First Class for 40!
AUTHORITY SONG
Heading to Chi-Town for my Brother’s 40th Birthday
Susan and I started the day in First Class on Delta where she ran into a longtime friend from Atlanta. Fred Hart was her ex-boyfriend’s (Stuart) best friend. They spent a good amount of the flight catching up and then…Fred asked us if we like Vodka. Strange question to be asked at 9am but in all honesty I had already enjoyed a vodka and orange juice with my breakfast. We answered yes and the next thing you know he is filling up a bag with 6 mini bottles of Skyy vodka, a bottle of white wine, and cans of Fresca and CranApple. We couldn’t wait to set up our mini bar in our hotel room.
Susan and Fred Hart
We had a short layover in Cincinnati where I introduced Susan to Gold Star Chili. If you don’t know anything about Cincinnati Style Chili then you are missing out. It has a unique hint of cinnamon flavor and there are no beans in the chili. It is served over spaghetti and then topped with finely grated cheddar cheese, also called a 3-way. If you want to amp it up then you can add onions to make it a 4-way and then add beans to make it a 5-way. Needless to say Susan loved her first experience with Cincinnati Chili and said next time she’ll make it a 4-way!
During our lunch we were advised by the Pilot that we were going to be delayed a bit due to a small mechanical problem. He was about the nicest Delta employee I’ve ever met. After he made the announcement he walked around to everyone in the waiting area and asked if we had any questions. He made some small talk with Susan and I because he noticed we had just housed a 3-way. He said it is his favorite meal and he was glad we didn’t get beans on our chili for “obvious” reasons. Soon enough we were on our way to O’Hare with full bellies.
When we arrived we expected to gather our gate-checked bags from the workers with the headphones on and knee & elbow pads. But to our surprise it was the Pilot right there handing out bags to the passengers. He was still making small talk with us and wanted to be sure everyone enjoyed the flight. He apologized again for the delay and was smiling the entire time. I was sure to fill out the passenger survey that Delta sends and raved about the Pilot and the excellent service from the other crew members.
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
Taste of Chicago: Robert Plant in Concert
After Susan and I got settled at the Palmer House Hilton we headed over to Bart & Regan’s ultra-cool apartment. They are truly living the city life – they have no car, they rent out the parking space that comes with their apartment, and they have floor to ceiling windows in their corner unit on the 10th floor. Such a neat place! We had some happy hour beers and then popped a bottle of bubbly to officially toast Michael’s 4th birthday. That was just enough to get us ready for the walk to the Taste of Chicago.
Jenny, Michael, Me and Susan
Side story: Brian, Amy and Kevin were driving up together from Louisville/Indiana. Along the way they decided to text and say that they’ve broken down and had to get the car towed. Shenanigans ensued. And so did <ahem> Jack & Diane.
Bart & Regan have obviously done Taste before. They knew exactly what to bring – blankets, snacks, sunscreen…and…booze! Bart spent the evening before filling up small ziplock bags with vodka, taking out some of the snacks in the boxes/bags, inserting the vodka baggies, then covering up the stash with more snacks. Regan had soaked some watermelon and cantaloupe in vodka overnight and that made a nice fruit salad. We found a nice space center stage but back away from the crowd by the beer tent, the ticket stations and the food trucks. Perfect spot to enjoy the Robert Plant concert!! I was thrilled to hear him play “Whole Lotta Love” because I’ve not seen Led Zepplin in concert before. Even at the age of 64 the man’s still got pipes.
View of the stage from our “camp”.
Before I forget let me name the members of this traveling party:
Jenny & Michael Morris
Regan & Bart Chinn
Amy & Brian Burnette
Kevin Sciantarelli
Susan Provost
Yours Truly
No need for cupholders when you have shoes!
Kevin, Bart, Brian, Mike
This happened.
And this did, too.
After the show we headed back to Regan & Bart’s to drop of the picnic supplies and go find a place to grab a late night snack. Bar Louie it was! We walked there and quickly were seated and got drinks. The crowd started to tire so we all decided to wrap it up for the night knowing that we had a big day tomorrow. Note: it was already 11pm or after so it isn’t like we faded out at 8pm. And we had all gotten up at the crack of dawn to catch flights. Just wanted to get that in there so everyone would know we weren’t wimps.
K. Dana Morris 