The last Fourie family reunion was held between July 29 - August 3 in the lovely (and gigantic) city of Chicago. My last name is Giusti, but my middle name is Fourie, which is my mother's maiden name. Having never been there before, or the Midwest for that matter, I was stoked to say the least. Actually, the farthest east I have ever been in the United States is Nebraska, so I was in fact VERY stoked!
My parents, sister, and I hopped on a plane around 8am Thursday, July 30 from San Francisco International and were on our way to the Windy City (and I learned it's actually called the Windy City because of all the "windy" politicians Chicago has had throughout its history). We landed around 3pm Central Time and boarded Chicago's vast subway system. I mean the area the system covers is huge (BART [Bay Area Rapid Transit] eat your heart out). After about an hour ride and one transfer we were walking down Ohio Street to the DoubleTree Hotel where the rest of my expansive family was waiting.
Bags unpacked it was time to hit the streets once again to walk to the first family dinner at Giordano's (www.giordanos.com) for some famous deep dish Chicago pizza which surprisingly to me was actually pretty darn good, even though it was more like lasagna than pizza. I'll stick with Toto's in San Bruno (www.totos.com). After dinner we all headed back to the hotel for some cocktails and then I hit the streets of Chicago with some of my cousins and the streets were really empty, but apparently we were walking through a pretty remote part of downtown. So ends the first night.
The next day was the famous Chicago architecture tour on Chicago's Little Lady. It was a boat tour that followed the Chicago river which runs throughout downtown and I was amazed at the sheer beauty of the many diverse buildings. There are so many skyscrapers spanning so many time periods. There is the Trump Tower, the Sears (now Willis tower) Tower which is the tallest building in the United States and ranked fourth in the world, the corn cob buildings (can't remember the real names), the Hancock building (which I could see right out my hotel window), a building where Al Capone apparently had an elevator built big enough for a car that went from the penthouse to the garage for a quick get away, as well as some really old buildings that looked liked they belonged in Europe with all the columns and majestic sculptures laying atop them.
After that I lounged by the pool since my head hurt just a little from the night before. Soon everyone was down at the pool area and we started playing corn hole a game that includes two teams of two throwing bean bags through wooden structures with a hole in the middle. For dinner, everyone was kind of on their own, so a few of us walked to Carmine's (http://rosebudrestaurants.com/rest2.php) on Rush Street, an elegant Italian restaurant that was very good (I've worked in Italian restaurants so I'm very hard to please when it comes to Italian food). Once full and energized it was time to hit the streets once again for some night life. This time out there were definitely more people around (I guess since it was Friday) and we lounged by the river bed until they told us the walkway was closed. Then it was on to Timothy O'Tooles (www.timothyotooles.com), an Irish Pub/sports bar that was right across the street from our hotel. My mother reluctantly saw me and two of my cousins drain a Car Bomb (look it up if you don't know what it is). She has never been so proud. We all shot some pool and put enough music on the juke box to last until morning.
The next morning I slept in a little, had eggs benedict at another hotel (the Crowne Plaza I think), and then everyone met up at our hotel lobby to board the el (elevated train, what they call the subway in Chi-town) on our way to U.S. Cellular Field (formerly known as Comiskey Park) to watch President Obama's favorite baseball team, the White Sox, play against the dreaded New York Yankees. Now, I am (and always will be) a San Francisco Giants fan, but out of my disdain for the Yankees I was rooting for the White Sox (except for A.J. Pierzynski). Unfortunately there was some bad luck on our way to the game. My uncle was pick-pocketed on the way into the el and he, my aunt, and cousin were forced to miss the game. (Watch those wallets people!) Other than that the game was awesome. We sat in center field and The White Sox killed the Yankees 14-4 with NO home runs, so needless to say it was a long game with loads of food and beer. After the game, some of my family members and I went to a Chinese restaurant nearby, but I was so full from all the food and beverage I consumed at the game I did not eat. That night I once again roamed the streets of downtown Chicago with some of my cousins. We walked along the Chicago river until some security guards told us it was closed and we all went back to the hotel, and I went straight to bed since it had been one long day.
The next morning I awoke early because I wanted to catch the subway with some of my cousins to head north to Wrigleyville to see an American landmark, Wrigley Field. Built way back in 1913, Wrigley Field is the home to the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
What I thought was really cool about Wrigley Field was that most of the building rooftops surrounding the stadium had seats on them since the stadium itself was not built for as many people, compared to today's standards. We stopped at local bar to grab some bloody mary's (it was Sunday after all). We headed back downtown because my sister, my mom, and myself were determined to travel to the top of the tallest building in the United States, Sears (sorry, Willis) Tower. Unfortunately, the wait from the bottom of the building to the top was an hour and a half! Now, the whole family had plans for dinner that night in Greek Town at Pegasus Restaurant (), so I wanted to get back and get ready for a nice and pleasant last family meal. So, I went back. Which I now regret because my mom told me the wait was only 50 minutes and the view was spectacular. Oh well. Dinner was great despite taking two buses to get there (with 30 plus people in tow). Afterward most of us went out and danced the night away at the diviest dive bar I had been to yet on my trip. There was no beer on tap, they sold cigarettes (surprising for a Bay Area native), and they had hard boiled eggs (with salt) for only 75 cents. After exhausting the juke box, we all headed back to hotel and Timothy O'Tooles to exhaust their juke box. What a great last night!
I awoke the next morning, Monday, and realized with immense sadness that I had to be on a plane later that day at 5 o'clock PM. The trip was over and I was heading back to San Francisco. I packed, said my goodbyes to all the family members, went bowling with my dad since we were the last ones leaving and had some time to kill, and then it was back on the el towards O'Hare Airport. I love Chicago, and cannot wait to go back. It truly is a gem of a city located in the middle of the Midwest in the United States of America.
