We managed to wake up by 9:00 because we wanted to go out for breakfast. When we got to Yolk, in the South Loop, we had to wait 45 minutes to be seated. I was seriously doubting why we were sitting in the cold for this food, when there were 15 other restaurants in the area, but Lauren encouraged me to stick to the course. When I did see the menu, I was not disappointed, after much deliberation, I chose the "When in Rome" omelet, with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and spinach. Lauren had strawberry crepes, they were good too. From there, we decided to leave my car and catch a bus back to Hyde Park to visit the Museum of Science and Industry. Unfortunately, the number 10 bus did not want to come for 30 minutes, so we went back to the car and drove to the museum.
I had been to this museum once before in 2007 with my mom, so I was excited to go again. This time, there were traveling exhibits surrounding Dr. Seuss and another called the Smart House. We decided to tour the Smart House, which is a 2-3000 square foot house that has been designed with the best of sustainable and eco-friendly materials and processes. It is all about recycling, reducing and reusing. For example, there were solar panels and a wind turbine that generated energy for the house. The windows were double and triple paned to better insulate the house. Water from the washing machine is recycled into the toilet water, the furniture is made of old tires and the kitchen cabinets are old chemistry closets from the university. Our tour guide was Milo, and he was so excited about the house, it was contagious, Lauren and I are thinking about how we can split the cost of a compost machine and share it across states. After the tour we wandered through the museum's permanent exhibits. We strapped in for a brainwaves contest, and I won. The headbands measured brain waves and that pushes a ball across the table. The person who is the most relaxed will be able to "push" the ball into the goal at the end of the table. Alot of people were watching us which made Lauren anxious, I cleared my mind and beat her in less than 5 minutes! We also looked at the genetically modified chicken, the airplane exhibit and the human body, rooms. All of the exhibits were hands-on and read and touched as many things as any kid that might have been a third of our age.
After the museum, we went home to relax before we would back downtown for dinner and dancing. We wound up watching Vh1's Top 100 songs of the 00's. Beyonce's Crazy in Love was number one. I put on one of my new dresses and Lauren let me borrow her black wedges. Lauren was just as fabulous in her new dress and tall boots. We drove to Cafe Iberico for tapas and sangria. Lauren and I had both been here before and were excited to get to the garlic shrimp and patatas bravas. The place was crowded and we had to wait 45 minutes to be seated. We ate and drank with joy. Marvin met us at the restaurant after a couple of hours and bought us dessert. Lauren and him had easy conversation and I could not stop smiling. Here I am a thousand miles away from "home" and feeling as loved and accepted as can be. Sometimes I feel cold and distant, but if I can count these two beautiful souls as friends, I must be doing something right. After a little while we left the restaurant and I told Marvin that we were going to paint the town on Lauren's last night in the city. He buttoned my coat, gave us a few ideas and told us to be careful, then we parted ways.
Lauren and I headed towards Division Avenue to find some bars/clubs. We wound up at The Hunt Club, which was packed and the DJ was playing the techno hits. We went upstairs to get drinks and check the place out. Within 15 minutes, we were approached by some suspicious looking characters. The shorter one asked if he could buy me a drink, I said no thank you. He stood next to us and started talking anyway. Wandi is from Cape Town, South Africa and he is here with the UniverSoul circus. What! He brought over his fellow acrobats and the Russians from the high flying trapeze act. I told them that the show was great, but they all got real quiet when I asked them about free tickets to Sunday's show. Lauren wandered off to talk to someone else and when Wandi and I disagreed about the negative impact of smoking, I escaped to the ladies room. When I got back to the bar, Ashley from Ohio bumped into me and insisted on buying me a shot in order to make up for it. Sure, chocolate cake shots for everyone! Ashley was out for her birthday with her friends Shrey and Vikram. We shared alot of laughs, they were so friendly! Lauren joined me we decided to migrate downstairs. She introduced me to some Czech guys that she met earlier, which was interesting.
We left the Hunt Club and walked across the street to another bar, but refused to pay a cover and kept on walking. By this time, the shoes were hurting my feet were! I just wanted to sit down somewhere. Lauren had her phone with the maps and insisted that another great club was right around the corner, I love her but I couldn't walk another block. I started walking towards the car, and she came with me reluctantly. On the street we ran into CanoPuerto Rico. We tried to ask them for directions, but they only spoke Spanish, and of course whenever I drink I am fluent in Spanish. Something about reduced inhibitions brings all of that high school Spanish straight to my brain. I was talking and translating, they offered to give us a ride and to their dismay, we had to say no. We met another guy in the street, while he was talking some women drove by and shouted, "don't do it girl, he already got 3 baby mamas". He swore he had no idea who they were, riiight. We finally made it to the car, by now it is 4:45 and we want McDonalds! We were waiting in the drive-thru line when an employee came out and switched the regular menu with the breakfast menu. We were upset, egg mcmuffins are not an adequate substitute for chicken mcnuggets. We just ordered juice and coffee and headed home. This night is definitely going in the hall of fame, top night!
