i went to chicago this weekend for my birthday. it was good. i got out off the plane and into traffic just after lunch on friday. took the shuttle to rent a jeep - very nice... drove downtown after being stuck on the kennedy freeway forever. instead of going to the room, my mom and i ate at a groovy outside cafe on st. claire st. we had reserved rooms in the hard rock hotel but it took a long time to find because their sign was hidden. checked in. looked at some of the rock stuff. very sexy bar. the HRH is in the middle of town on 2nd and north michigan. they charged us $70 to park and tried to fuck us on the rates, but the hotel -as a building... very impressive. we won eventually. the mariner towers were outside my room to the left. i got the 20th floor. friday evening, we took a 2hr boat ride out into the lake and thru the rivers. i enjoyed this more than the ride around nyc or paris. dunno why, i just did. we had some dinner at at a place close to the hotel. on saturday... we walke...