get on your boots

Last weekend, as I mentioned in my previous post, was a whirlwind of activity (or at least more than my typical weekend). My lil'sister and her boyfriend came up to Chicago for a long anticipated visit. Our only real plan at the beginning of the weekend was to see U2 on their first stop in the USA on their 360 tour. As it turns out, the Renegade Craft Fair was also on Saturday and Sunday, a trip to downtown to see the city's highlights, and of course the "three little piggy" as recommended by Anthony Bourdain (of the Travel Channel's "No Reservations") had to be eaten at some point.

Let me just start with the Renegade Craft Fair. I was walking my dog on Saturday morning before everyone else got up and noticed that Division Street (2 blocks from my house) was lined with little white tents...a sure fire sign of some sort of art fair, music festival, or beer/food festival...all of which are some of my favorite things to attend in the summer here in Chicago. Now, to be honest, I haven't been much of a participating member of society lately so I had no idea that the Renegade Craft Fair was going on. I was so pleasantly surprised that when I came home, I informed everyone that we were going to at least "stop by" and take a look knowing full well that it could turn into an all day affair. And it did. We met up with some friends for breakfast and then made our way to the never-ending white tents filled with awesomeness (well, most of it). You could find anything from recycled tires made into wallets, handmade clothing, screenprinted posters, to intricately crafted jewelry. Also, I think Etsy was a sponsor...just to throw that out there. We toured as much as we could, had some PBR's, bought some cool stuff, and headed back to prepare to see Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen in their little known band called U2.

As awesome as the concert was, I won't talk much about it because I won't really do it justice. Just know that the stage has some pretty amazing features, the sound was spectacular, Bono's sunglasses were never misplaced, and they performed some of my favorites for 2 hours! All in all, it was a fantastic show.

So then on to the Tour of Chicago! I haven't really talked about architecture yet in this blog, but just to throw it out there...Chicago is one of the most fascinating cities for architecture (one of my reasons for moving here). However, I have found that when taking Chicago newbies around the city, I tend to not want to bore them with an architectural tour because then we'd just be looking up the whole time and I would have to make up facts about when things were built and the history behind them. Instead, I decided the best place to go on a warm sunny day was to Millenium Park to see Ghery's Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Kapoor's Cloud Gate (a.k.a. "the Bean"), the view from Piano's new Modern Wing at the Art Institute, and of course Plensa's Crown Fountain.   All of these are things I never really get bored showing people either.  So it was a win-win!  Then we went on to the Hancock tower so that we could have a drink in the Signature Lounge and see the kick ass view!

Now, this next part of the trip deserves a warning.  And no, we did not skydive from the Hancock tower, but that might have had a longer lasting high.  Some may have heard of Anthony Bourdain by now...he's a little famous in my world.  If not, he is the host of one of my favorite tv shows "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel.  He smokes like a chimney, swears like a sailor, and eats almost anything as long as it's traditional food from wherever he's travelling.  I'm always impressed that he can hold down his liquor and food in each episode.  Of course, now, I'm thinking that there is a lot of editing involved.  Which brings me to my story of the "Three Little Piggy" sandwich.  Apparently when Tony came to Chicago, he went to the Silver Palm and ordered this monstrosity.  By his recommendation, we had to do the same.  Packed between a toasted bun, this sandwich is comprised of one breaded pork cutlet, what seemed like a pound of ham, two pieces of bacon, an egg, and oh yeah, lets not forget about the onion ring.  My sister and boyfriend were smart enough to share a sandwich, but unfortunately my husband has a gluten allergy (no bread), so he couldn't exactly split it with me (nor did he look like he wanted to anyway).  So, foolish as I am, I got the whole thing myself.  I think I ended up eating 2/3 of it (plus fries) and washed it all down with a nice cold PBR.  Stupid.  My stomach hurt for days...but it was so very good.  To anyone visiting Chicago, if Anthony Bourdain's recommendation isn't enough, I also DO recommend the "Three Little Piggy" at the Silver Palm.  Just don't eat the whole thing (or pack some Pepto if you do).  Also, it's not recommended to eat the "Three Little Piggy" immediately before boarding a plane...which my sister and her boyfriend did.