Chicagoland

DH said he had already seen some crazy people just going from O'Hare to the hotel. Mostly he said he was referring to people behind the wheels or cars.

He did cut them some slack, though. He said he didn't blame them since driving in 6 lanes (each direction) would drive anyone nutty.

That reminded me of my high school trip to New York City. You have to wonder if the tax payer money spent to buy street lane paint might have been better spent, since the lane lines were all but ignored by the vehicles. He said that pretty much summed up Chicago where he is as well.

He and his coworkers (let's call them Brian and Bernie) walked (can you blame them?) down the street to get some dinner earlier. DH said that, other than the national chains (more Subways in one block he has never seen!) every restaurant they saw was either a PUB or a Tavern or a BAR. If you were lucky it was a Bar and Grill.

They walked past one bar near the hotel and someone pointed it out and said that place has the best steaks in Chicago.

DH said he couldn't get used to it. Things just aren't like that in Mississippi or Kentucky. I told him that it was just a selling point for restaurants that are probably just like the ones here inside, more or less. He acknowledged that, but said it was still weird.

They ended up going to a place called Paizano's (sp?) Since he was in Chicago he wanted some local cuisine. Not being a fan of hotdogs with a bunch of weird gunk all over them he opted for ... you guessed it ...PIZZA! Mmmmm!

He said the crust was deep, but not especially bready (whatever that means). The sauce was thicker and more prevalent (again, whatever that means). He said it had less fennel and more basil than what he usually gets. He impressed his co-eaters, sounded like a "reglar con-su-er," he joked. Just because his wife make her own pizza sauce HE gets to be impressive.

He said it had less cheese than what he usually likes. Next time he'd order extra cheese. He said he did order extra sausage because he could, and he thought it would be good, and it WAS, he said. The sausage was spiced differently than he is used to, but in a good way.

All in all, Chicago may not have impressed him much so far, but the pizza was great. If we ever go as a family we will have to make sure to get some of that.