Kind of a High School Reunion 2011

I don't know why but I find myself wanting to be part of something significant or at least novel, like having my watch stop ticking as I'm looking at it. Or being in a plane crash. Yeah, that's morbid, but how many people get to be part of plane crashes? Not that many in the entirety of history. I'm not saying that when I get on a plane I root for it to go down, I'm just saying it would be neat to be part of history. It's the same thing as rooting for dynasties in sports. Kind of. Don't you agree?  Probably not. Maybe I need more emotion in my life.

Anyway.

Friday. How did I go about making my Friday blogworthy, or at least for this blog where the standard is not much higher than simply leaving the house? Using my Living Social coupon for Kaz Sushi Bistro that was to expire soon that's how. Delicious. Not much more than that though other than when the sushi stopped making me full we drove to Wendys because we were feeling pretty uncreative in terms of satiating our late night hunger.

Why the lame Friday? Do you remember how I told you a little while back in the summer that my favorite Premier League team is Everton? Well they were on TV Saturday morning playing my roommate's favorite team, Manchester City. So we decided to get up early (10am) and watch the recorded version of it and I needed to get to bed early for this. I don't get much sleep because of having to get to work in the AM but when I get the chance I will sleep way past what is normal, so if I was to get up for the game I had to offset some sleep elsewhere. Makes sense, right? Yeah, I know, I could just get to bed earlier during the week to save up time to not sleep on the weekend. I've heard that one before 123120981 times. But oh hey let me introduce myself to you: I am Jeff. I have very little will power and an odd need to be like the last one up. I think it has to do with not wanting to miss out. My house is pretty much the center of my social universe so if I didn't socialize there, well, I would probably get a lot more sleep.

And I had big plans for Saturday. After the soccer game there was lunch at DC Veg Fest 2011. This was a vegetarian festival down at George Washington University. You know, sometimes I am a vegetarian (but who isn't, right? i mean there has to have been an instance when you weren't eating meat), so I wanted to immerse myself in the veggie vibe at the Veg Fest hoping someone would tell me/I would read/hear something so eye-opening that I would kick my vegetarian tendencies into irreversible overdrive.

So we get off at a metro stop far away, because the metro is always under construction and inconvenient on the weekend, and walk to Foggy Bottom. This was a less than optimal situation at first. Next thing you know we are walking by the World Bank and IMF and I am realizing I have never set foot in one of the more popular areas of the city. Not sure how that happened that I had never been there before. But now I can say I have been there and that's what counts, right (see first paragraph)?

Anyway. Honestly, I didn't expect for it to be much more than a few tables of sparsely patronized organizations and food people. Actually, it was quite crowded with a bunch of vegetarian-oriented businesses, animal rights organizations, and vegetarian food vendors.  Well done, DC vegetarians. Did I get my mind blown meatless? No. But I did get this interaction, which was just about the exact thing I was hoping to avoid yet knew to expect it the entire time, and some good Indian food:

Veg Fest Person (VFP): So, are you a vegetarian?
Me (ME): No. Well, kind of.
VFP: incredulously with raised eyebrows Kind of?!
ME: Yeah, I mean I don't really buy meat for my regular diet but I make exceptions for organically raised meat (becuase it's not that they were killed but how they lived, right?), free food, and novelty food eating experiences like chinese buffets and food trucks and when I am traveling and when I am drinking and pretty much any eating experience that takes place outside of my house.
VFP: So not 'kind of', but 'not at all'?
ME: thinking: "All right, bitch, why don't you get off your high horse so I can eat it. Kidding. I would never eat a horse. Horses are beautiful and way too much meat for me to consume. Kidding again. About the too much meat part, that is. They are definitely beautiful. The real reason is I have no will power to entirely adhere to my convictions. But it turns out just enough to not punch you in the neck (this is a guy I am speaking to. I am not both an animal eater and lady hitter.). Ha yea pretty much. But I am a lot more content not trying to be perfect. I tried to go vegan once and I kept on compromising and that would just depress me, which I try to avoid doing. 
VFP: Ha all right at least you're honest.
ME: Yeah. And funny. then I walked away

Too bad animals don't get my sense of humor. Maybe that would ease their tortured lives and often gruesome deaths. Probably not, though. Oh, if only I were a strong-willed human being!

So, if you remember, last weekend we were going to go visit the Wilson House, as in President Woodrow Wilson's House, the only presidential museum in DC, if you can believe that. Turns out that was our last chance for a little while as it is now being renovated. Well, Satuday was Museum Day, according to Smithsonian so we thought we'd try out another president's house. This time Abraham Lincoln's Cottage, which is not his presidential museum but just his old DC summer house that sits adjacent to the Soldier's Home. However, I don't know why I even bothered because, shockingly/not at all, Museum Day was so popular that there weren't any tickets available for free entry to Lincoln's Cottage.

Luckily, we had planned too much for Saturday anyway so had we gone we would have been late for the tailgate to the DC United soccer game, which obviously takes precedence. Don't believe me? You decide: free entry to Lincoln's summer home or $10 for all you can eat along with free good beer and tickets? Don't even try to act like you are that big a fan of Abraham Lincoln and I won't act like I went for any reason other than the food and beer. Luckily, we (DC United) won so that wasn't a waste of time.

Oh yea, the high school reunion thing. So I have like three high school friends that live in DC. One of them plays on my roommate's soccer team (not coincidental; I knew he was good and I knew the team needed a player), so he was naturally part of the tailgate, which was for winning soccer teams. Another friend of mine is also in the same league so he was there.

After the game we decided to head up to Adams Morgan. Coincidentally, my third high school friend texted to hang out so she met up with us in Adams Morgan. (side note: do not try to find a parking spot anywhere near Adams Morgan on a Saturday night without committing to spending like $20. We had to go park at my house about a mile away and cab back. Yeah, this does not sound bad and is something that should have been recommended at first. But I don't drive in DC so I had not yet learned the disaster that is parking in Adams Morgan on a Saturday.) So there was that adorable little reunion. Then there was queso from Giant and there went Saturday.

I didn't have much planned on Sunday but that which I did, did not pan out. I was going to eat at Chipotle but, in case you didn't know, the Chipotle in Columbia Heights is part of the Smithsonian museums and is always like out the door crowded. Only part of that is false. So I had Pollo Campero instead and if you told me I was in Guatemala, from where the fried chicken establishment comes, I would have had to believe you, which was nicely nostalgic. Later I was going to go try to run a mile again but they shut the lights out in the stadium as I walked in. I didn't want my trip down to Cardozo to be for naught so I decided to go eat at Fast Gourmet, which is a gourmet sandwich place in a gas station that I hear good things about. Then I realized I didn't have my wallet with me.

And I lost in fantasy football. That was a regrettable Sunday.

This Past Weekend Had College Written All Over It 2011

I am an admitted music snob in that I will judge you based on your music and think that I am better than you if your music is more mainstream than that to which I listen. Hence, I don't have many friends. And those I do have I really wish they knew more about good music so they could tell me about it. Do you like good music? Are we friends yet? Of course we are. Who else would read this? But let's act like we're not. In that case, would you like to be my friend and go hang out and drink good beer and talk about good music? Cool.

However.

There are a few pop songs that I do enjoy. They are (this may be all of them):
-there is that beyonce song from last year or so
-there are lady gaga songs from her last album
-i enjoy that adele song that recently came out.

Trend: they are all quite talented and I respect talent.

On the other hand, just because a band is not mainstream does not mean I respect them. These are some at least moderately sub-mainstream people that I do not enjoy:
-odd future--i think they won an MTV award. if it wasn't for being obnoxious/overrated, it probably wasn't deserved
-fleet foxes--this crap reminds me of the woods and other things too tranquil for my liking. can't stand it
-sleigh bells--click on that link and listen to it. yeah, i can't believe anyone likes that either.

Anyway.

So the Washington Nationals are terrible. Point and case: you can buy tickets for two rows up in right field for $5. You're right, that is as much as the fee to purchase them online. I was thinking, "I haven't been to a Nats game since the very beginning of the year and I have nothing to do Friday so why don't I splurge and go to a game." My roommate liked the idea, too. So he gets a bottle of Captain Morgan and we drink that pre game. And here's the kicker: for some reason I get the idea to get 5 hour energy drinks. No, I get the idea because I don't get enough sleep and drinking and baseball can be a pretty powerful sedative.

$5

Do you remember when I told you how I know why four loko's were made illegal in their original form? Well, I was wrong. I did not. Now I do. You see, alcohol naturally makes you tired and feel the effects of drinking a lot. Energy drinks like four loko or five hour energy masks that tiredness so you don't realize that you're getting drunk, which we were after the Captain Morgan and beers at the game. But we must not have known or else I would hope we wouldn't have walked from the stadium up to Capitol Hill to a random bar for a few more beers, which is kind of far but I cannot quite recall walking all that far.

And neither can my roommate.

After that we remember eating chips and salsa at said bar with the beers and leaving. And then it's anyone's guess. Or, if it's your knowledge, please let us know what exactly did happen.

Here's what we can piece together and guess from the clues:

We got on the metro somewhere near the bar and switched to the green line at L'enfant, presumably. My roommate then remembers being on the floor of the metro and when he got up I was gone. He remembers getting off at U St. and looking for me. He also remembers me pushing him so it only makes sense that I must have pushed him and ran away at the U St. stop. I have a text message saying I am on the bus on the way home. He walks home. I didn't have my keys so I guess I figured I would wait for him on the back deck waiting for him to come home. He does not come through the back door but goes through the front and passes out in the foyer. I have calls on my phone to roommates at about 1230 and 3am. I also have an anecdote in which I called another friend and seemed confused as to why I was calling him. The only other thing I remember from the night is waking up on the back deck shivering at 3am and wondering what the fuck is going on.

The next day my roommates come into my room to wake me up for the Tennessee game. "What is that on your head?" I have an unexplained scrape on my forehead. I'm embarrassed.

Lesson learned: do not binge drink and take a five hour energy.

Also like college, I put on my orange jumpsuit for the Tennessee game and, like most of college, we lose to Florida. I hate the University of Florida.

But really the orange jumpsuit was only there during my last semester of college. Also from my last semester of college: my affinity for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Well, they were playing in DC on Saturday at the 930 Club, so after my first run with Korean food of the weekend--this time from Adams Express in Mt. Pleasant--I met up with a couple friends and attended their concert. Given the zaniness of their music I figured they would have a livelier stage presence. I was mistaken. But I enjoyed it just the same. It probably had to do with the fact that the music reminded me of a really fun time in life. And then we went back to my friend's house and threw the football in the street.

Do you remember when I told you about my goal to be able to run a six minute mile by winter? Well, I finally got started on that/I joined a soccer league and I don't want to be the first casualty in a social soccer league. So last week or so I had attempted to run on the treadmill at the gym. I have never run on a treadmill before because, given my aversion to embarrassment, I am more than likely to fall on my face in the middle of a crowded gym and if that's not grounds for suicide I do not know what is. I don't know if it was just the machine or if it knew that I was scared or if it's the way I run, but I was tripping up on the machine and almost fell multiple times. But the jesus didn't invent the outdoors for us to run indoors anyway so on Sunday I gave the running a try outdoors at the track down the street. Guess how fast I ran my first mile for the sake of running a mile in a long time? 7:35. Can I cut that down to six minutes in three months? I don't know.

How does one recover from a grueling exercise regimen such as that? Vast quantities of Korean food, of course. Namely, Honey Pig in Annandale, VA. Look at this. This is two people's food/my idea of a good time:

My roommate and I had intended to visit the Woodrow Wilson House on Sunday but I was told it closed too early based on when I woke up when in fact it was not. That will have to wait for another weekend. My tourist experience for the weekend: Takoma Park, MD. I work with this girl that is in love with Takoma Park because she says it is so "bohemian". Wikipedia says it has the nickname of the "Berkeley of the East" based on its very liberal constituents.

So I put on my tourist shoes and went to explore this neighborhood. I mean I saw some hippie types but other than that I couldn't verify how liberal or bohemian it is. This is what I saw:

welcome sign

it became quite residential pretty quickly. not used to seeing all those trees this close to the city.

big ugly apartment building just to remind you you are near DC

apparently the town grew up around a railroad station and these buildings make me think of just that

old fashioned downtown area

Then I was walking down the road and this random lady was like, "Hey you're that guy that walked into the tree the other night! It has to be you, look at the scrape on your forehead!"

No. This didn't happen. But I am afraid of something like this happening and them being like, "actually, you ran into a wall with all these people around and you started crying because you were so embarrassed and lost." Yeah, that would be grounds for suicide. But seriously, if you do have information on what happened Friday please do let me know.

Lots of Photos and Some Words From That Week I Spent in Toronto, Buffalo, Detroit, Ann Arbor, South Bend, and Chicago 2011

So I spent the last week or so traveling, in case you couldn't figure that out by the title of this bloggy blog.

I don't know where I got the idea but I decided to travel to Toronto on my own. I am sure I was thinking, "I just want to go to a city and explore without having to worry about doing what other people want to do or rest/wake up when they do." But right before I left, like every time I go somewhere new for an extended period of time, I was all anxious and second-guessing my decision.

In the end it all worked out as planned. Well, not all but most. What is all you ask? Well, I have attached some photos below to show you. This one is not going to have as many words but will be as characteristically long due to the pictures.

Here is how I spent the days September 3-11 in the year 2011 of our lord:

So I get on the doubledecker Megabus in DC and the prime seat right above the steps where I don't have to worry about anyone behind me has a TV falling out of the wall, so I was the only one to brave this seat and I am thinking I am off to a really good start to my trip that begins with an 11 hour bus ride. Then the bus people come and cut down the TV and the seat next to me is open for the taking and when I get to Harrisburg it is. By a large snoring man. And 13 very uncomfortable hours later we arrive in downtown Toronto. Lesson #1: don't take the Megabus for long trips to popular destinations (Knoxville: ok; Toronto: no).

Anyway. To the photos.

TORONTO

Where I stayed--Canadiana Backpackers Inn--a highly recommended hostel

My first stop upon arriving in Canada was Chinatown, of course. I ate at one of these places. What is not seen here are the t-shirt vendors. I realized I didn't pack enough shirts for the week so I found one that if it were sold at any brand name place based on how soft it was would cost like $30. It cost 3 here. I am an idiot and only bought one. It's pretty ironically sweet though with a wolf and everything. So soft. Let me know if you're in Toronto so I can have you pick me up another one.

I ordered something called Chicken with Mushrooms. The lady asked me if I want rice or spaghetti. I thought spaghetti was Canada's cute way of saying lo mein (because they have a cute way of doing things--see photo below). It turns out she really meant spaghetti. Half the reason I travel is for the food. This was not a good start.

OMG Canada, you are so adorable putting a cute little hockey playing family on your five dollar bill.

Kensington Market--a bohemian part of town. Kind of like a much cooler version of Adams Morgan. Point and case below.

They should have towed this car earlier. It's going to be pretty heavy now.

Moose on a roof wearing hockey jerseys. Classic Canada.

Art Gallery of Ontario

Ontario College of Art and Design

Juxtaposition, shall we? (They're not connected btw.)

I was told this has something to do with something called Degrassi. Wikipedia tells me Degrassi is a Canadian teen television drama series.

I took a photo of these buildings because I thought they were nice. The place below was in there with them. Not much more I can say about that.

I came to this place because it said it was a brewpub. It turns out they don't brew their own beer but put their name on other peoples'. Kind of like Old Dominion here in DC. There was an item on the menu called peameal bacon on a sandwich with egg. I was thinking, quite Americanly, how can bacon carry a sandwich? I was curious enough that I got it. Canadian bacon. Why can't they just call it ham like the rest of the world?

 It was Saturday and I was thinking I would go try to find some good local band playing some live music at a nice little venue. The venue was good. The band played lame covers. And I don't know where they were from.

I was told I have to buy one of the hot dogs by the street vendors because they give you so many options for toppings. After drinking at the show from above this is my little Toronto street hot dog concoction.

Toronto's version of Times Square

DC needs to invest in putting TVs in the metro.

So I ate lunch on Sunday in Greektown. This is where I ate. I had a pork souvlaki pita. If you ordered lamb they had to warn you that it was fatty. A national health care system will do that.

This is called Casa Loma, which is a big mansion in the city.

This is a house right by Casa Loma. Nice neighborhood.

Say you're walking down the sidewalk in Toronto and you're like, "damn, this is a nice looking sidewalk. I wonder when it was paved." All you have to do is look down and you will see the year in which it was paved. I'm sure this serves some real purpose but I am going to chalk it up to Canada being adorable again.

Then I walked miles and miles and ended up in Yorkville in an area called The Annex.

There were a few times on this trip when I thought about ways I could become rich. Walking through The Annex in Toronto was one of those because of houses like this. I later learned Rachel McAdams has a house here. Biggest regret of the trip: not looking up The Annex when I was there, specifically where Rachel McAdams lives.

Also The Annex

Canada being adorable again. Look at that little guy telling you to strut across the street.

Royal Ontario Museum. I didn't go into any of these museums because after living in DC I refuse to pay to enter museums.

This is on the campus of Victoria University in the University of Toronto. I don't know what that means other than university cannibalism but I hate myself for not going to a school that looks like this. 

Again, the University of Toronto.

Hudson's Bay Company. Only the oldest corporation in North America.

Old City Hall

New City Hall

CN Tower. It costs like $30 to go to the top of that. Why anyone has every been to the top of this given that fact is not something I will ever understand ("look mom there's another view of that financial building we just saw a second ago while not in a huge space needle."). But i felt obligated to take a picture of it.

Where the Blue Jays play

Where the Maple Leafs (shouldn't it be the Maple Leaves??) and Raptors play.

This brewery makes one beer. It is a pilsner and it's pretty good.

Was told this was the best jerk chicken ever. I can't recall a time I had jerk chicken prior to this so I can't really agree or disagree. It was tasty though.

When I originally planned on going to Toronto I was going to go during the International Film Festival there. Then I remembered my aversion to large numbers of people so I came the week before instead. This is the theater that is home to the Toronto International Film Festival. Nice right? I figured that since I would be missing the festival I would at least catch an indie film there on the rainy Sunday night I was there. I saw Tree of Life. I don't think I know the type of people that would enjoy that movie. They go through the history of the universe in one 20 minute voiceless sequence and at one point one dinosaur steps on the head of another. Yeah. However, I think I saw the two people from the band Tennis there while in line for a Sprite. And just now I was going to get the link to their myspace page so that you could go to it in case you don't know them but the picture on there is of people that I did not see. Bummer. Good music though so you should still check them out.

Jim Carrey is like the most famous Canadian. He has whatever that is on the sidewalk. So does Bryan Adams.

Then the next day I ate in Little India at this place. When taking a picture I read they have a restaurant outside of DC. Every time I've eaten Indian food it has been different. This time was no different.

This is the real life beach there in Toronto. Yeah, I was surprised too. Had I known about this I would have come one of the first two days when it was really hot and people were saying things like, "It's humid, eh?" rather than this day when it was 60 degrees out.

When was the last time you saw an operable phone booth outside of the movie "Phone Booth"?

Distillery District. It's an area with art galleries and buildings that look like this. Quite nice.

Juxtaposition 2

Then I went to High Park. I regretted it pretty much immediately because it's large and this is how you normally get around. Don't be fooled by the people sitting on it because it was out of commission at this point. And there was a zoo in the park. I just wanted to get to the next neighborhood on my journey and I knew if  I stopped in the zoo I would be captivated by something soft and cuddly or a moose. Will power made a rare appearance and I was able to bypass the zoo luckily.

This was in the park, which is nice.

As was this.

Canadian geese in Canada! (I realize these very well might not be Canadian geese but I don't know much about geese. It's just a hunch so take it easy you zoologist you.)

The next neighborhood was called Parkdale, as you can see above. I stopped here for a beer after my super long trek through the park and such and have a photo of the experience but its not that good because I didn't want to be that loner taking flash photos of the bar. I hope you understand.

My first experience with Korean Barbeque. Best meal in Toronto. If you're keeping track at home the official scorecard for my ethnic meals is as such: Chinese, Canadian, Greek, Caribbean, Indian, Korean. Boom.

And that was Toronto. With all the ethnic food, laid back neighborhoods, ease of transport, free health care, and all the other fun life options it is probably my favorite city I have ever been to. If it were in the United States I would definitely move there (Obama, if you want my vote, start by annexing Toronto). Or maybe I will just move there anyway. Does anyone know if it's easy to get a job there as an American? What about if I go to law school there?

Then I got on a bus and went to Buffalo to get a car to drive to Chicago. I get on the bus and almost immediately this guy sits down next to me and introduces himself. Within like one minute he is telling me about about he's been to DC and has seen the Hope diamond at the Smithsonian. This is my nightmare. But it didn't last long, luckily. Eventually I made it to Buffalo.

I didn't realize how nondescript this photo is but this is Anchor Bar in Buffalo, home of the original buffalo wing. Sadly, I enjoyed these more than almost all those foods in Toronto.

The thing with ugly cities is they allow the freedom to build modern looking buildings like this one in Buffalo, which I found appealing.

On the way from Buffalo to Detroit where I was spending the night before Chicago I stopped in Niagra Falls. This is the only picture I took of it because that is all it deserves. Entirely unappealing. I am pretty sure TLC told us not to go after these things and, well, there's not much there when you find one.

This was right next to the falls. I found this just as appealing.

And this.

A view of Detroit from my hotel.

This is Detroit. Honestly, I kind of like it. Not as it is now, of course, but for what it could be. You fix up the old brick buildings from the 1920s throw in some modern architecture and some jobs and you have yourself a nice city. I'd live there.

I also stopped in Ann Arbor to check out the University of Michigan. This is the law quad. Again, I hate myself for not going somewhere like this for undergrad and for not being smart enough to go here for law school.

This is Notre Dame. I told my dad that I was stopping by. He said he would write me out of the will if I did. He hates Notre Dame more than probably anything on earth. I wouldn't put it by him to actually write me out of the will for this so do me a favor and don't tell him this happened. If you do, please tell him that I didn't really like it with the lame college town and abundance of rich white people.

CHICAGO

So there is this lady that won the cooking show Top Chef that has a restaurant in Chicago. This is that restaurant. Apparently it is quite tough to get a reservation there. Somehow my friend got one for 930 on the Wednesday I arrived there. They have a continuously changing menu of small plates that may or may not include goat meat. The server lady was like you should get like 2-3 each so we did. That server lady was a liar but the food sure was delicious. Best of the trip actually. But don't believe them if they tell you you should order like 6 plates because 3-4 is enough. But maybe you should because they taste really good.

My friend lives in the West Loop area of the city near Haymarket. We ate/drank at the brew pub there.

When you heard Haymarket in Chicago did you think of the massacre there in 1886? Yeah, me too. And if you were wondering if there were a monument like I was there is one and this is it.

So we just went awalking down Michigan Ave. This is the new Trump building/second largest building in the US.

Chicago has a lot of nice architecture, if you haven't been there. A lot of the pictures I have from my time there are of random buildings. I like this example. It's a hotel.

Michigan Ave.

Nice building.

You did it, water tower, you survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. In case you were wondering they did eventually state that the cow that supposedly started the fire by kicking over a lantern was innocent. Poor cow, carrying that burden for all that time.

This store is another example of times I consider going to law school to be a rich person's lawyer so I can shop at places like this. However, while I did not buy anything at Topman I could not hang out on Michigan Ave. all day and come back empty handed. So I bought the shoes below because together we make an awesome team.

Hancock building. It's famous.

Chicago has a beach too. Look at the size of those waves in that lake!

Chicago style pizza from the place below.

Non-touristy place where I had the Chicago-style pizza above.

They made a movie about this place. It's called Chicago.

This is a famous department store. Maybe the first one ever. I can't remember. And I can't read the writing in the photo either. But I was there. And it was about here that I consumed my first ever 5 Hour Energy. At one point I had forgotten I took it and I was feeling all weird on the inside then I remembered I drank a superbooster and, while I didn't feel any better, I at least knew where the feeling was coming from. 5 Hour Energy. It will keep you awake.

Chicago hot dogs are really underrated. This one was delectable. Its from a place called Morrie O'Malley's in the south side. I recommend it.

Also on the south side, the White Sox's stadium.

University of Chicago. University number three on the trip that makes me wish I tried harder in school when I was younger/had smarter/richer parents to make me smarter and afford for me to go to schools that arches like this.

And quads like this.

Have you ever read the book "Devil in the White City" about a murderer during the time of the World's Columbian Expo in Chicago in 1893? It's pretty entertaining and popular. Well, this is the only building left from said Expo. It's not white but that's because the white ones weren't supposed to last except this one.

Chicago skyline.

self-explanatory

This is what Wrigleyville looks like when the Cubs aren't in town.

Al's Italian Beef is another famous Chicago food. Yeah, I ate there too.

Wicker Park it turns out is not actually a park but an area of the city. Multiple people told me I should go to Wicker Park and I didn't understand why people wanted me to go to this park. It's a nice area to go out in actually, that's why.

I know what you're thinking, "is that New Haven style pizza with mashed potatoes and bacon on it?" Unfortunately, yes, something like that does exist. A lot less potatoes than I expected and they were baked so they tasted like regular old potatoes, which is still weird, but not as weird as a pizza slathered with mashed potatoes. It really wasn't bad though, just a gross idea.

2011 Independent Pizzeria of the year, Piece. They brew their own beer and offer mashed potatoes as a topping. Tough to beat.

You know how I told you Chicago is known for the architecture? Well, we took a tour! The next several buildings are from that tour. That's the Willis (Sears) Tower there. Tallest building in the US. And at one point the world!

This is what Chicago was supposed to look like. It doesn't.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House.

Illinois Institute of Technology. Also on the tour.

Chicago skyline again. Someone once told me Chicago is big but it doesn't feel like a big city. That person was wrong. Chicago is a huge city and it feels like a huge city.

I was told these lions are famous and dress up sometimes. This is one of those things that I won't believe until I see.

This is my favorite of all the pretty skyscrapers. I don't know what it is though other than pretty.

More skyscrapers.

Frank Gehry did this.

Cloud Gate, aka The Bean. Not much to it but I can say I was there and that's what counts, right?

Another unofficial law school visit, Depaul.

The L in Chicago is pretty much a tourist attraction in and of itself. So we rode that in a loop.

That is a legit Tennessee bar and a good way to end a great vacation.

The Tennessee bar even had Left Hand Black Jack Porter, which is one of my favorite beers and is impossible to find anywhere. Admittedly, it wasn't all that good in the bottle it was probably sitting in for a while. My next journey is to Denver in a few weeks so one of my main goals is to find a place that sells it on tap. Until then I will get back to exploring DC for the first time in a long time.