Darren
Nov 16, 04, 12:10 pm
It had been some time since I was able to get out of the usual grind of daily learning so I was looking forward to the trip to Chicago. My only other visit was for a few hours on a layover many years ago when I arrived early and needed to wait for others to arrive later in the afternoon. This trip was special, however, as the highlight was to watch two of the sweetest people I know pledge to honor and obey through sickness and health for as long as they both shall live. This was the weekend that AnnaS ScottC were to wed in holy matrimony.
The weekend started off as a typical Jersey day: cold and rainy followed by misery and despair. You know it’s cold when you are looking forward to being in Chicago just to get to somewhere warm. After picking up my better half, we made our way to the airport. I have learned my lesson about parking in the long term lot, but I am a bit slow so I didn’t learn my lesson all that well. Philadelphia is a bad airport for countless reasons, but the long term lot sits comfortably at the top of the list of reasons to dislike going. The bus comes only once every half hour and then fills up at terminal one. I have walked from Terminal six to the lot because it is just shorter and much less irritating. In any event, today was our lucky day because the lot was full and we were allowed to park in the “$500 a day, mortgage your house to park” lot for the same price. Score! Perfect start to what would be a perfect weekend.
The AA flight was on time and pleasant. Sarah appropriately drained the plane of its Diet Coke while I did the same with their Cranapple. No problems or successes to speak of and the plane didn’t crash so all was good. We arrived at ORD two and a half hours later and headed out into the wild blue yonder. Ldsant arranged to meet us at the airport and after a short wait we had a joyous reunion. Headed out to Thrifty car rental which I swear was almost in Indiana where we waited for about 45 minutes for a car. I have been happy with Thrifty in the past but this was a bad experience. Even after telling the agent that I did not want the gas or insurance he put the insurance on and told me to sign without even telling me. Fortunately I noticed he did the same to the person in front of me as well. I am still a west coaster but I can get an east coast attitude when necessary. After him (incorrectly) telling me what my car and credit card covered we finally got it corrected and we were on our way in a not-so-shiny, not-so-new, and a bit hard to see out of Dodge Stratus. Worked for what we needed, though.
We were staying at the Deerfield Courtyard which was about 40 mins from the airport and about 10 from the wedding. Initially I was to be doing this trip by myself so I figured there was no reason to be driving back and forth from Chicago for no real reason. In hindsight, it worked out well because we really spent more time at the wedding area than in Chicago and it made it easy to go back and forth so that ldsant could keep changing her clothes. It’s a bit of an inside joke but suffice it to say that I don’t get the whole idea of wearing three dresses in one day.
The rehearsal dinner was held at Lou Malnati’s Pizza in Buffalo Grove for some honest-to-goodness Chicago-style pizza and merriment. There were about 20 at the dinner and the pizza was great. Anna and Scott were in all their glory. Anna was absolutely radiant and beaming with happiness. Even with all the stress of a wedding, they looked calm, cool, and collected. Sarah and I sat at a table on the side with Premex, Holly (don’t think she has a FT name), ldsant, and the parents of the bridesmaid. Later, the table was joined by Indurian and Alice (again, don’t think she has a FT name). Many Diet Cokes, a few pieces of pizza, and some speeches later, the night ended as well as it began.
The Courtyard wasn’t a four-star hotel, but for the price it wasn’t expected to be. It did, however, include internet access which was a nice perk. Unfortunately, however, mine didn’t work. The general manager came and fiddled quite a bit, made a few phone calls, and decided that it was not meant to be. He gave us free breakfast for our time, which I thought was very nice since my time is worth very little, and offered to change rooms. Since I could tell that Sarah really had an interest in not having me in front of the computer all weekend, I declined the room change but was grateful for the breakfast. It was a buffet and good for a hotel. Well done, Courtyard Deerfield.
Saturday started with about 40 cups of coffee and some hash and we were on our way. The wedding was held at a small church in a little town in the middle of nowhere called Long Grove. The town was a bit touristy but really felt like it was a small Midwestern village somewhere in Illinoistucky. The short service was phenomenal. Some flowers, a few “I do’s” and a tear or two and the happy couple were officially a mister and missus. The service was followed by a tea at a beautiful local teahouse which is where all the following receptions were also to be held. They were open for lunch so we had the back room. About 10 teas were on offer and I chose the vanilla-almond which I rarely have here at home. Sarah had the pandaberry (for special kids, according to the menu) while ldsant had the passion fruit. They were served with a selection of scones and finger sandwiches with a chocolate mint. Very good. Our table was mostly FTers and it was great to be able to see a lot of people I hadn’t visited with in a very long time. Unfortunately my situation doesn’t allow me much time to float around very often and it was nice to catch back up with some terrific people. Anna and Scott made their grand entrance to a round of applause and took their rightful place at the main table.
After tea, we traversed the cobblestones to the main part of Long Grove and did a bit of window shopping. One must-do is to stop at the applehaus for a piece of pie with caramel on top. There is a small courtyard in front of the shop surrounded by lots of smiling people with sticky hands munching away on a little pie. After convincing certain people not to change too many times, we headed back to the hotel to change into the “night shades”. Again, I don’t get it. Both Sarah and ldsant looked beautiful and we headed back to Long Grove for the end of the cocktail reception.
Anna and Scott were formally introduced to the guests along with the bridesmaid, Scott’s brother, and Anna’s parents. All looked like they were about to explode with happiness. I spoke to Anna a few days before and she told me that she would be looking “hot” for the wedding. Later in the evening she says, “see . . . I told you I would be hot!” She was indeed and complemented Scott’s Scottish garb wonderfully. I was seated again with a group of FTers and enjoyed talking with them greatly. The dinner was wonderful and the speeches were memorable. I also learned something new about bells and kisses. I haven’t been to all that many weddings in my life (certainly not my own) so every moment was a new learning experience. A bit of dancing, a bit of drinking, and a short walk in the sub-zero temp weather later and we were back to Deerfield.
Sarah was tired, as was I, but I was talked into going in to Chicago for some touristing. Yes, it was midnight and yes, it was cold. Sarah opted to stay behind (smart woman) so it was ldsant and I out on the town. Although cold, the tour was very nice. Walked a bit along Michigan Ave., saw the watertower, saw where Oprah lives, and saw the world HQ’s of Playboy. Then frostbite began to set in so we headed back. Unfortunately we ended up in an area which we were certainly not supposed to be in but we finally made it out without getting shot at too much. Maybe someone can shed some light on where the heck we were but there were blue police lights on all the corners. Fortunately, I was driving and I have no qualms about going very fast and treating traffic signals as suggestive. Heck, I live in Camden so I am used to it.
Sunday was the day of actual sightseeing. Sarah, ldsant, and I went into the city for the architectural boat tour which was absolutely phenomenal. The combination of art deco, Chicago school, modern, gothic, etc., were wonderful and the tour is very, very well worth it. Besides the wedding, the boat was one of the biggest highlights of the trip. The lady conducting the tour was fabulous and gave lots of background information into all the different structures. Now I can die knowing that the Merchandise Market was one of the biggest structures in the world, has its own zip code, and was owned by the Kennedy clan until a few years ago. Also that the Monkey-wards building was so long that the workers wore roller skates to do their job more efficiently. There are three different tours. We opted for the shortest because of time but I expect that the other longer ones would be well worth the time and cost of going.
After looking at the rocks on the side of the Tribune building (all that looked like they came from the same place, incidentally) we had a coffee at Starbucks, which are on every corner in Chicago, and met Richlond and ajameson. They were getting ready to head back to ORD for flights very close to ours so we offered to give them a lift out. Traffic was a bit hairy (I have determined that Chicagoians can’t drive worth beans) and after a bit of a close shave we got the car back and out to the airport. Check-in was efficient and there was no security line. Fan-funky-tastic since we only had about 20 minutes. Turned out that we were there about 10 minutes early, right in time to volunteer to be bumped. Since Sarah’s time is worth about the same as mine, we took the vouchers and headed off to Wolfgang Pucks for a bit of dinner. Besides, as she said, it gave us an excuse to be with each other a little longer. :) That is for ldsant who told me numerous times that our sweetness made her want to vomit. Ding ding. In any event, the gate agents were fantastic. Some of the nicest I have ever met or had to deal with. The flight was uneventful and I slept through most of it. Half hour after landing, we were on our way back to the Garden State.
All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. I have specifically not mentioned individual names out of respect for their privacy, but it was a pleasure to see all who was there. Scott and Anna, I wish you a life filled with joy, happiness, and sausage deep-dish pizzas. :)
The weekend started off as a typical Jersey day: cold and rainy followed by misery and despair. You know it’s cold when you are looking forward to being in Chicago just to get to somewhere warm. After picking up my better half, we made our way to the airport. I have learned my lesson about parking in the long term lot, but I am a bit slow so I didn’t learn my lesson all that well. Philadelphia is a bad airport for countless reasons, but the long term lot sits comfortably at the top of the list of reasons to dislike going. The bus comes only once every half hour and then fills up at terminal one. I have walked from Terminal six to the lot because it is just shorter and much less irritating. In any event, today was our lucky day because the lot was full and we were allowed to park in the “$500 a day, mortgage your house to park” lot for the same price. Score! Perfect start to what would be a perfect weekend.
The AA flight was on time and pleasant. Sarah appropriately drained the plane of its Diet Coke while I did the same with their Cranapple. No problems or successes to speak of and the plane didn’t crash so all was good. We arrived at ORD two and a half hours later and headed out into the wild blue yonder. Ldsant arranged to meet us at the airport and after a short wait we had a joyous reunion. Headed out to Thrifty car rental which I swear was almost in Indiana where we waited for about 45 minutes for a car. I have been happy with Thrifty in the past but this was a bad experience. Even after telling the agent that I did not want the gas or insurance he put the insurance on and told me to sign without even telling me. Fortunately I noticed he did the same to the person in front of me as well. I am still a west coaster but I can get an east coast attitude when necessary. After him (incorrectly) telling me what my car and credit card covered we finally got it corrected and we were on our way in a not-so-shiny, not-so-new, and a bit hard to see out of Dodge Stratus. Worked for what we needed, though.
We were staying at the Deerfield Courtyard which was about 40 mins from the airport and about 10 from the wedding. Initially I was to be doing this trip by myself so I figured there was no reason to be driving back and forth from Chicago for no real reason. In hindsight, it worked out well because we really spent more time at the wedding area than in Chicago and it made it easy to go back and forth so that ldsant could keep changing her clothes. It’s a bit of an inside joke but suffice it to say that I don’t get the whole idea of wearing three dresses in one day.
The rehearsal dinner was held at Lou Malnati’s Pizza in Buffalo Grove for some honest-to-goodness Chicago-style pizza and merriment. There were about 20 at the dinner and the pizza was great. Anna and Scott were in all their glory. Anna was absolutely radiant and beaming with happiness. Even with all the stress of a wedding, they looked calm, cool, and collected. Sarah and I sat at a table on the side with Premex, Holly (don’t think she has a FT name), ldsant, and the parents of the bridesmaid. Later, the table was joined by Indurian and Alice (again, don’t think she has a FT name). Many Diet Cokes, a few pieces of pizza, and some speeches later, the night ended as well as it began.
The Courtyard wasn’t a four-star hotel, but for the price it wasn’t expected to be. It did, however, include internet access which was a nice perk. Unfortunately, however, mine didn’t work. The general manager came and fiddled quite a bit, made a few phone calls, and decided that it was not meant to be. He gave us free breakfast for our time, which I thought was very nice since my time is worth very little, and offered to change rooms. Since I could tell that Sarah really had an interest in not having me in front of the computer all weekend, I declined the room change but was grateful for the breakfast. It was a buffet and good for a hotel. Well done, Courtyard Deerfield.
Saturday started with about 40 cups of coffee and some hash and we were on our way. The wedding was held at a small church in a little town in the middle of nowhere called Long Grove. The town was a bit touristy but really felt like it was a small Midwestern village somewhere in Illinoistucky. The short service was phenomenal. Some flowers, a few “I do’s” and a tear or two and the happy couple were officially a mister and missus. The service was followed by a tea at a beautiful local teahouse which is where all the following receptions were also to be held. They were open for lunch so we had the back room. About 10 teas were on offer and I chose the vanilla-almond which I rarely have here at home. Sarah had the pandaberry (for special kids, according to the menu) while ldsant had the passion fruit. They were served with a selection of scones and finger sandwiches with a chocolate mint. Very good. Our table was mostly FTers and it was great to be able to see a lot of people I hadn’t visited with in a very long time. Unfortunately my situation doesn’t allow me much time to float around very often and it was nice to catch back up with some terrific people. Anna and Scott made their grand entrance to a round of applause and took their rightful place at the main table.
After tea, we traversed the cobblestones to the main part of Long Grove and did a bit of window shopping. One must-do is to stop at the applehaus for a piece of pie with caramel on top. There is a small courtyard in front of the shop surrounded by lots of smiling people with sticky hands munching away on a little pie. After convincing certain people not to change too many times, we headed back to the hotel to change into the “night shades”. Again, I don’t get it. Both Sarah and ldsant looked beautiful and we headed back to Long Grove for the end of the cocktail reception.
Anna and Scott were formally introduced to the guests along with the bridesmaid, Scott’s brother, and Anna’s parents. All looked like they were about to explode with happiness. I spoke to Anna a few days before and she told me that she would be looking “hot” for the wedding. Later in the evening she says, “see . . . I told you I would be hot!” She was indeed and complemented Scott’s Scottish garb wonderfully. I was seated again with a group of FTers and enjoyed talking with them greatly. The dinner was wonderful and the speeches were memorable. I also learned something new about bells and kisses. I haven’t been to all that many weddings in my life (certainly not my own) so every moment was a new learning experience. A bit of dancing, a bit of drinking, and a short walk in the sub-zero temp weather later and we were back to Deerfield.
Sarah was tired, as was I, but I was talked into going in to Chicago for some touristing. Yes, it was midnight and yes, it was cold. Sarah opted to stay behind (smart woman) so it was ldsant and I out on the town. Although cold, the tour was very nice. Walked a bit along Michigan Ave., saw the watertower, saw where Oprah lives, and saw the world HQ’s of Playboy. Then frostbite began to set in so we headed back. Unfortunately we ended up in an area which we were certainly not supposed to be in but we finally made it out without getting shot at too much. Maybe someone can shed some light on where the heck we were but there were blue police lights on all the corners. Fortunately, I was driving and I have no qualms about going very fast and treating traffic signals as suggestive. Heck, I live in Camden so I am used to it.
Sunday was the day of actual sightseeing. Sarah, ldsant, and I went into the city for the architectural boat tour which was absolutely phenomenal. The combination of art deco, Chicago school, modern, gothic, etc., were wonderful and the tour is very, very well worth it. Besides the wedding, the boat was one of the biggest highlights of the trip. The lady conducting the tour was fabulous and gave lots of background information into all the different structures. Now I can die knowing that the Merchandise Market was one of the biggest structures in the world, has its own zip code, and was owned by the Kennedy clan until a few years ago. Also that the Monkey-wards building was so long that the workers wore roller skates to do their job more efficiently. There are three different tours. We opted for the shortest because of time but I expect that the other longer ones would be well worth the time and cost of going.
After looking at the rocks on the side of the Tribune building (all that looked like they came from the same place, incidentally) we had a coffee at Starbucks, which are on every corner in Chicago, and met Richlond and ajameson. They were getting ready to head back to ORD for flights very close to ours so we offered to give them a lift out. Traffic was a bit hairy (I have determined that Chicagoians can’t drive worth beans) and after a bit of a close shave we got the car back and out to the airport. Check-in was efficient and there was no security line. Fan-funky-tastic since we only had about 20 minutes. Turned out that we were there about 10 minutes early, right in time to volunteer to be bumped. Since Sarah’s time is worth about the same as mine, we took the vouchers and headed off to Wolfgang Pucks for a bit of dinner. Besides, as she said, it gave us an excuse to be with each other a little longer. :) That is for ldsant who told me numerous times that our sweetness made her want to vomit. Ding ding. In any event, the gate agents were fantastic. Some of the nicest I have ever met or had to deal with. The flight was uneventful and I slept through most of it. Half hour after landing, we were on our way back to the Garden State.
All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. I have specifically not mentioned individual names out of respect for their privacy, but it was a pleasure to see all who was there. Scott and Anna, I wish you a life filled with joy, happiness, and sausage deep-dish pizzas. :)