Promptly at 3pm today, we headed down to the lobby to find Darron, our helpful hotel staffer, and Abraham, our driver for the evening, waiting for us. I think Mama and Daddy were surprised, and Mama gave us a big hug when she saw the car. We made our way toward the Briar Street Theatre and Blue Man Group. It was great to drive north along Lakeshore Drive and see the parks, buildings, and frozen lake on the way up to the Northside. Abraham dropped us right at the front door and we waltzed right in. After picking up the tickets at will-call, we stood in the lobby, tightly packed, for quite a bit. It was very cool, with tubing running everywhere along the ceilings and walls. Mama and I went to the restroom. This next bit is going somewhere, so don't tune out. I was in the stall, finishing up my rest stop and noticing several things about the bathroom when suddenly I turned an ear to the "wallpaper" music. Much to my amusement, I realized that it was Blue Man Group music with vocals playfully singing "bathroom...bathroom." It was really charming and quite funny.
The doors opened and we slowly filed in. We had absolutely spectacular seats, on the sixth row, which is the first row of stadium seating, in the center. It was an amazing show! At one point, they do some spontaneous painting, and when they did, I thought, "I wonder what they do with that. I would love to have it." Happily, even though we were some of the last folks out of the theatre, it was still for sale and I bought it without one moment's hesitation. The show was fabulous, stirring, vibrant, funny, endearing, joyful, and engaging. The 1 hour, 45 minute show whizzed by. I highly recommend it for those who love edgy artistic experiences.
We came out and our car picked us up and took us down to Chicago Chophouse. Frankly, at first I wasn't sure about it. For the amount of money I knew we were preparing to drop, it felt a bit...um, I dunno...mob-ish. Or something. Anyway, we journeyed up to to the third floor of the historic building (amazing archive pictures lined the stairs all the way up) and were immediately seated.
The decor was deep hunter green with dark brown wood accents. Pictures of historic scenes from music to architecture adorned every wall, and from the front windows we viewed a residential high rise and some other buildings. Our service by Blanch and the wait staff was very good. The salads were average, but my wine was excellent. I ordered the house signature steak, a cut of prime rib which is seasoned and seared. It was both huge and magnificent. It was actually the tenderest steak I have ever experienced. Dave got a filet mignon which was absolutely incredibly huge. Daddy got lobster and filet which he seemed to enjoy, and Mama got some pork chops which were simply succulent and amazing. Despite our full tummies, we did manage to eat some delicious desert.
After leaving the restaurant, we asked our driver to take us down Michigan Avenue for a bit, which was wonderfully lit and lovely. We returned to the hotel happy and satisfied to find our Blue Man Group painting sitting safely in the room. How lovely!
An enjoyable day!
I still need to write about our day at Navy Pier, which I will do. It was quite fun, really. But my eyelids are getting a bit heavy now. Goodnight.
-S