Last week was our 10 year anniversary and we wanted to do something special. We decided to spend the weekend in Chicago. At 6 PM on Friday we had a cab pick us up at home and take us to the local train station. We got to Union Station around 7:30 PM and then hopped on the L to get to the northeast corner of the Loop. We walked to the hotel, checked in, and went up to our room to freshen up and relax for a little bit. We were a little tired from the day at work as well as getting downtown.

After about 30 minutes or so at 9 PM we changed clothes and went back out. We took the Brown line north to the Diversey stop and walked to the world-famous Weiner Circle. I have never been there but have wanted to for a long time.

It is a really good hot dog stand open very late at night, but what makes it famous is the way the staff is rude to you. Not rude like at Ed Debevic's, but rude like dropping the F-bomb, along with several other bombs, every other word. If you don't order fast enough they tell you to hurry the &%$# up. If you stumble on your order they tell you to get the @#$%& out of your mouth. You get the idea. They didn't give me a tough time, but gave me a dirty look and didn't talk to me other than "What do you want?" and "$10.19". The dogs and fries were fantastic though. At least equal to Gold Coast Dogs, probably a little better because they put more stuff on. The fries were fantastic too as well as a bargain.

After we ate and hung around a bit to watch others getting abused, we walked across the street to a 7-Eleven for a few things, and then back to the L stop.

Back at the hotel we got into our PJ's and watched TV in bed until around midnight.

Saturday morning we woke up at 6:30 AM and went downstairs for the buffet breakfast. It is normally $19 per person, but because we used our AAA discount we also got coupons for free breakfast. It was really good. They had an omelet station, and they brewed Starbuck's coffee. We took our time and read the newspaper for a couple hours.

We walked to the L and took the Green line west to the Ashland stop, and then walked a couple blocks to the Intelligentsia coffee factory. The first Saturday of each month they give tours of the facility. I have wanted to take the tour since I discovered Intelligentsia, and it just happened to work out for us. The tour is $7 per person, but each person gets a half pound of freshly roasted coffee, which is about what their coffee costs anyway, so it's kind of like a free tour with the purchase of their coffee.

They roasted a 69 kilogram (152 pounds) burlap bag of coffee to illustrate the roasting process, and then that freshly roasted batch of coffee is what they sent us home with.

We took the L back to the Loop and went to the Marshall Field's store for a light lunch. We went to the basement deli and got a half pound of pesto chicken salad, a half pound of broccoli salad, and a couple of rolls. We split that and then just sat there for a while and watched all of the people. After a while we got an iced coffee and an oatmeal cookie.

Around 2:30 PM we walked back to the L and took the Brown line north to the Belmont stop. We had 4 PM tickets to the Blue Man Group. We had a great time and recommend it.

After the show we went to a nearby Ethiopian restaurant. We have never tried Ethiopian food and we both really enjoyed it. The most distinctive thing about the dinner is the big sour dough pancakes that come with the dinner. One large pancake is laid out on a platter and everything is ladled onto that. We ordered a dinner-for-two combo and it came with lamb, chicken, spinach, cabbage, and something similar to hummus. It also came with four of the pancakes on the side. You ripped off a piece of the pancake and used that to scoop up some food from the platter. No utensils are used. The dinner also came with a couple of appetizers: a bowl of vegetable soup, and a small bowl of cold lentils and some flour tortilla squares to scoop it up with. Sheri LOVED the lentils. Slight spicy. Dessert was a small bowl of something between yogurt and cream cheese with a raspberry sauce drizzled over it.

We enjoyed our leisurely walk back to the L and the ride back to the hotel. We watched Mad TV and Saturday Night Live in bed until we fell asleep.

Sunday morning we woke up and had breakfast at the buffet again, read the paper in the lobby for a little bit, and then took a cab to Union Station in time to get the 10:30 AM train back home.

When we got back home the GPS I ordered was waiting for me on the porch. I didn't expect it until Tuesday. I was glad to get it early, but I was also a little annoyed that it sat on porch for over 24 hours, but all's well that ends well. I LOVE it and highly recommend it. I will write more in-depth about it very soon.

Sheri came back from doing a little shopping and then we went to Meijer for a few things. We picked up some ground beef and a couple ears of corn on the cob for dinner.

I took out the glass and installed the screen on our front door, and moved the garden hose to the backyard and watered the flower beds.

We are watching Desperate Housewives now and will go to bed when it is over.

That about covers our great anniversary weekend and I will post pictures of the weekend tomorrow.