Chicago

Visiting: Mart & Sally -- uncle & aunt
Hannah -- a friend I used to work with at summer camp

Friday – After 1 ½ hours of sleep, a 2 hour flight, and 5 ½ hours in the car, I was ready to get to Naperville. Mart and Sally were, as usual, sitting out on their back deck, enjoying drinks and chatting about the work day. When they saw me appear at the screen door, Sally jumped to her feet, while Uncle Mart yelled “HEY!” and the pooches wagged their tails in excitement. Hugs all around, and Sally went inside to grab me a beer from OSCAR (“Oh shit, can I get a refill?”) while I found myself a spot on the bench next to Harry, the ginormous Irish Wolfhound. We sat and chatted about my time in Dallas, as well as what my plans were for the rest of the week. Uncle Mart grilled us up some meat from the fridge, and we had a wonderful dinner of chicken ceasar salad, quinoa, deviled eggs, and Oreos for dessert. In a Kuttesch household, there’s always dessert. (In fact, the same holds true in a

Morton household, as well. No wonder I’ve been chubby my whole life.) Following supper, Sally excitedly informed me that there was to be a bit of a party going on that night! The neighbor’s dog, Peyton, was celebrating his birthday, and of course – Harry and Amos were his honored guests. They wore birthday hats (Quite an adventure getting them on… Amos was the only one who stood still long enough to keep his in place. I love that dog.) and devoured vanilla ice cream in the back yard, while we humans chased them around taking pictures. Let me say, it was quite the event. And after so much excitement, it was early to bed for me.

Saturday – I got up early and had breakfast with Mart and Sally. A protein shake, fruits, nut roll…all sorts of delicious things. After breakfast, Uncle Martin rode with me over to the local Costco and treated me to a free tank of gas. They always take such good care of us. :) I then dropped him off at home before heading into the city to meet up with Hannah for Pride. She lives in Hyde Park, which is a little less than an hour’s drive from Naperville. Had no trouble getting there – though I did manage to drive the wrong way down a 1-way street. Whoops. Thank God there were no other cars coming.

Once I got myself parked and carried my bags inside, I was introduced to Emily – a friend of Hannah’s from Cleveland. She’s one of the coolest people I’ve ever met – that type of person who makes you feel like you’re her best friend right from the start. The two of us sat on the bed and talked about the stupidity of boys (this trip took place right around the time that I was casually seeing a slightly younger, love-sick puppy who was jealous that I was out visiting other people instead of being home with him), while Hannah dried her hair and decided on what to wear for the day. Then enter Austin, one of Hannah’s roommates. She’s adorable and hilarious. And straight. We asked her if she was going to join us in the Pride festivities, and she agreed. Once everyone was ready to go – our bags weighed down with rum & vodka-filled water bottles – the four of us headed into downtown Hyde Park for lunch. We found this cool place called Native Foods Café – a chain vegan restaurant that has everything from sandwiches to desserts. I ordered a mock buffalo-chicken wrap with a side of sweet potato fries, and was pleasantly surprised at how good the meal tasted, despite being vegan. I mean, I’m healthy…but not that healthy.

After lunch, we took a bus to the train station, where we then sprinted to catch our ride – knocking poor old ladies out of the way – and just barely made it on time. The train took us into Boystown, a young, hip area of Chicago where Pride was being held. Stopped at Dunkin’ for iced coffee (Anyone that knows Hannah knows that this is a big “Duh”.), and absolutely witnessed some fabulous drag queens in action. I barely made it through security once we reached the festivities; Hannah had put me in charge of carrying one of our alcohol-infused water bottles, and I tell you – that guard stared at the seal for far too long. I thought for sure he was about to twist the cap off and take a whiff…only to hand the bottle back to me at the last second. I gave him my thanks and got away before he could change his mind. Once inside, though, I forgot all about almost getting my ass in trouble. It was awesome. The entire street was blocked off, and people were just everywhere. Vendors lined the sidewalks, selling food and drinks. People hung out of apartment windows, waving rainbow flags and watching the madness going on below.

There were three different stages set up – two at each end of the street, and one in the middle…all of them blaring music while people danced like there was no tomorrow. We strolled through the crowds, surveying the different booths around us and taking turns sipping on our bottles. At one point, we stopped at a place that was selling pina coladas out of pineapple shells…and they were GOREGOUS. I really wanted one, but decided that they were a bit too expensive, and opted for a plain, old plastic cup instead. We then passed a food booth where a young guy smiled at me and asked how I was doing. Pretty sure I blushed and gave him a quick “Good, thanks!”…while Emily’s yelling “STRAIGHT LOVE AT PRIDE! STRAIGHT LOVE AT PRIDE!” I told her that I would stop back and talk to him later on after I had a few drinks in me, but that never happened.

The stage at the farthest end of the street was hosting a talent show of sorts, with drag queens dancing and lip-syncing along

to their favorite Kesha and Beyonce tracks. Not gonna lie, it was slightly terrifying and slightly amazing all at the same time. The host of the show (at least, I guess that’s what you’d call her…she was the one with the microphone, introducing all of the different performers) was hilarious. Completely decked out in Blackhawks gear (this was, after all, five days after they beat Tampa Bay for the cup), and yet had absolutely no understanding of hockey at all. “How many quarters are there in a hockey game? Oh, they’re periods? Hell, I don’t know. Go Blackhawks!” Goodness gracious. She then called out into the crowd, asking us who had come the farthest distance to be part of such a big day. People were calling out cities left and right, and I’m thinking, “Hell yeah, I came pretty far for this!” …until a girl behind me yelled “PARIS!” Welp, can’t compete with that.

We stopped for a bathroom break, and quickly friended a bachelorette party. They were adorable, wearing matching tshirts bearing the brides’ names and competing against each other in a scavenger hunt. One of the few things left on their list was to collect a stranger’s underwear…and one of our party was kind enough to sell them hers for $20. I’ll leave the guessing up to you. We met up with Renee at some point – a client of Hannah’s from the gym. Got along really well with her, too. It was awesome being around ladies that I felt so comfortable with – as if we had been friends forever, when in reality, Hannah is the only person we all have in common.

After the underwear trade-off, we decided to venture out of the Pride event itself, and into some of the local bars farther up the street. The first bar we came to was small but fairly crowded, and we ended up standing against the back wall, debating on what our plan was. (The plan had been to get some food into our stomachs, but that never actually ended up happening.) We did, at least, order ourselves a round of beers. At some point, Em disappeared for a minute and came back with a bowl of popcorn. We were chatting and having a good time – drinking our beers and munching on popcorn – and it took me a few minutes to notice that Austin was no longer standing next to me. She had warned us that she has a tendency to wander off when she drinks…and so when I realized that she was MIA, I went into slight panic mode. I handed my beer to Hannah and went running out into the back patio – an area that houses a second bar, some tables, and a space to play corn hole. Thankfully, that’s where I found her. May have gone a bit MOM on her ass, but that’s okay.

Next door was a bigger bar, with a lot more people and a bouncer waiting to ID us before letting us step foot inside. This place had two bars – one in the front of the building, and one in the back. And groups of people so thick, it was hard to move. We pushed our way to the back bar and ordered drinks. The crowed was a little less dense, and some people were dancing in the open space. Well, God knows I never turn down a good excuse to get my groove on! We were all pretty drunk at this point, and having a good time. Emily was brave enough to talk with one of the other girls on the dance floor, while Austin and I fed her different ideas on what to do/say. Hannah just laughed. At one point, I remember her asking me, “Does Em actually look like she’s got game, or does she just look like an idiot?” I smiled and tried not to answer.

It’s hard to remember all the exact details from a drunk night, but I do know that I have a few great ones. Like some random chick at the bar grabbing my ass and giving me that “DAY-UM” look over her shoulder. And Emily snatching a cigarette out of Austin’s hand and throwing it on the ground. Renee, Austin, and I standing outside in the rain, having completely lost track of Hannah and Emily. (We did find them, eventually.) Ordering pizza from Domino’s back at the apartment, and all of us (well, except Austin) passing out before it even got there. What a freaking great time. <3

Sunday – Hannah informed me that the plan for Sunday had

been to day drink and watch soccer, but we all agreed that booze was not the most appealing idea at the moment. Instead, the four of us headed back into downtown Hyde Park and had delicious brunch at a place called Clarke’s. I couldn’t tell you now exactly what the others ordered, but I know that my meal involved thick pieces of french toast, covered in blueberries. With a fruit bowl on the side. Uh-yum. After breakfast, Austin went off to meet up with her boyfriend, while Em, Hannah and I headed into the city to do some sight-seeing. We street-parked a few blocks from Navy Pier, and spent the entire day wandering the city. First, Navy Pier itself, where we took selfies by the water and watched the gigantic ferris wheel go around and around.

Next, Michigan Ave., where we ventured into all the different stores – including H&M, where Em and I bought matching black party dresses. They also helped me pick out an adorable little blue & purple summer dress, which I later wore in Charleston. :) We of course visited The Bean – because I mean, you just have to. It’s a huge, metallic, piece of art that makes no sense at all. Having ordered food-to-go from a place called Protein Bar (loved it – wish we had one in Pittsburgh), we managed to find an empty table some 50 yards from the structure and sat to eat our dinner while watching the hundreds of tourists around us battle for the perfect spot with their selfie-sticks. There was an arts festival going on in Grant Park, so we checked that out as well -- though most of the pieces for sale were pretty expensive. There was one vendor, however, that had amazing paintings of different college slogans and stadiums. I think Hannah may have bought something from him, if she wouldn’t have had to carry it all the way back to the car with us.

After leaving the park, we walked over to Buckingham Fountain – a gorgeous piece of work with a view of both the city skyline and Lake Michigan in the background. We sat for a few minutes, giving our feet a quick rest while watching water from the fountain jet out in all different directions. Per Hannah’s suggestion, we then headed down closer to the lake, popped a squat in the grass, and watched the boats go by. Holy hell, was it a beautiful site to see. I had forgotten just how gorgeous Chicago is. Anyone who knows me knows that I love city, and I love water. And Chicago is both of those things. I’m absolutely in love. On our walk back to the car, we stopped in the Ghirardelli Shop – Heaven on Earth for chocoholics like me – and treated ourselves to ice cream sundaes. Um, yeah. Totally worth the cheat.

Since Em was catching a train out of the city at 9, and we still had some time to kill before dropping her off, Hannah suggested that we drive down to one of the beaches and watch the sunset. So, we did just that. Street parked and walked the few blocks down to the water. Just taking our shoes off felt amazing after trekking through the city the entire day. With the help of her IPhone, Hannah later guessed that we hit about 12 miles – none of us in exactly the perfect hiking shoes. The water felt cool and refreshing on our swollen feet, and although we didn’t exactly experience a sunset over the water (we were, after all, facing the wrong direction), the view was still beautiful nonetheless. When it came time to leave, none of us wanted to. But, we had to get Emily to her train. Once we dropped her off and said our goodbyes, Hannah and I drove back to apartment. I picked up my baggage, gave her a hug, and headed back to my Aunt and Uncle’s for the night.