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chicago was SO much fun!
the hotel was absolutely gorgeous. they had an awesome art gallery and the room was so cool. the bathroom had a sweet glass sliding door and glass tile and it was just awesome. it was called InterContinental Chicago O'Hare. http://www.icohare.com/
my sister (d) and i left for grand rapids on friday night and stayed at my cousin's (n) place. saturday morning we went and picked up w and had breakfast, and we left gr a bit after 8:00 am. it took us about 3 hours to get to chicago. we were able to check into the hotel early and then we went straight to the convention.
i've never been to a convention before, and didn't figure i ever would. it was pretty cool, but it was crazy crowded. i had lots of fun tho. there wasn't a ton of doctor who or torchwood stuff, but there was some. i bought a ianto jones 'security pass' for $5 and i love it :)
n got a picture and autograph of nichelle nichols, who plays uhura in the original star trek tv series. we all got to walk up to the table and 'talk' to her. n was super excited and a little star struck. it was cool. the coolest guest for ME was emma caulfield, who played anya in buffy the vampire slayer. she had a crazy long line and is super tiny and just beautiful. seeing all the celebrities was pretty freaking cool.
after several hours of walking the booths, we went back to the hotel to rest up a bit. we eventually left to get dinner. we just drove around for a while and kinda got lost (on purpose due to w) but eventually happened upon a mexican restaurant called maria's. i can't remember where it was (ie suburb or whatever) but it was AMAZING. we were so pleased that we had stumpled upon such a great find. the food was excellent, the service was superb, the price was more than reasonable, and it was just awesome. it was so cool to find such a great authentically local chicago restaurant. when we got back to the hotel we watched a movie and played dutch blitz for a couple hours before succumbing to slumber.
sunday morning, n & w went down to get their free breakfast, while d and i were planning on just eating the muffins i had bought at 7-eleven saturday evening. instead, w went to the front desk to muscle his way into getting two additional free breakfasts via some complaints - ie. no roll-away cot like the website said and me having to sleep on the floor. i thought that was so cool of him and the hotel to do. so we all four went down for breakfast, and OH MY GOD. it was, again, AMAZING. awesome dining room with the coolest architecture and a great buffet and awesome food. it was the coolest hotel experience i have EVER had. if we had had to pay, the bill would have been around $100.
we checked out, drove to downtown chicago, and parked the car. we walked michigan ave (the magnificent mile) and it was just so cool. we were the epitome of tourists, but i didn't care. it was just so much fun! i bought an awesome hoodie for $50 (yikes!). then we went to dinner at the rainforest cafe (at the request of n) and continued the tourist experience. the food was really good and it was kinda silly, but fun. we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
it was such a long walk back to the car, that w and i went to go get it while d & n stayed and shopped at the cafe's store for souvenirs (d got me an awesome tee with a giraffe). the walk to the car was AMAZING. we went a different route so we could see more of the city and got a little 'lost' again (minor detour), but it was SO worth it. we ended up going through a little park, going down a street full of the buildings/houses i've ALways wanted to live in, and ended up at the beach. i was beyond pleased and ridiculously excited. once we got the car, we got a little 'lost' again (another minor detour), but it was SO worth it again. we ended up driving by the river and the riverwalk and it was super cool.
once we picked up d & n, after parking illegally for 5-10 minutes trying to get their attention and also calling their phones a million times to no avail, we went home.
chicago was awesome and i enjoyed myself so much! i think (i hope) that d & n & w did too. great fun :)
the hotel was absolutely gorgeous. they had an awesome art gallery and the room was so cool. the bathroom had a sweet glass sliding door and glass tile and it was just awesome. it was called InterContinental Chicago O'Hare. http://www.icohare.com/
my sister (d) and i left for grand rapids on friday night and stayed at my cousin's (n) place. saturday morning we went and picked up w and had breakfast, and we left gr a bit after 8:00 am. it took us about 3 hours to get to chicago. we were able to check into the hotel early and then we went straight to the convention.
i've never been to a convention before, and didn't figure i ever would. it was pretty cool, but it was crazy crowded. i had lots of fun tho. there wasn't a ton of doctor who or torchwood stuff, but there was some. i bought a ianto jones 'security pass' for $5 and i love it :)
n got a picture and autograph of nichelle nichols, who plays uhura in the original star trek tv series. we all got to walk up to the table and 'talk' to her. n was super excited and a little star struck. it was cool. the coolest guest for ME was emma caulfield, who played anya in buffy the vampire slayer. she had a crazy long line and is super tiny and just beautiful. seeing all the celebrities was pretty freaking cool.
after several hours of walking the booths, we went back to the hotel to rest up a bit. we eventually left to get dinner. we just drove around for a while and kinda got lost (on purpose due to w) but eventually happened upon a mexican restaurant called maria's. i can't remember where it was (ie suburb or whatever) but it was AMAZING. we were so pleased that we had stumpled upon such a great find. the food was excellent, the service was superb, the price was more than reasonable, and it was just awesome. it was so cool to find such a great authentically local chicago restaurant. when we got back to the hotel we watched a movie and played dutch blitz for a couple hours before succumbing to slumber.
sunday morning, n & w went down to get their free breakfast, while d and i were planning on just eating the muffins i had bought at 7-eleven saturday evening. instead, w went to the front desk to muscle his way into getting two additional free breakfasts via some complaints - ie. no roll-away cot like the website said and me having to sleep on the floor. i thought that was so cool of him and the hotel to do. so we all four went down for breakfast, and OH MY GOD. it was, again, AMAZING. awesome dining room with the coolest architecture and a great buffet and awesome food. it was the coolest hotel experience i have EVER had. if we had had to pay, the bill would have been around $100.
we checked out, drove to downtown chicago, and parked the car. we walked michigan ave (the magnificent mile) and it was just so cool. we were the epitome of tourists, but i didn't care. it was just so much fun! i bought an awesome hoodie for $50 (yikes!). then we went to dinner at the rainforest cafe (at the request of n) and continued the tourist experience. the food was really good and it was kinda silly, but fun. we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
it was such a long walk back to the car, that w and i went to go get it while d & n stayed and shopped at the cafe's store for souvenirs (d got me an awesome tee with a giraffe). the walk to the car was AMAZING. we went a different route so we could see more of the city and got a little 'lost' again (minor detour), but it was SO worth it. we ended up going through a little park, going down a street full of the buildings/houses i've ALways wanted to live in, and ended up at the beach. i was beyond pleased and ridiculously excited. once we got the car, we got a little 'lost' again (another minor detour), but it was SO worth it again. we ended up driving by the river and the riverwalk and it was super cool.
once we picked up d & n, after parking illegally for 5-10 minutes trying to get their attention and also calling their phones a million times to no avail, we went home.
chicago was awesome and i enjoyed myself so much! i think (i hope) that d & n & w did too. great fun :)
