Good Things Come to Those Who Wait!

Water Tower Place
Steve and Mary in Chicago

House of Blues Chicago

Mike Ditka's Chicago

It has been a long winter thus far. My sweetie and I had about hit the end of our rope. It started in December with way too much snow and cold. Many trips across hill and stream to fulfill family traditions, only to end up with the much dreaded flu. (I did not have it then, mine staggered itself by two weeks only to take what could have been a simple two weeks of illness in our home to an entire month of malaise!) More snow, 24 inches of it! More cold, sub-zero temperatures. More travels (all good mind you) only to leave us the day after Valentine's day with no ambition or drive to do much about it!

By Friday of this past week SRC and ME were just about to pack it in. How much more could we take of poor living conditions, excessively horrible environmental realities (unless you were born and raised in Michigan City, don't attemtpt to live there, especially through a winter!)

Well, Friday morning, I had it. SRC and ME were looking like we were the results of a "Shining" part 2, gone bad! I took the bulls by the horn and said, "I am going to Priceline, I am requesting a room on the Magnificent Mile putting in what I can afford, $55 and if it accepts, then that is where I am going with or without SRC!" It accepted it, it took my price! The Courtyard Marriott, on Ontario and St. Claire! Fantastic! Oh course, I had to tell SRC and hope that he would be willing to go with me (and of course cover the tab) When I contacted him, he was so excited, funny though, he was trying to get us into a beautiful Gold Coast B&B (next time, I will let his fingers do all the walking!) It was my Valentine's gift! I seriously thougth he wasn't interested in being romantic, but he took the Oscar!

We had a great time, staying within walking distance of all of our favorite places, shopping at Water Tower, strolling the magnificent mile. Visiting a quaint book seller (Afterwords) and actually being able to talk about Bulgokov and having the seller interested in Russian literature. Picking up Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" and realizing that the current state of the USA is lacking what T. Paine warned about, revived my intellectual side. Listening to music at the House of Blues while being treated like royalty by a fantastic server named Annie, (she actually carded me! She also remembered me from past visits, how special) Enjoying amazing steak and specialty pork chops one meal at Ditka's and being lured back there for lunch for their to die for pot roast nachos for lunch! Shopping, eating, music, it is all within a Very affordable reach. Oh and did I mention how amazing everyone was? We were treated like our being there mattered.

As for SRC and ME? We are refreshed and looking forward to going back to Chicago soon! Good things come to those who wait. Believe me, it has all been worth the wait!

priceline, The Tremont Hotel, and Chicago!

The Tremont Hotel located in the heart of the Magnificent Mile houses the famed Ditka's Restaurant. Right off of Michigan Avenue nestled a block west on Chestnut Street was a hidden treasure for me and the gang this past weekend. Only a hop, skip and a jump from Rush Street, and a room's eye view from the John Hancock Building, it was a jewel in the crown of our Festivus weekend. On my modest budget I was able to afford a weekend of fun, family, friend, and fellowship.

Thanks to www.Priceline.com I was able to get the room for a steal! Seriously, I ended up with 3 rooms for 2 nights for the same standard price of one room. Now hear this my avid readers, this is not the first time this has happened. I have stayed in Washington D.C. in October, upstate New York in December, and in Chicago-land area 4 times since Thanksgiving of this year and have paid no more than the cost of a quality meal at a local steak house each night! I highly recommend Priceline, they do deliver!

Now as far as the Tremont Hotel goes, it was sweet. The people made the place for me. Their down home hospitality was the selling point for me. The old world charm reminded me of a larger Bed and Breakfast. The down side is that I had to look too hard for coffee. The Starbucks right across the street was nice, but the temperatures were sub-zero and the idea of walking across the street before I was fully awake was not appealing at all! I am a coffee addict, sadly, so for me a cup of coffee or 2, or 3, before I really get moving is sublime. There was no room service, so that wasn't a solution. There were no cute little coffee-makers in the room, so that didn't do. There was coffee downstairs tucked away in a beautiful dark wood cabinet surrounded by an oversized leather couch, comfy chairs and a baby-grand piano, that was nice, but not real accommodating. My girls and I did find it warm and cozy to take the coffee back to one of their rooms and curl up to some morning girl talk before heading out to shopping!

Our day began with brunch at Ditka's. A word to the wise,...go for the Pot Roast Nachos! Steve is still talking about the "best nachos he has ever had!" Following brunch, we hit, H&M and found some great buys, then it was out the door to the right and up the escalator to Filene's for yet another shopping bag or two of outstanding purchases, all things I really needed...; )! Then across the street to Water Tower Place for a nice leisurely wait in the mezzanine with Intelligensia Coffee in hand, served by the Mario, this barista definitely takes coffee to the level of decadence! The shopping day was topped off with a make-over at MAC cosmetics in Macy's, compliments of Amanda and Steven.

Along with our fun shopping day we dined at Pizano's on State Street, the pizza was delicious, and left us all satisfied; of course we also enjoyed angel hair pasta with marinara and meatballs that actually passed the Steve test! The Melting Pot provided for a 3 hour indulgence that left us all feeling quite content. The Excalibur for dancing afterwards was a nice way to go "Old School" as we stayed on the main level and danced. It reminded us of how much fun it is to have fun and let your hair down.

So again, thank you Priceline for making it possible for me to take the gang for a family festivus, and make memories that will keep us warm through these long Midwest winters! Next stop...well, who knows? That is up to my friend priceline