and it had a great setup, but the end wasn’t really worth that build up. That evening we went to Italian at Vivere (I think), Tom’s choice. Who should appear at dinner but my old buddy, Josh Hendler. It was really great to run into him, and to spend time catching up. After dinner, Sam and I got to play our second Go game (the other was Friday, I think), at 6 stones, and it was pretty close, but I resigned after a few mid-game mistakes. I turned in early that night, to prepare for shooting the next day.
On Sunday about 8 of us, led by Patrick, drove over to Deer Creek Hunt Club in Michigan. This was a totally new experience for me since I had never fired a gun, let alone a 12 gauge shotgun! There we met up with Patrick’s father and uncle and got some basic gun safety instruction. It was off to the clays after that, and those little things sure can fly! There were about 14 stations in the course, each throwing 2 different clays. Sometimes they would roll them down a slope, or come at you, go straight across the field, or just float up in the distance. It was really hard!
Now I’m looking for places to go with Scott when Dori and I are down to visit next.