The suitcase that went to Kuwait and other recent adventures

We went to Chicago for the MLA (or the Melée as Ricardo likes to call it) right after Christmas. I had not been there in 14 years and was really looking forward to it. I knew quite a lot would have changed, but I was eager to share with The Kid where I'd gone to school and the city I love.

Our first day there we went to the Field Museum to check out the Maps exhibit which Ricardo worked on for the Newberry. It was a terrific exhibit even though his section (Mapping Imaginary Worlds) was very small. The Kid did not love it (a little on overload and very crowded) but he loved the Pacific Atoll and South Pacific exhibits and the Ancient Americas exhibit was incredible.

The next day while Ricardo was conferencing -a -go-go, The Kid and I headed south to go to Science and Industry to check out the Star Wars exhibit. And this is where things started to go more normally for me. First, we had a hard time with the buses. We caught the 151 Sheridan with no problems. But I put the ticket in the wrong slot and lost the day pass. So she had to give me a receipt of loss. With much disgust, I might add. Then she told us to get off at Monroe to catch the Jeffrey to Hyde Park. But sadly the Jeffrey doesn't stop at Monroe, so we had to hike to Van Buren. If you've not been to Chicago these are long blocks, so that was like 1/2 a mile. We got there just as the Jeffrey Express got there, we jumped on. Only to find out the express now goes express to 67th, not 59th any more. Yikes!!! So I explained we wanted to go to Science and Industry and she kindly let us jump out there at a stop light so as not to take us deeply into a very hellish part of Chicago.

We got to the museum right as they were opening. Only to find that Star Wars is sold out through January. WTF? No Star Wars for us. We did see a completely fabulous sea monsters Omnimax which freaked the kid out a bit because of the height issue, not the movie. Then we hit the museum. I'd expected a lot to have changed, but it hasn't so much there. So he was pretty bored by it. We decided to leave as the crowds picked up and we got hungry.

I'd checked to be sure that the Medici was still around before we left for Chicago (a favorite college restaurant). So we walked into Hyde Park from the museum. It's about a mile and a quarter walk but it was fun because I could show The Kid all kinds of collegy things. But when we got the Med? Closed. Till Jan 3. Renovations. Shit. So we ate at a noodle place where Ann Sather's used to be and it sucked. So then I suggested we go into campus and I could get him ice cream at the Reynolds Club. Closed. Rock Chapel? Closed. Bond? Closed. Swift Coffee Shop? Closed. Classics? Closed. Everything I wanted to take him into. Suck a ding dong. Then we went to the bookstore. I got him a t-shit, one for Ricardo and a sweatshirt for me. XL. Except it's not. It's like a medium. I can't get into it and neither can Ricardo. Crap.

We caught the Jeffrey back into the city and I took the Kid to State Street to show him Marshall Fields (it's a Macy's now) and to buy him caramel corn. There was no caramel corn to be found. It was bitterly cold (for him, I was ok, oddly) and we'd walked for miles. So we caught a cab to the Tribune building and I'd finally done it right. He was fascinated by the stones of different buildings and from different places. He took pictures of very one until the batteries in the camera died. Then we cabbed down to Water Tower. I looked at some very overpriced boots and as we left the boot place, I found the popcorn place! OMG is that good caramel corn!!

That night we had dinner with friends from the ship, Peter and Kathleen and their fabulous Kid, and also with Bruce and Anna who were there for the Melée. We went to this insane Moroccan place, the Alhambra. The food was spectacular and the flamenco dancing an "experience."

The next day we were supposed to leave but we had no seats on the flight. We all went to Ann Sather's for cinnamon rolls and Swedish Pancakes that morning and then The Kid and I went to the Shedd Aquarium (biggest hit of the trip! OMG the wild seas thing was amazing!!!) but left early to meet Ricardo so we could get on our flight.

We got to the airport early but still couldn't get seats. We were told we'd get seats at the gate. So to be on the safe side we only checked one bag because if we were not going to get on, we'd need clothes and tooth brushes etc. We went to the gate where we ran into Bruce and Anna who were on the flight before us. We hung out while Ricardo tried to get us seats. No seats. They took off and we waited.

Finally at 4:40 (we'd been there since 2:30) someone came to the counter. We still couldn't get seats. It had begun to snow. At 5:20 we got seats assigned to us and boarded the plane. Where we sat for an hour because we had to be deiced. As we boarded we checked the other bag at the gate because it wouldn't fit in the overheads on this flight.

We got to DC at 9:40 an hour later than expected. My sister and her husband met us there so we could pass off some items from Christmas. But sadly that had to wait a while because we were stuck on the tarmac in the pod waiting for a plane to back out. For 15 minutes. We finally got to the baggage claim at 10:00pm. While Ricardo and Beth and Fred waited for the bags, I grabbed us some disgusting sandwiches to fortify us for the trip home.

Which was a delayed experience. Because our bags didn't come. And didn't come. At 10:40 we finally found one bag, the one we'd checked first. But the one checked at the gate? It had continued on to Kuwait with the rest of our flight. No bag for us. Which meant no winter coats either.

Finally around 11pm we made it to the car, transferred the stuff and began the drive home. But we missed the turning for 28south and ended up on a weird route through Innovation Ave which was a loser exit. At 11:30 we were finally headed right and on our way home. We got home around 1:30 and to bed around 2pm. Youch!

Lastly, and while this has nothing really to do with the trip, I will report it. We lost the key to Ricardo's car this morning. I turned the house upside down looking for it. I had been the last to use it in driving us home and I am not good about putting it away in it's box. So when it went missing, I was at fault. I tore open a bag of garbage and sifted through brussel sprouts and coffee grounds looking for it. I called AAA to come and see if it was in the trunk. I was going to get towed to Brown to get a duplicate made. I was so guilty. Ricardo was furious with me. I had lost the only key to his car! He had looked everywhere and had had to settle for taking my clunker of a car today. The shame I felt!!

Except that Ricardo found the key. In his @#%$*&# pocket.