It's been a while since I've written on here mainly because I didn't take any footy-related trips last month. I am now a monitor for a contract research organization - someone who visits sites to routinely audit and ensure clinical research trial compliance, adherence to federal regulations, and conformance with international guidelines. My territory for my assigned clinical trial is the east coast, TN, and Houston (of course), so I am traveling 3-5 days/week. This may seem like a lot, but the perks are free mileage credit, hotel rewards, and car rental points.
Unfortunately since I just started, I didn't have enough hotel points for my Chicago stay last weekend for the Dynamo game. I departed last Saturday morning thanks to rewards miles; I also didn't want to use vacation time. One thing to factor is that although it would've been fun to fly into Chicago Friday, you do have to add a night of hotel and perhaps a higher flight cost (since flying on Fridays is more expensive than Saturdays). I went with four other Texian Army members, although one flew into MI to visit friends.
I chose the Palmer House Hilton because I stayed there last year for the Dynamo game, and it's a great location. Thanks to the entertainment book you can buy from your local school, the room rate was 50% off - $143/night during a major holiday weekend. I should note the hotel was completely sold out Saturday night (don't know about Sunday). The hotel is located on Monroe Street, which dead ends into Millennium Park - 1.5 blocks away. The hotel is also within a block of the blue and orange lines for the L train, which is perfect for the airport (blue line ends at the airport - $2.25 each way) and games at Toyota Park (orange line ends at Midway, then take the Toyota Park bus). Although the rooms themselves are nothing spectacular (we're just there to sleep anyway), the lobby is absolutely gorgeous due to its HIGH ceiling and painted frescos. If you plan on ever going to a game at Soldier Field, this is also a great location. I do admit it's a bit on the south side if you want to do any shopping (high end stores are north of the river), but you can always cab it for $10 to the northern end of Michigan Mile.
Speaking of cabs, since my last entry, I've discovered an android app called Taxi Magic, which works wonderfully. You book your cab, receive a text upon dispatch with the name of the driver, and there's even an option to flag your cab (flashes the taxi number). You can also map your taxi as it is en route, and there are updates every 20 seconds. The app works in most major cities.
Saturday upon arrival our room wasn't ready because we were so early (arrived around noon). We left our luggage with the bell hop and proceeded to find a meal. The concierge recommended Exchequer, which happened to be full of U. of Iowa Hawkeyes who were headed to a game against N. Illinois for American football. The beer selection was pitiful, so we moved to find the USWNT game (played a friendly against Costa Rica in Rochester for the Olympic celebration tour). We stopped at Miller's Pub, who said they weren't going to show the soccer game due to college football. We ended up at Tilted Kilt and had a great time.
After the game, we headed to the hotel to check in, chilled, and while waiting for others, walked to Garrett's Popcorn. I know it's just popcorn, but words can't describe the phenomenal taste. After getting popcorn, we headed to the hotel to meet others, and then walked to Lou Malnati's for dinner, since one of the gals said she wouldn't mind having deep dish pizza twice in a row for meals. We agreed we should try different pizza places, and since we scheduled Gino's East the next day for lunch, I suggested Lou Malnati's based on a co-worker's recommendation (former Chicagoan). It was okay, but I probably won't return because Gino's East is still my favorite Chicago style deep dish pizza.
From Lou Malnati's we started walking back to the hotel, but halfway there, I flagged a cab to take us to Water Tower Place. Whenever I'm in a different city, I love going to the Adidas store because each store is unique in what they carry, and what is carried in store may not be online and vice versa. Chicago is the only city I know of that has two Adidas stores within walking distance; the performance store is four blocks away from the originals store. Unfortunately it was too late at night to visit the latter, which closes at 8PM. Nonetheless it was fun shopping in Water Tower Place.
We decided to chill in the hotel room Saturday night because I was getting over a cold, and my roommate didn't want to spend a lot of money. I needed hard cider for the tailgate, which meant the usual CVS Pharmacy down the street wasn't going to work for me. I Yelped a place called Warehouse Liquors within walking distance of the hotel, and it was an awesome place. I highly recommend it in the future. So, that was Saturday, on to Sunday!
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