This past weekend I took a much needed getaway with my close friends, Krissy and Taylor, and the love of my life, Amy, to visit a good friend of ours, A.J. The title of this blog should give you a good idea of how the weekend went. And if you don’t get it… you’re not supposed to. If you search the hashtag on Twitter you can see the numerous tweets from the weekend.
It all started when I took off of work on Friday which was super exciting in itself. Driving consumed most of the day with Krissy being dropped off in Wisconsin Dells from West Salem. In Wisconsin Dells, Amy picked up Krissy and met me (coming from Green Bay) at Amy’s apartment in Madison. From there the three of us met Taylor in Mukwonago for supper at her house before we headed south of Chicago to A.J.’s house.
Before we started driving though, there was the difficult task of packing the car; we weren't quite sure where to put all the crap we brought along. We certainly had enough food to feed an army, not to mention our beverages of choice, which could not be one of the items left behind. The trunk was beyond full and Amy and I were surrounded by what couldn't fit in the trunk. Finally on our way about two minutes into our drive, I got a Charlie horse, and with everything surrounding me had quite a bit of difficulty getting my leg in the air...
The drive down was entertaining to say the least. With Taylor at the wheel, we swore we wouldn't make it but we did after what seemed to be all night.
A.J.’s house seemed like a mirage in a desert. Until we actually walked in I wasn't convinced it we were actually there. I was excited to see A.J.; though this was my second time seeing him face-to-face. After the first time we met we just became friends instantly and have become quite close, even with the miles between us. It is great to have a bond with someone and stay close even when you don’t get to see each other very often.
We met A.J.'s family and settled in for a night at his house. I’m am pretty sure his family thought we were staying a week with as much stuff we hauled inside. We soon popped open some drinks and played some Apples to Apples to pass the time. The comedy that comes out of this game is amazing. I ended up winning “violent” with my “Canada” card. A.J. and I tried a new beer called Batch 19, made by MillerCoors, which was great and I highly recommend it.
Saturday morning came and we piled back into the car with all our stuff and headed 45 minutes northeast to downtown Chicago. Our first stop was the Art Institute of Chicago. Upon parking the car on the street, we nearly left it without realizing we needed to pay for parking, which just shows how “big city” we are…
And now for my advice of the day: even after you graduate, carry your college ID with you. It still gets you discounts. We scored a few bucks off our admission to the museum because of our quick thinking and white-lying skills.
The institute was really interesting, and so huge! We saw everything from ancient Aztec sculpting to modern day canvas paintings and 3D work. One of the highlights was definitely seeing the American Gothic painting by Grant Wood. You have to know this painting because it is the one of the farmer and his wife and he's holding a pitchfork. Amy geeked about this painting and even got her picture taken with it.
Amy also got us yelled at while looking at a sculpture of people holding hands. As she told us her interpretation of the piece, we were circling the work of art and I guess a guard thought we were going to get dizzy and fall into it...oops.
As we headed out of the museum and into the cold we were fortunate that the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park, our hotel for the night, allowed us to check in early. After a little navigating and yelling we found a parking garage by the hotel and unloaded. The hotel was fantastic and thanks to my mom we got an amazing deal on it. To our surprise A.J. didn't have to sleep in the tub as planned because we had a full-sized couch in our room.
We naturally had to order Chicago style pizza for supper (even know we had tons of food with us). It was delicious! After an early supper, we ventured back into the cold to go visit the famous bean. We took some group pictures and watched as people fell down on the ice rink next to the bean.
Once we went back to the hotel which was only about a block away (thank goodness for all of our freezing-cold toes), the evening festivities began! Krissy and I, maintaining our amaretto King and Queen status, started the night right with amaretto sours. After chilling in the room for awhile, some drinks and games, we headed out for the evening.
We hailed a cab to get to a club called Excalibur. A.J. made friends with the cabby, asking him, "Do you like 90's music?" Ha! I’m not sure the man knew what to do but after the awkward moment they started talking sports and all was good.
The club was pretty cool, but expensive. I suppose that's typical in a big city though. The club was interesting. The crowd was such a mix of younger people, and old people. We did some dancing and as you know, if you have gone out, the night got more fun as we continued to drink.
Highlights at the club include Krissy dancing with a drunk middle-aged woman, A.J. dancing with a different drunk middle-aged woman, Amy getting dragged on stage by some guy (that I quickly stole her back from. Oo oo!), and A.J. hanging out with a man in a wheelchair (and being quite proud of himself!). Oh...and I was a part of a booty shaking competition...
It all happened when the DJ called me up to the stage along with, an Asian man and an African American man. The DJ proceeded to make fun of my Wisconsin accent and my shaking was, well, not good, as I bared the burden of going first. The African American man of course won (supporting all stereotypes), but he did include more stripping than shaking in his efforts. I'm pretty certain I beat the Asian man though, which was an accomplishment!
Sunday, we left and headed back to A.J.'s house and bid a sad farewell. We followed our route back to Wisconsin and sat down to enjoy the Super Bowl, the blackout and the commercials at Amy's place in Madison.
It was such an amazing weekend that went by far too fast. I love my friends and can't wait till I get to spend time with them again. They truly are amazing people! It was also so great to be able to experience Chicago with Amy. Many more trips for us to come I hope.
The club was pretty cool, but expensive. I suppose that's typical in a big city though. The club was interesting. The crowd was such a mix of younger people, and old people. We did some dancing and as you know, if you have gone out, the night got more fun as we continued to drink.
Highlights at the club include Krissy dancing with a drunk middle-aged woman, A.J. dancing with a different drunk middle-aged woman, Amy getting dragged on stage by some guy (that I quickly stole her back from. Oo oo!), and A.J. hanging out with a man in a wheelchair (and being quite proud of himself!). Oh...and I was a part of a booty shaking competition...
It all happened when the DJ called me up to the stage along with, an Asian man and an African American man. The DJ proceeded to make fun of my Wisconsin accent and my shaking was, well, not good, as I bared the burden of going first. The African American man of course won (supporting all stereotypes), but he did include more stripping than shaking in his efforts. I'm pretty certain I beat the Asian man though, which was an accomplishment!
Sunday, we left and headed back to A.J.'s house and bid a sad farewell. We followed our route back to Wisconsin and sat down to enjoy the Super Bowl, the blackout and the commercials at Amy's place in Madison.
It was such an amazing weekend that went by far too fast. I love my friends and can't wait till I get to spend time with them again. They truly are amazing people! It was also so great to be able to experience Chicago with Amy. Many more trips for us to come I hope.
