More of a third installment I suppose. Aimee and I took the St. Patrick’s Day weekend as an opportunity to visit our home away from Atlanta to see some friends, family, and participate in a few things that remind us of living in Chicago.
The annual Siamsa nGael concert was on Wednesday at Symphony Center. I sat proudly in the Gallery with other young adults (see vantage point shot below). The music selection was a refreshing blend of new and familiar and showcased immensely talented soloists from Old St. Pat’s. Martin Sheen was the guest narrator, guiding us, his captive audience, through the stories and beautiful imagery of inciting music, brash courage, and proud history of the Irish people. Many media outlets were not welcome at the event because of an expressed desire to ask Martin about his son. NBC was present on condition that they respect the man and his purpose. They published some pictures on their site: pictures link 
With a shortage of Irish pubs here in Atlanta, I was on the hunt for a good corned beef and cabbage. Unfortunately I had completely forgotten this quest when picking Red Light for dinner. Their zesty Chinese offerings and refreshing drinks did not disappoint though! Neither did my stay at Hotel Neary. Thank you to them for opening their doors to me!
On Friday I had the opportunity to visit with Kristen most of the day at the United Center as we cheered the Notre Dame basketball team to victory against Akron. Mental note though, to stay away from the United Center on Friday’s in Lent. I can only hope that their undesirable Connie’s Pizza does not become the Chicago-style pizza archetype for visitors.
We met at Mark’s place that night for Brinner, featuring eggs, waffles, and donuts. Special thanks to Mark for his hospitality and willingness to cook for us while we visited with Sara, Adam, Kristen, and Scott – and especially for letting us stay with him over the weekend.
Webster’s Wine Bar was up next. They state they are Chicago’s “Oldest and Finest Wine Bar”, yet established in 1994. Did we really not have wine bars before then? Anyway, Aimee was hoping to connect with her soon-to-be colleagues and this place was perfect: a large couch and wine list that reads like a book. She counts herself more than fortunate to work with such smart practitioners.
Megan generously came in early (air quotes?) to give us massages on Saturday morning which was followed by lunch with Fr. Tom, my parents, and Frank and Darlene at Ina’s in the West Loop. I’m saddened to find out that there was a delicious breakfast place in the West Loop that I did not know about. We got to meet Ina herself (a.k.a. Breakfast Queen, evidently a title that has been taken away from Aimee).
David and Maryjoy had a couple hours to visit with us that afternoon so we finally got to meet little Theo and catch up with them. We miss our trips to the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and anticipate those resuming soon.
We really enjoyed the chance to visit with my parents who drove in from Michigan to be with us. Dinner on Saturday took us to Little Italy to Francesca’s on Taylor Street. We were joined by Megan, Jim, Ginny, the Mullooly’s, along with my parents and Frank and Darlene.
Sunday started, as so frequently it does, with brunch among friends. Leaning on the early brunch mandate from MB, we decided it was a good time to experience a smaller crowd at Meli. It was delicious. Hopefully Irena liked it because she’s now blacklisted from this location. We joined the choir for mass at OSP (which also included a welcomed and surprise guest appearance from Mark). I felt good and comfortable behind the keys of the Steinway Model D – but who wouldn’t.
Perhaps it was an omen, or perhaps just yet another sign of constrained labor operations in the airlines, but our United crew did not show up for the flight and once we had some semblance of one, the pilots had timed out and couldn’t fly. What followed was some frustrated, yet ambitious playing of the doctor card by Aimee, a short night in a hotel, and a newly issued ticket on Delta that got us home the next morning.
Oh, and did you guess a white 32 GB Wi-fi iPad 2? And did it arrive on Monday? You bet.
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