my trip to chicago
i know i've been back for a week now, but i've been meaning to post this...
(warning: this is extremely long...so dont feel obligated to read it)
Ashley and I left gainesville while it was pouring rain, but we finally made it to Tuscaloosa, AL to see my brother, Andres, around 9pm (last Wed). my brother's going to the University of Alabama there for his masters and I havent seen him for awhile, so I thought it'd be nice to stop and say hello. we all went out to mellow mushroom and then to a place called BadAss Coffee (hilarious). Ashley and I are convinced, however, hell is definitely located in Alabama. heh
i felt a bit of guilt when we passed up Montgomery without stopping to see my other brother, Dani...but whatever. i let it go. Dani and I havent talked in over a month now (for reasons i'd rather not get into right now).
we decided to just keep driving from there instead of staying the night. i did most of the driving from Huntsville, AL to Louisville while Ashley caught up on sleep. and let me tell you, driving in the pitch dark through the appalachians on 4 cappucinos can be quite a challenge! especially with the speed limit remaining 70mph when really it should be like 40mph around some of those curves! heheh but i did alright :) Ashley then took over right as dawn set in. we stopped at a Steak and Shake in northern Indiana because Ashley wanted a hamburger and that's the only place that would make one that early in the morning! lol we sat down inside though because i got really excited that there was a smoking section. woohoo!
we got stuck in a horrible traffic jam between gary and chicago, do to constuction and a really shitty accident. but once we hit chicago and we saw that chicago skyline, holy cow, i almost crapped my pants in excitement!! *^_^* I miss it sooo much!
Ashley dropped me off at Burkharts and went over to her aunt and uncle's (where she's staying all summer) to drop off her stuff and take a nap. come to find out, her aunt and uncle live not even a 5 minute walking distance from burkharts! AWESOME! but Ash had to drive down to Champaign to be with her mom and dad (who she just came out to and are giving her a really hard time). I feel horrible for her :( but it was mother's day weekend and she kinda felt obligated to go see them...
i stayed in burkhart's loft for the majority of my stay in chicago, which was really awesome because it's located in my favorite part of the city. all my favorite stores/restaurants/cafes and boystown are all in walking distance. plus I've really missed the atmosphere that burkhart's place gives off. it's a shame the city is knocking it down :( (i can go on and on about that, too, but i'll withhold from that for now).
i'd say my favorite part about staying there was opening the window that overlooked halsted and smoking and drinking coffee while watching all the cars and taxis go by and observing people... I remember watching a guy parallel park for a good 20 minutes. he did it PERFECT on the first try, but got out of his car, looked at the curb, walked over to the other cars near him, looked at the way they were parked, got back in his car and moved it 1cm and did the same damn thing over and over again x 20 times! talk about a crazy case of OCD! heh
so the first night i stayed at burkhart's, i walked up a couple blocks to boystown to get a beer, completely forgetting it was cinco de mayo and every place was PACKED! but whatever...i found an open barstool at Roscoes and sat by myself and people-watched for awhile. the next day i hit up a couple of my favorite stores, looking for a birthday present for Lunah and presents for my mom for mother's day and, of course, presents for Sarah. :) I missed Sarah so much during my stay up there! we must've talked an average of 5 or 6 times a day! <3
that second night, i went out to wicker park area (only about 5 minutes west of where i was) and met up with Lunah, Michelle, and Lori at Lunah's mom's art show. it was so great seeing all of them and seeing lunah's ma's beautiful paintings. And then we all went to Clark's (my favorite diner). It brought back sooo many memories! *sigh*
I stayed up late with burkhart and sat outside drinking coffee on his second-floor porch, having long indepth conversations while watching all the cars and people pass--something I found myself doing a lot those nights (my other favorite part of the trip). i ended up giving burkhart a haircut, too, one night. haha!
Burkhart and I threw a BBQ/last-coffeehouse that night ("last" since he has to move soon) where a few bands played and a lot of kids showed up. my friends Rachel and Pat came by to check it all out--kids who went to holy angels (the catholic school i went to from grades 1-8) with me, but we've kept in touch. it was great seeing them and catching up on old times.
the following day (saturday), I helped Burkhart with his art sale. but it was a pretty cold day and it ended up not being as successful as we hoped.
sunday night, ashley came back to chicago and we went out to kathy's to watch to Lword (which wasnt that great of an episode, but whatever). [which, by the way, anyone that wants a copy of the entire 2nd season on the Lword (before it comes out of DVD), let me know!] Ashley had to get back to chicago because she started her internship the next morning. I rented a car the next day (and, man, it was such a sweet car! mitsubishi lancer--hot!)
and then i took off deeper into the suburbs--to Aurora, my hometown. and, wow, did all my past memories of that place flood over me quickly! it was all so bitter-sweet...i dont know. heh i saw my old apartment, and then my old house where i grew up for 18 years. i went over to holy angels and then my old high school...it's amazing to see how much they've built up everything since i've been gone. you would think things would look smaller the older you get (since you were smaller when you were there) but they steal that feeling away from you when they add on these million dollar additions...
i went to jaliscos (my favorite mexican place) and got a burrito :) and MMMM, how i miss those!! I visited a lot with my friend, Isaiah, and I got to see Ren (his sister/also a good friend from high school) who I havent seen in a couple years. all i needed was Jessica to be there, and it would've been like old times... Isaiah and I went out to IHOP in st. charles to meet up with Lunah for coffee and stayed there for hours talking. it was so great... then isaiah and i went out to hit a couple bars which was really lame because it was a monday night and bars in the suburbs suck. Michelle came out to join us in that great fun, though, which was nice...thank you, michelle. you're so awesome! i still cant believe we got completely lost and backwards going from batavia to st.charles and then to north aurora! haha i mean, i've only been gone 2 years now, and i'm already starting to lose my touch!
I visited with some old cuban friends of my family the last night i was in the suburbs. they were like my grandma and grandpa growing up... i brought them flowers and talked with them for a couple hours. they were so excited, they would start rattling off spanish really fast to me and hugging me every 5 seconds. it was cute! heheh
i then took off back to the city to meet up with ashley. we went out to a lesbian bar called the closet for a couple beers. it was nice spending time with her the last night i was there... I stayed in burkhart's loft that final night. and, again, we just stayed up and sat outside for awhile having long indepth conversations. i miss that...
the next morning i gathered all my things, returned my rental car, ate at Geno's East (NOONE can leave chicago without eating there once!) and headed out to the airport... it was so sad having to go. but i was eager to come home to see Sarah, who i missed so much.
this is where all the fun starts (well, not fun...more like frustration! heh)
my plane from chicago to atlanta (i had a connected flight from there to jacksonville then) was delayed an hour and by the time it landed in atlanta, my other flight had already left for jacksonville! so i was stranded in the atlanta airport for awhile (since there wasnt any other flights going out that night to jacksonville). luckily, they were able to get me a free hotel stay for the night
and a meal voucher.
there was a kid on the shuttle bus from the airport to the hotel that was in the same predicament as me (except he was flying out to new york) and it turns out he was from Geneva (a suburb right near Aurora) and knew a lot of the kids i hung out with in high school. it was soo weird and coincidental! I was really wanting a beer after all that frustration with my having to stay another night, and the shuttle bus driver told me he'd drop me off next door to the hotel to a pub/grill that was still open all night, and this kid (Jeremy is his name) ended up joining me. it was so weird talking with him about all these kids we knew...i'm SURE we've met somewhere a long time ago.
so the next morning my flight was supposed to leave at 9:15am. sarah was already on her way to jacksonville to pick me up (since it's only an hour flight and it takes an hour and a half to get from gainesville to jacksonville). I arrived at the airport a good hour and a half early, checked my luggage got some coffee, and got really excited that there was a smoking room in the airport (it's pretty bad when you get excited about smoking indoors...) so my ticket and the lady at my terminal said to be there 15 minutes before the departure time (meaning 9am) and i showed up there at exactly 9am and sat there...waiting waiting...
and then the fucking plane parked there starts to leave and i fucking LEAP up and run up to the counter to ask what plane that is that was leaving and the lady was like "that's the jacksonville plane" and i fucking FLIPPED THE FUCK OUT! I was like "where the hell was the last call?!" apparently they boarded really early and the claims she called last call 10 minutes prior (which is a fucking lie because i was sitting RIGHT THERE the whole damn time!) I guess it's my fault for not going directly up the counter to let them know i was there...but still! i mean, there was a shitload of people sitting around me that i thought were waiting to board like me!
so i guess the lady wrote me off as being an idiot or ADD or something and got me on the next flight for no extra charge. heh it sucked though! I mean, i was TEARING out my hair in frustration! and poor sarah had to turn around when i called her to tell her what had happened. i felt so fucking horrible and stupid. i wasnt even going to write about this! let's just say i showed up to the terminal for the next flight a good hour and a half early! (of course, it ended up being an hour late! figures...) I finally got to jacksonville at 3pm and mandy picked me up from the airport with Kenna since sarah had to go to work.
and, so there...that's my story on my trip. sorry this ended up being so long.
i doubt anyone actually read this all.
but if you did, thank you. :)
oh, and for those of you I didn't get to see while I was up there--i'm planning on coming back for a visit the last week of july/early august with Sarah :)
(warning: this is extremely long...so dont feel obligated to read it)
Ashley and I left gainesville while it was pouring rain, but we finally made it to Tuscaloosa, AL to see my brother, Andres, around 9pm (last Wed). my brother's going to the University of Alabama there for his masters and I havent seen him for awhile, so I thought it'd be nice to stop and say hello. we all went out to mellow mushroom and then to a place called BadAss Coffee (hilarious). Ashley and I are convinced, however, hell is definitely located in Alabama. heh
i felt a bit of guilt when we passed up Montgomery without stopping to see my other brother, Dani...but whatever. i let it go. Dani and I havent talked in over a month now (for reasons i'd rather not get into right now).
we decided to just keep driving from there instead of staying the night. i did most of the driving from Huntsville, AL to Louisville while Ashley caught up on sleep. and let me tell you, driving in the pitch dark through the appalachians on 4 cappucinos can be quite a challenge! especially with the speed limit remaining 70mph when really it should be like 40mph around some of those curves! heheh but i did alright :) Ashley then took over right as dawn set in. we stopped at a Steak and Shake in northern Indiana because Ashley wanted a hamburger and that's the only place that would make one that early in the morning! lol we sat down inside though because i got really excited that there was a smoking section. woohoo!
we got stuck in a horrible traffic jam between gary and chicago, do to constuction and a really shitty accident. but once we hit chicago and we saw that chicago skyline, holy cow, i almost crapped my pants in excitement!! *^_^* I miss it sooo much!
Ashley dropped me off at Burkharts and went over to her aunt and uncle's (where she's staying all summer) to drop off her stuff and take a nap. come to find out, her aunt and uncle live not even a 5 minute walking distance from burkharts! AWESOME! but Ash had to drive down to Champaign to be with her mom and dad (who she just came out to and are giving her a really hard time). I feel horrible for her :( but it was mother's day weekend and she kinda felt obligated to go see them...
i stayed in burkhart's loft for the majority of my stay in chicago, which was really awesome because it's located in my favorite part of the city. all my favorite stores/restaurants/cafes and boystown are all in walking distance. plus I've really missed the atmosphere that burkhart's place gives off. it's a shame the city is knocking it down :( (i can go on and on about that, too, but i'll withhold from that for now).
i'd say my favorite part about staying there was opening the window that overlooked halsted and smoking and drinking coffee while watching all the cars and taxis go by and observing people... I remember watching a guy parallel park for a good 20 minutes. he did it PERFECT on the first try, but got out of his car, looked at the curb, walked over to the other cars near him, looked at the way they were parked, got back in his car and moved it 1cm and did the same damn thing over and over again x 20 times! talk about a crazy case of OCD! heh
so the first night i stayed at burkhart's, i walked up a couple blocks to boystown to get a beer, completely forgetting it was cinco de mayo and every place was PACKED! but whatever...i found an open barstool at Roscoes and sat by myself and people-watched for awhile. the next day i hit up a couple of my favorite stores, looking for a birthday present for Lunah and presents for my mom for mother's day and, of course, presents for Sarah. :) I missed Sarah so much during my stay up there! we must've talked an average of 5 or 6 times a day! <3
that second night, i went out to wicker park area (only about 5 minutes west of where i was) and met up with Lunah, Michelle, and Lori at Lunah's mom's art show. it was so great seeing all of them and seeing lunah's ma's beautiful paintings. And then we all went to Clark's (my favorite diner). It brought back sooo many memories! *sigh*
I stayed up late with burkhart and sat outside drinking coffee on his second-floor porch, having long indepth conversations while watching all the cars and people pass--something I found myself doing a lot those nights (my other favorite part of the trip). i ended up giving burkhart a haircut, too, one night. haha!
Burkhart and I threw a BBQ/last-coffeehouse that night ("last" since he has to move soon) where a few bands played and a lot of kids showed up. my friends Rachel and Pat came by to check it all out--kids who went to holy angels (the catholic school i went to from grades 1-8) with me, but we've kept in touch. it was great seeing them and catching up on old times.
the following day (saturday), I helped Burkhart with his art sale. but it was a pretty cold day and it ended up not being as successful as we hoped.
sunday night, ashley came back to chicago and we went out to kathy's to watch to Lword (which wasnt that great of an episode, but whatever). [which, by the way, anyone that wants a copy of the entire 2nd season on the Lword (before it comes out of DVD), let me know!] Ashley had to get back to chicago because she started her internship the next morning. I rented a car the next day (and, man, it was such a sweet car! mitsubishi lancer--hot!)
and then i took off deeper into the suburbs--to Aurora, my hometown. and, wow, did all my past memories of that place flood over me quickly! it was all so bitter-sweet...i dont know. heh i saw my old apartment, and then my old house where i grew up for 18 years. i went over to holy angels and then my old high school...it's amazing to see how much they've built up everything since i've been gone. you would think things would look smaller the older you get (since you were smaller when you were there) but they steal that feeling away from you when they add on these million dollar additions...
i went to jaliscos (my favorite mexican place) and got a burrito :) and MMMM, how i miss those!! I visited a lot with my friend, Isaiah, and I got to see Ren (his sister/also a good friend from high school) who I havent seen in a couple years. all i needed was Jessica to be there, and it would've been like old times... Isaiah and I went out to IHOP in st. charles to meet up with Lunah for coffee and stayed there for hours talking. it was so great... then isaiah and i went out to hit a couple bars which was really lame because it was a monday night and bars in the suburbs suck. Michelle came out to join us in that great fun, though, which was nice...thank you, michelle. you're so awesome! i still cant believe we got completely lost and backwards going from batavia to st.charles and then to north aurora! haha i mean, i've only been gone 2 years now, and i'm already starting to lose my touch!
I visited with some old cuban friends of my family the last night i was in the suburbs. they were like my grandma and grandpa growing up... i brought them flowers and talked with them for a couple hours. they were so excited, they would start rattling off spanish really fast to me and hugging me every 5 seconds. it was cute! heheh
i then took off back to the city to meet up with ashley. we went out to a lesbian bar called the closet for a couple beers. it was nice spending time with her the last night i was there... I stayed in burkhart's loft that final night. and, again, we just stayed up and sat outside for awhile having long indepth conversations. i miss that...
the next morning i gathered all my things, returned my rental car, ate at Geno's East (NOONE can leave chicago without eating there once!) and headed out to the airport... it was so sad having to go. but i was eager to come home to see Sarah, who i missed so much.
this is where all the fun starts (well, not fun...more like frustration! heh)
my plane from chicago to atlanta (i had a connected flight from there to jacksonville then) was delayed an hour and by the time it landed in atlanta, my other flight had already left for jacksonville! so i was stranded in the atlanta airport for awhile (since there wasnt any other flights going out that night to jacksonville). luckily, they were able to get me a free hotel stay for the night
and a meal voucher.
there was a kid on the shuttle bus from the airport to the hotel that was in the same predicament as me (except he was flying out to new york) and it turns out he was from Geneva (a suburb right near Aurora) and knew a lot of the kids i hung out with in high school. it was soo weird and coincidental! I was really wanting a beer after all that frustration with my having to stay another night, and the shuttle bus driver told me he'd drop me off next door to the hotel to a pub/grill that was still open all night, and this kid (Jeremy is his name) ended up joining me. it was so weird talking with him about all these kids we knew...i'm SURE we've met somewhere a long time ago.
so the next morning my flight was supposed to leave at 9:15am. sarah was already on her way to jacksonville to pick me up (since it's only an hour flight and it takes an hour and a half to get from gainesville to jacksonville). I arrived at the airport a good hour and a half early, checked my luggage got some coffee, and got really excited that there was a smoking room in the airport (it's pretty bad when you get excited about smoking indoors...) so my ticket and the lady at my terminal said to be there 15 minutes before the departure time (meaning 9am) and i showed up there at exactly 9am and sat there...waiting waiting...
and then the fucking plane parked there starts to leave and i fucking LEAP up and run up to the counter to ask what plane that is that was leaving and the lady was like "that's the jacksonville plane" and i fucking FLIPPED THE FUCK OUT! I was like "where the hell was the last call?!" apparently they boarded really early and the claims she called last call 10 minutes prior (which is a fucking lie because i was sitting RIGHT THERE the whole damn time!) I guess it's my fault for not going directly up the counter to let them know i was there...but still! i mean, there was a shitload of people sitting around me that i thought were waiting to board like me!
so i guess the lady wrote me off as being an idiot or ADD or something and got me on the next flight for no extra charge. heh it sucked though! I mean, i was TEARING out my hair in frustration! and poor sarah had to turn around when i called her to tell her what had happened. i felt so fucking horrible and stupid. i wasnt even going to write about this! let's just say i showed up to the terminal for the next flight a good hour and a half early! (of course, it ended up being an hour late! figures...) I finally got to jacksonville at 3pm and mandy picked me up from the airport with Kenna since sarah had to go to work.
and, so there...that's my story on my trip. sorry this ended up being so long.
i doubt anyone actually read this all.
but if you did, thank you. :)
oh, and for those of you I didn't get to see while I was up there--i'm planning on coming back for a visit the last week of july/early august with Sarah :)