Chicago was GOOD to me!

Last week I traveled to a suburb north of Chicago to the Naval Service Training Center in Waukegan, IL directly on Lake Michigan to test a Flood Control Trainer Simulator developer by BBN Technologies and Alion on newbie sailors. In short, we tested 64 sailors and we ended up with great results with means more gaming work between us, our partners, and The Office of Naval Research. So SUCCESS! Hooray! After the two days of testing, I ventured into the city to downtown Chicago to hang out with my brother Jeremy because coinicdentally, he is working in Chicago too. We got a room at The Palmer House Hilton on E. Monroe St. and hit the town! Check out our pics...


Well, I am sure most are concerned with what did we eat? The first night we ate Greek in the GreekTown section as a restaurant called Costa's. Jeremy and I were in rare form so our cheeky waiter didn't quite appreciate our ridiculous sense of humor. We started with the saganaki. It was good but still not as good as the saganaki Pete and I had during the Central Florida Greek Fest. Next, Jeremy had a whole bass and I a lemonato lamb. We both had the potatoes as a side and the entrees were succulent and exquisite! 4 stars to say the least! My lamb was expertly seasoned and fell off the bone into the divine sherry sauce moat surronding the main dish. Jeremy filleted his fish like a champ and when the waiter remarked his skills as , "Alright," Jeremy retorted with a stining, "You're a jerk." It was too funny for me not to bust into laughter. We topped off the meal with a lemon custard tart. It was good but a bit dry, so I wish I ordered the bread pudding instead. All in all, it was the best meal we had in Chicago for sure-BRAVO!!

The next day we ate lunch at The Oasis Cafe. The food is Middle Eastern and while the vegetable couscous, the Egpytian salad and baklava were all good, the reason we really wanted to go is that this cafe is situated oddly enough in the back of a jewelry store in the jewelry district of Chicago. How many times have your ordered lunch in a jewelry store? I'll bet not many. :) That night after hitting Millennium Park, The Art Institute of Chicago, and some shopping we ended the night at Andy's Jazz for dinner and live music. We decided to go traditional and ordered a Chicago-style thin crust mushroom pizza. It was surprisingly not greasy and very tasty. Tried as we might to finish the 14", we just couldn't do it and had to leave some behind because of course I had to try the cappuccino cheesecake. It was dreamly creamy. Although my gut was busting, I did not leave one iota of cake on that plate. All in all, my first trip to the windy city was first and foremost windy but it was also a really great time.