CHICAGO 1998
Leave on June 17 with $312.02 in cash and 26# of bag-weight. Return on June 23 with 25# of bag-weight (having replaced champagne with paper that weighs as much), having spent roundly $1260, or $180/day, which included $206 for the airfare, $12 for maps. Check Visa for $434.10 for Le Francais (4 people), $227.50 for Arun (2), and $73.91 for Gabriel (1), and $277 I ended up writing in a check for Ken. The dinner prices were 1) Arun $115, 2) Topolobampo $77, 3) Le Francais $115, 4) Bistro 110 $63 (lowest and worst), 5) Spruce $97, and 6) Gabriel $74, for a total of $541 which is only a dollar off from $90/evening. Notes on photos taken. On 6/21 at 6:21AM I had a gorgeous travel-related dream which I will transcribe onto DREAMS 72-73. I noted that Sears Tower was highest, then Amoco, then Hancock.
THURSDAY, 6/17/98: 5:40 to Arun, GREAT meal with Isensteins, rain, lightning.
FRIDAY, 6/18/98: I woke Ken at 8AM. Baha'i Temple, lunch at Art Institute, out at 4:15, art walk, Topolobompo with 7 at 6:45 (they're 1/2 hour LATE due to traffic) to 9:20. Back to comfortable house in two cars to talk till 11PM bed.
SATURDAY, 6/19/98: Breakfast 8AM, 10AM to Wright houses in Oak Park, hot fudge at Peterson's Ice Cream, Grand Plaisance, Richardson House, and "home" at 5:05 for Le Francais with 9 of us, some dishes VERY great, others rather ordinary.
SUNDAY, 6/20/98: Breakfast, Robie House, Museum of Science and Industry (which Ken didn't like, waiting an hour for the mediocre coal mine) to 4:30, Hancock Tower Observatory, Bistro 110 from 7-9, and back to talk and walk back yard.
MONDAY, 6/21/98: 9:30 to Brookfield Zoo to 1:30, boat tour at 2:10, boat from 3-4:30, drinks atop Hancock paid by Marv. GREAT Spruce Restaurant 6:50-8:40, gas home at 10:45 and bed at 11:25PM, tired by being wakened by sun at 6AM every morning.
TUESDAY, 6/22/98: Ken leaves and I borrow Sandy's car to drive to Six Flags Great Adventure in Gurnee, parking between 23 & 34, note the license-number XSZ491, and had gotten on small entry-line at 9:55, in at 10:10 and at 10:20 "Shock Wave" STOPS with "temporary difficulties." At 10:28 stuck one MOVES, and Linda offers me a share of her first car. She then escorts me to the Eagle (wooden), Viper (wooden), Whizzer (like a Wild Mouse), and Iron Wolf (standing steel, which caps my feeling of nausea so I want NO more rides) by 12:15. Pizza lunch 1:10-1:40, then the Sky Trek Tower, taking 4-5 pictures, Space Shuttle America with 5 rows of about 20 each, then "Super Speedway" on IMAX from 2:30-3:20 on a 72' by 96' screen. 3:45 train around park to car at 4PM and home at 5PM, walk to beach and along it, read Times, to Gabriel's at 6:20-8 for $45 degustation after $6.50 kir with $8.50 merlot for $74 total. St. John mussels [How are your mussels?] in white wine and cubed tomatoes and basil, signature crepe pasta with spinach in cream, squab with potatoes "with tons of butter" in which mushrooms were wrapped, with TART cranberry sauce and thin carrot slices, with a dessert tasting of kiwi sorbet in tiny puff, tiramisu almost cake-like, poached pear in marscapone, and chocolate mousse wedge with chocolate and mango and raspberry coulis. They asked how it all was, and they REPLACED my sweaty WATER-glass. Italian Gabriel and Germanic shelf-browed LIGHT-blue-eyed (wedding-ringed) maitre d'. House-door was unlocked, took pictures of house, packed by 9:30PM, wrote this to 9:45 and prepared to read New Yorkers. They get back at 10:15, and they TOLD Gabriel's to treat me royally (EVERYONE shook my hand). Bed at 10:35PM. Times of anxiety over now at LAST night's bed.
WEDNESDAY, 6/23/98: Up at 4AM, 6AM, and breakfast at 7, and leave at 8:15. To airport JUST late enough to miss 9AM Continental flight. Read Wall Street Journal and USA Today and board 11AM flight (90 minutes). Move back at 11:10 and change watch to 12:20PM at takeoff. Fran and Noel along! Land at 2:05 after circling once because of thunderclouds over Newark Airport. To World Trade Center at 3PM and home at 3:30. John had turned on the air conditioner. Phoned Peace and Imbornoni (getting no phone call back), talked to Arnold and Pope and a few others (NO one knew the McCain joke!), unpacked a bit, jerked off rather quickly before going to bed at 11PM, still on quite an early schedule.
THURSDAY, 6/24/98: Index meeting, dentist, Cirque de Soleil, Dido and Aeneas ALL DAY!
FRIDAY, 6/25/98: Checked all index-pages, neither book finished; Pope's phone out.
SATURDAY, 6/26/98: Finally got through the mail; finish this at 3PM ready for DAY!