Our Annual Trip to Chicago

Every year we take a day trip to Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It's a great deal. For ten bucks a person we get a luxury bus ride including mixed drinks and bagels during the ride. The bus trip is sponsored by my employer so the down side is traveling with my co-workers. It's not that I don't like my co-workers, for the most part I do. It's just nice to be away from them considering all the time spent with them during the week.

We sat in the sixth row of the bus. Coolers carrying the drinks were in the first seat on our side, followed by the couple who were going to serve, then a few rows of some of my closest co-workers. One the other side of the aisle, was a seat full of more coolers, a seat with some of the executive staff, and a seat with the bagels, paper plates, and plastic cups. All the rest of the seats were occupied with people, it was a full bus. It's a popular trip.



Jeff's eyes were instantly drawn to the people across the aisle. They were extremely large - I mean the people not his eyes. I know I secretly wondered how they could be comfortable since they probably had to squeeze into the seats to fit. Jeff didn't say anything but I could guess what he was thinking. By the time we got to Kenosha, we were half-way through a bloody mary and a bagel with cream cheese. As we hit the toll booth, we had a second drink and that would be enough of that.

Jeff leaned close to me to ask if I knew those people stuffed into the seats. I told him I did, the guy worked in my department so I knew him pretty well. "I can't believe it, he's eaten two bagels and now he's eating not one, but two egg mcmuffins." Yes, I did see the McDonald's bag but I didn't pay that close attention to anything else. After the mcmuffins were downed, he went back for another bagel. Jeff couldn't believe it. "He's eating another one! - Geez" I answered, "You don't get to be that size without trying." He was just disgusted.

We got off the bus and spent the morning shopping. We started out at Christkindlemarket. Even though it was pretty cold out, we like the atmosphere of the little shops and it's really neat to look at all the European wares for sale. Jeff bought me some Irish cashmere scarfs. They were so pretty it was tough to decide which ones to choose. After that, we walked across the street to Macy's. It felt good to get indoors and warm up. Macy's was just crazy busy. We walked through the first floor where there was plenty of security people dressed in black. They looked like Secret Service. It seemed a little odd. We shopped all the other floors when the store announced that Jessica Simpson would be giving autographs in a few minutes. There was a catch, the autograph was only given to the first 300 people who purchased $90 worth of her perfume. That explained all those security guards dressed in black. I had to get a glimpse. Jeff mildly complained uttering something about Tony Romo. Secretly, I don't think he was too disappointed once he got to see her beauty. In standard touristy fashion, I stopped and took a picture of her much to the dismay of the Secret Service - like dudes.

After that we worked our way down Michigan Avenue where Niketown had a sale. That was a first so we made out on the deals. We went through all the malls and got Lauren's Christmas present at Bloomingdale's. While we were there we ran into Jean, a friend who lives in the Lake Geneva area.

We did our traditional stop to get a drink on the 95th floor of the Hancock building. The view was incredible as always and we were happy to be off our feet for the first time since we got off the bus. We sat at the bar and enjoyed the ambiance and toasted the start of our holiday season. It is a nice tradition. When we got to the bar we had a 20 minute wait and by the time we left people in line had an hour wait just to get into the bar. We timed our visit perfectly. It was 4:00 when we left which gave us just enough time to get some early dinner before getting back to the bus.

Another tradition we have is dinner at China Big Bowl. It's next to Chicago Harley and across from the bus stop so it's the perfect place to end the day. Dinner is excellent. It's authentic, the ingredients are fresh, and the wait staff is wonderful. We really like it there. After dinner we walked over to the bus stop and even though we were 10 minutes early, the bus was already there so we went right in and took our seats. Everyone got on the bus on time or earlier so attendance was taken and we headed out 5 minutes before we were scheduled to leave. It was nicer than waiting for someone who is late, expecially when everyone is tired and a little cranky from the long day. A bunch of people spent the day bar hopping through Chicago so it's funny to see them stumble onto the bus and into their seats. Usually they're sleeping before we get to the expressway.

We settled in for the ride back when the guy across from us started making requests. Can his wife have the seat that contains the box of bagels in front of him so they can stretch out? Can he have more bagels? That's when Jeff noticed them drinking their ice cream drinks they carried on and eating yet more bagels! He was appalled. I was amused. Thank goodness Jeff napped part of the way home! It's funny the things we notice when there's nothing else to do. This was our seventh year on this trip and it won't be our last.