My visit to Chicago with Sailaway21...what a hoot!!!!

[Giulietta]

So....I finally get to see Chicago (for a short time though, but worth while)...and with Sailaway21 to top it up...

what a hoot that guy is....a really nice guy....crazier than drunk hooker in a rich boy College bachelor party.....

Let's go have breakfast...I said...and to piss CD off let's go to a IHOP!!! Which we did

So...he picks me up at the airport, and away we went to Chicago.....we drive in this racy white car that only opens one door (it's his wife's car)…and we’re doing pretty fast….down the highway "whatever" to "whatever"…in Chicago…(I can't keep up with your number things)..man does he talk fast…and he smokes pipe and it smells good (the pipe..not him).....the bridges, buildings and roads pass by me as if it was a dream....I got some photos with his camera..(that he forgot to charge)...so the movie stops half way thru... So the photos with the hookers he arranged are not shown...

The Guy is really a crazy Guy, but indeed a nice fun guy to be with....

It's one of those guys that takes his shirt to give someone else..(except for finishing the kitchen for his wife)...
I am coming back for sure..

Here it goes...

As soon as we leave the Airport we take this high way....


And this is us..already laughing...


Then I look to the side....and I see THIS!!!!!


BUT IN REALITY WAS THIS!!!!!!


SO THIS IS ME!!!! WHEN HE DOES AS ABOVE!!!


Then more highway, this one is 98 or 95 or 90 or 120 or 456 or 673..who the hell cares...


Then the city...


And we go under a building...a thing that confuses my little Portuguese head...


Then I take these photos while we move, because this guy is unfamiliar with the word PARK...




Down to the lake he told me...now I am confused...11 hours flight, no sleep, no shave, no shower..and a 350 mile per hour tour...


We then see the water...and statues of indians...on horses....(would have been better if you guys didn't exterminate them, but a statue will do for me)..


Then ahhh the water....(he told me 100 times it was fresh water, just in case)...


But then he turns right...(there is no left turning for this hard core right wing man )....and we are in a park..


And the buildings are soo impressive...I was amazed how clean this is compared to other US cities..he told me the names of the buildings, but I had my head outside....




So then...the water again...



But he turns right again....and I see a UFO landing site....kinda like an airport for UFO's..he said the Peckers play there...or whatever team is..can't keep up with your sports either...



THEN......MARINA...but it's empty...the ice...he said..


And the planetarium...


And no boats...no where to be seen...except these 2 losers on a power boat fishing for some fish he told me and I forgot the name...but it's fresh water fish...I'll pass...great...I come here to see the sailors and all I see is 2 plonkers in a 80HP fishing thing... Americans are kids with money...


Here..if you look closely you can see a boat..


I did see in this club here (Columbia) a few Dragons, 420's and a whole bunch of French boats, mainy Beneteau and Jeanneau, I also saw a Grand Surprise 35...thought you guys didn't have them here..


And more empty marinas..what a waste...I thought..he told me soon all spots are full.




Then we went here but I forgot the name..


And to this pier filled with weirdos that run and talk to themselves...


Then he parked...so I got a shot of beautifull impressive clean Chicago




And to prove I was there...for a moment..Chicago had the most handsome, pretiest sexy extraordinaire best sailor of the World..but then I had to fly to Evansville....(in this photo I was not shaved)


Now...let's have your comments....

Ahhhh on the way to the airport...



and more


Then we had an excellent breakfast at IHOP (on my demand)..because, coming out of an American Airlines flight...I was in the mood for some AMERICAN STYLE eggs over easy with Ham and harsh browns.....

Now I am here in Evansville....and will be for a while...so my presence on sailnet will be higher in the 2 weeks coming.

Thank you my dear friend SA....BITE ME
Alex

[JohnRPollard]

Nice post!! I especially like the thoughts coming out of Sailaway's brain!! I guess he can't help himself, poor soul.

Hey, did you know that lake is FRESH water??

[eMKay]

Yeah, we are spoiled here with A LOT of fresh water...But there is that ice thing. My marina doesn't even have docks yet.

[tommyt]

Greatest city in North America. Should have stayed a little longer.

Kind of reminds me of a tour of Lisbon, probably a little faster, only you could not take pictures......it was midnight! He may be able to talk faster than you ( hard to believe) but in how many languages?

[uspirate]

[denby]

Alex,

Glad to see you're having a good time. Now get to work.


ps, sent a pm, check your mail.

[bestfriend]

Hah! Thats great. He's different in person than you would think, isn't he. Except for the rambling on part, thats the same.

[Stillraining]

Ditto...I pictured him as younger, skinny..black hair with a pocket protector..in the right pocket of course

[sailaway21]

My wife elected to not make the trip for reasons that escape me. She did want to know what we were going to do in Chicago after we'd met the Portagee. My response, "probably drive him to Evansville" might have been a factor in the decision. I had to leave at three in the morning to meet the flight so there was no sense in wasting time on a recalcitrant piece of baggage; a "road trip" awaited!

Anyone who knows me will be amazed that I arrived a half hour early. Other than a few disgruntled Indiana and Illinois residents who apparently think that a 45 mph speed limit on three lanes of interstate road actually applies to the far left lane the trip was uneventful. The Valentine 1 is the finest radar/laser countermeasures device I've ever owned.

Of course, it was an hour after the on-time arrival of the plane before a bedraggled but ebullient Portagee emerged from the immaculate O'Hare terminal. Unfortunately, the nubile and leggy young brunette I was chatting up had her party arrive some minutes before. Had the sage T34C been there with me.....well it might have been a lonely morning in Chicago for our intrepid traveller.

If patience is the requirement for meeting a plane, timeliness is more important in catching a flight, so the decision to go to Chicago proper was not taken lightly. Besides, there'd probably been a shift change at the State Patrol and that trooper probably little remembered me by now. Nevertheless there was a measure of road construction so there was no time to be wasted.

The Portagee makes an excellent copilot, able to do amazing things with a camera with the window down, the car veering about at 80 mph in traffic. I saw him put his seatbelt on so I just drove and trusted in the DuPont Company's ability to build high quality nylon webbing. Still, I'm not really sure how he got some of those shots as he never actually seemed to leave the vehicle. Thank goodness I don't have a retractable sunroof or the residents of the Windy City might have thought the Portagee Pope was in town.

The city was looking fine after a brutal winter; cleaner than it's been seen in some time. They're doing something right in that town. Of course we did have to run into at least one Bear's fan. We saw him at Navy Pier where he was jogging while talking to himself-no surprise that. He did slow down long enough to comment on my Packer jacket but not to offer to take a picture of two obvious tourists-typical Hallasshole. (g)

It was a glorious sunny morning and I'm here to tell you that our dory-boatman is an accomplished boat spotter. The man can inventory a marina or boat yard down to the ground tackle of each one, while on board a vehicle at velocity. Hopefully we can get him back when the marina's are full to truly test his abilities. Our tour was all too short as the prospect of missing not only breakfast but his flight, and a five hour drive-minimum-to Evansville, and then back, was going to make arrival at work on Monday a dicey thing for me. Not that we wouldn't have had fun, maybe too much fun!

The only discombobulating moment of the morning occured upon arrival at the IHOP near O'Hare where immediately upon entering the premises our Portagee reported to the hostess that I was a field operative for the Lesbian Action Front. Unfortuantely she believed him and did everything but ask for a house call. I think she was somewhat conflicted as it was apparent she thought the Portagee was just dreamy. In spite of her throbbing ovaries, breakfast arrived in due course and another thing became apparent. When the Portagee tells you he is hungry you'd best believe it. The initial breakfast disappeared like a seagull into a Pratt & Whitney aircraft turbine and only ordering an additional short-stack of hotcakes with an industrial-size OJ prevented some nearby infants from being sucked into the maw. I think I was on about my second egg at that point and I think I tend to eat over fast myself. I think next time I'll bring a case-load of crackers or something as a precautionary measure. I have a feeling I know how that guy with the tiger at the SF zoo must have felt. Thank goodness for the IHOP corporate location planning and menu. This wasn't a situation wherem your foo-foo continental breakfast was going to be of much use. Throwing croissants and breakfast fruit from behind a mass of stacked chairs was just going to piss him off.

All in all, yet another fantastic AFOC meeting that was everything but long enough. The Portagee is everything that you see here and more. If you're fortunate enough to make his acquaintance do not be a bit surprised that he is voracious about seeing and learning about all that's about him. He just soaks up places and things, making him a wonderful and entertaining guest.

Thanks Alex-I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

[Valiente]

Lesbian Action Front? No left turns? The Peckers?

Oh, the hilarity...and the fact that you were driving around at dawn in a Chicago that looks like maybe 25 people live there is even funnier.

One day, Alex will be hosted in the city of a Sailnetter when boats are actually in the water. He is baffled by the concept of hauling out, unless it involves an afternoon in the slings to paint a shark's face...and he hates winter, because although he can stick like glue to a heavily heeled boat deck, I think the physics of walking on ice hurt his rump.

Let's hope one of us can show him a good time on a moving vessel this summer...the guy spends half his time in North America, hunting Holiday Inn executives olhar para entregar a justiça.