The Champ
Immediately upon my return from Stratton Golf School (see three previous entries), Jacqui and I left for a four day jaunt to Chicago. I chair two seminars each year on Advertising Law and we went to Chicago early to take advantage of cheap air fares, see some friends, and enjoy the city. A couple of weeks ago, I called Allen Greenberg, a very close friend of mine from college who now lives in Omaha, to see if he and his wife, Mary Kay, could meet us in Chicago. They did and it was just terrific to see them both. We ate our way through Chicago, and Allen and I picked up our friendship just where we left it when we last saw each other, well over a year ago. I also arranged for my former coleague, Margo, to speak at the conference as a scam so we could see each other (and Andrew!) and so she could see another mutual friend, Samantha and her husband, Greg. In short, we had lined up the perfect mix of pleasure and business for the four days and Jacqui and I were really excited about the trip, even though we had been in Vermont for the prior five days.
After a quick lunch, Allen, Mary Kay, Jacqui and I walked down Michigan Avenue, using shopping as an excuse to get some exercise and talk. Along the way we stopped at many commercial establishments, looking more than buying. We had been invited to Samantha and Greg's house for cocktails at 6:30 PM or so and when we arrived, Sam and Greg had a fabulous spread to go with some very nice wine. Margo and Andrew were there, with Margo sporting a new hairdo -- trendy yet sophisticated! Sam and Greg have a terrific apartment, with a beautiful rooftop view of the Chicago skyline. The eight of us drank 4 quick bottles of wine before Allen, Mary Kay, Jacqui and I needed to leave for dinner at Trattoria No. 10. Dinner was very good, although I was not particularly hungry. Allen and Mary Kay are both a lot of fun. I did not reallze how much I missed Allen's friendship until then....
The next morning we had brunch at Ada's Deli, down the block from the hotel we were staying at. We took a cab over to Oak Street to look at a vintage poster art shop and in the same building was a knitting store and Mr. Barber on Oak Street. I was in desperate need of a haircut. Enticed by the salon's slogan: "We Make You Beautiful," I walked in and inquired about getting a cut without an appointment. As luck would have it, they had an opening and I got a great haircut from Mr. Barber, who turns out to be a Latvian Jew who used to work at the Drake barbershop down the block until he opened his own place. He showed me pictures of his family, gave me a massage, and a hot shave on my neck. We walked downstairs to the poster shop, where the posters sell for $6,000 and up. Very nice but we did not have enough wall space.
We walked back to the hotel down Michigan Avenue. The Chicago animal society was holding its annual adopt a dog event and there were dogs available for adoption everywhere. I bought a couple of books at Borders, some CDs at Williams Sonoma of all places, and then Allen and Mary Kay had to catch their plane back to Omaha.
Jacqui and I said goodbye and went to the hotel's cigar bar to wait for John and Katie to arrive from DC for the seminar. John is a partner of mine and Katie works for AOL. We were speaking on a panel the next day at the seminar with Margo (Nike) and Andy (Dell). I smoked a cigar, Jacqui and I drank a few margaritas, and John and Katie showed up on time and had a couple of quick Coronas. We cabbed over to Catch 35 for a spectacular seafood dinner and some good wine. The waitress was quite good and we all left feeling like we ordered perfectly.
Monday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn to prepare for my presentation. I ventured down to the breakfast area to meet John, Margo, Katie and John and then went up to the conference room a bit early to check that the technology was working fine. We put on a good 2 1/2 hour presentation although we did not finish all the topics as five lawyers can really speak forever -- me in particular.
On Monday night, Jacqui and I took Margo and Andrew and Sam and Greg out to dinner at NoMi. Very hip. I thought to myself it was a good think we took Margo, Sam and Jacqui with us as my cool quotient may not have been high enough without them to get a table. Of course, Andrew and Greg are each about 6 feet 5 inches tall and I am 6 feet 3 inches tall so we were pretty imposing, even if not as hip as some of the patrons hanging out at the bar. I wish I had my camera with me...
After the seminar on Tuesday, Jacqui and I flew home. At O'Hare, I met Mohammed Ali who was sitting at a gate all by himself. I walked up to him, shook his hand, and asked him to sign an autograph for my kids, which he did.
Snapped on 05.26.02 || More Travel Photos || Comments
(0) ||
← Previous || Main
Comments
Post a comment