World According to Pete

Wacky random ramblings about wacky random trips


Off to Chicago!!

Chilling in the Cincinnati airport CVG waiting to go to Chicago
Chillin at the Cincinnati airport CVG waiting for my flight to Chicago, with my trusty backpack at my side. That is literally 100% of what I packed!

Notes from Saturday May 6 2023: Finally the big trip begins!! I’m just gonna rush through the day, as it’s just the preamble to Japan. So quickly, items of note: Landed thirty minutes late lol but successfully met up with Robert in the O’Hare train station. The loud dirty and uncomfortable train to downtown unexpectedly stopped mid-way, all of us loud & dirty passengers were trundled onto buses for a few blocks, then transferred to a new loud & bumpy train to get downtown. We headed to Portillo’s for Chicago-style hotdogs “all the way” with onion-rings & Coke, plus of course radioactive pickle relish 😀

Lunch at Portillo's for Chicago-style hot dogs!
USA!! USA!! USA!!

Then we found a classic “beer-cade” full of the old classic coin-operated videogames from the 80s. As a purist, I was miffed that all the old CRT monitors had been replaced with crisp flat LCD displays, I really hate that, and I’m using that as my excuse for why I played so horribly at Centipede, Robotron, and Dig-Dug!

HeadQuarters Beercade haha fun classic arcade games such as Robotron, Centipede, and Dig-Dug
A very fun time, but I need to go back and play those games properly and thrash them within an inch of their lives!!

We grabbed an Uber to the Rosemont Loews, then finally to Gibsons!!!

View of downtown Chicago from our room at the Rosemont Loews hotel
Pretty cool view from our hotel room!
Dinner at Gibson's!! Plymouth gin martinis, then a ribeye & a porterhouse!
Pretty cool view at Gibsons!

A killer steak meal always demands a martini to start, and these were made with Plymouth gin, which I always request in the unlikely event anybody actually has it lol. Robert had the ribeye, I had the porterhouse, we shared a bottle of Justin and finished with creme brulee. It was a freaking feast!!!!

Porterhouse medium-rare at Gibson's in Rosemont!!

Now it’s time to crash at the hotel, sleep all this off, and get ready–finally!!–for the big adventure to begin!!



Leave a Reply