Trip Report on Magic Mirror's Chicago Wedding!

We arrived in downtown Chicago at 2:30pm, Chicago time and right on schedule.

Upon starting a search for venues last year, we found the Comfort Suites at 320 N Michigan Ave.
It was ideally located less than three blocks from the train station. The 26th floor Penthouse Suite
featured a living room, full kitchen, dining room, balcony, two bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, washer/dryer,
coat closet, walk in closet in master bathroom, and much more.

Its fabulous location, right on the magnificent Michigan mile, with views of the city and of the river,
topped off with the fact we could host an after ceremony luncheon right there, sold us on this suite.
I contacted the director of sales who was able to meet our fairly simple request list including a second
table in the dining room to comfortably seat all our guests (8 at that time).

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View of the balcony at night.

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In late October of this year I went to reconfirm the wedding with the Director of Sales only to find out there was a new one. Without dragging it all out on here, I can tell you she was unable to provide the additional table, nor even 2 additional chairs to put at the table already in the room. She told us there was no wine glasses in the suite when after lugging all the wine glasses on the train with us, we found out there was indeed wine glasses provided in the suite. She lacked any knowledge of the hotel she represented right down to the size of the table so we could buy a table cloth. I had to continue to deal with the fallout all the way thru the wedding itself. I have already been in contact with the hotels general manager to express my frustration in dealing with her.

So after a short and easy 8 minute walk from the train to the hotel it was close to 2:40pm. Our check in was 3pm.
We were advised they had approved a late check out for the people departing the suite and warned them a wedding party was coming in so not to be "too late". It seems they had just checked out, so housekeeping was in our room and it would not be ready for awhile. They offered to hold our luggage, but Brian & Lorie had reserved their own room and it was ready. We took our luggage to their room and grabbed some coffee to enjoy the views. By 4:30pm our room was still not ready. The boys were hungry, and as we all know, hungry boys turn crabby if not fed! I left word with the front desk staff we were leaving and would get our keys when we returned.

And - we were off~!

I dared to stop briefly for quick photo shots at the bridge and the Christmas Tree-
the boys were getting restless, their stomachs making loud Grinch like noises..
so I sped them on to the only possible thing that would make them and their stomachs happy-

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!!! MEAT !!! Fast, greasy, quick, tasty MEAT
You see, most men are by nature carnivores.
It seems to stem from those caveman days.

Needing something quick and interesting-the only choice was
a Chicago classic. A step to the gritty underside of Chicago.
We took them for their very first meal at a legend location!

Cheezborgers for everyone!
NO fries-Cheeps! (chips)
No Pepsi - Coke!

Anyone care to take a guess?

The Billy Goat Tavern!

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Now if you haven't heard of the Billy Goat Tavern, you really should take a moment to check out the history on their website. It really is quite fascinating, dealing with the curse of a goat and the losing streak of Chicago's baseball team. While its nothing but a dive bar inside, its filled with charming quirky history and a bit of heckling from the cooks while trying to pressure you into a double cheezborger instead of a single! But we all know some of the best burgers come from unique places!

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The burgers were well accepted by the boys and their stomachs...so now that they were re-fueled..we went back above ground and there it was...the magnificent shopping mile...stretched out right before us!

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Did I just hear a collective sigh from all you men out there?

Along the way we encountered some beautiful Christmas decorations and some
fascinating street performers including a man playing a saxaphone and Chicago's
Silver Man (yes, you can google "chicago's silver man" to find out more about him).

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I saw several advertisements for Disney along the mile!
It made me feel right at home!

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Dear Santa,
If you are reading WDWFG, which I am sure you do..
no need to stop at Tiffany's for me this year- as Cartier will do nicely.
Thank you Santa,
Love, Angie

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Now Crate & Barrel is one of our favorite stops and it didn't disappoint. Three stories of pure loveliness!
The boys, already slightly bored with shop till you drop, decided to step outside...they were gone for quite
a long time when we, already on the 3rd floor, looked down and saw them coming in looking for us.

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Now ladies and gentlemen,
I have a lesson in observation for you-
Take a look at this next picture..
and tell me-
what is wrong with it?

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You will notice in their hands they contain the golden cup.
Yes, I know it is really red, not gold...but it contains something us women LOVE.
Recognize that cup ?

It is a Starbucks coffee cup.
Now, keeping in mind what I just told you,
re-visit that picture again- and I think you will
see what it is that is wrong with it.

What is wrong in that photo friends,
is there is only TWO coffee cups,
namely Brian and David's.

They were gone this whole time and they did not bring
the women coffee back too.

You see, they should have had a total of 6 coffee cups in that photo!

We did forgive them, but they sustained quite a bit of heckling first.

It seems after stepping out to have a cigarette, they thought they would just walk a bit,
then they needed coffee and after some assistance from a passerby on go left, right , two more lefts,
they did indeed find Starbucks.

The real problem occurred after they stepped out of Starbucks. Neither being familiar with downtown
Chicago and not really paying attention to how they got there, they had no idea how to get back.
They couldn't even remember the name of Crate & Barrel!
Rather than call and admit defeat to the wives, they wandered aimlessly around the streets of Chicago
until luck brought them back out to Michigan Ave. and eventually back to us.

While we did not purchase anything more than a few ornaments at Crate & Barrel,
we did enjoy the store !

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Next stop!

The DISNEY Store!!

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I have to say my friends really got into the Disney spirit with me!

This store is no exception to the Disney customer service spirit...
Lorie came back to me sporting an Aurora pin, tattoo's and stickers that a CM had given her!
Brian was wearing a Hulk pin and David was playing with fairy wands!
Annamarie bought the red Mickey mug to take home with her.

You know Amy and I sought out the pin lady and also got in on the goodies!

We also bought this Chicago ornament and Amy wrote our wedding date on the bottom
of it when we got home.

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By now, the cheezborger was wearing off...it was time for another Chicago classic-
Garrett's Popcorn!

Now I am not a huge popcorn lover, usually reserving it at a movie theater only -
but I could eat Garrett's caramel popcorn for days straight!

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Taking in a few more sights as we started to work our way back to the hotel suites.

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We came across Dylans Chocolate Factory-
of course we had to go in and take a look around!
We were pleasantly greeted at the door with fudge samples,
yumm!

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We came across Dylans Chocolate Factory-
of course we had to go in and take a look around!
We were pleasantly greeted at the door with fudge samples,
yumm!

Dylan's

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We continued a leisurely walk back to the hotel suite, enjoying the delightfully cool but snowless weather,
and basked in the Christmas lights that dance along the Chicago River.

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We got back to the suite about 8:30pm, our room was ready so we grabbed the keys,
went to Brian & Lorie's room to retrieve our luggage and headed up to the penthouse suite!

We were so excited to see the place and ... swiped the key....and....

it didn't work.

We finally got one key to work and one of the boys ran the other keys down and had them
re-programmed.

The room was spectacular ! Floor to ceilings windows wrapping around the entire suite!
The balcony was awesome and allowed a barrier free area for photographs. We could see
Willis (Sears) Tower and from the living room we could see the Chicago River.

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First views from the balcony~

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A quick snack was in order - so we all went next door to a Red Robin
and grabbed some fries, chicken strips, onion rings and yes, the boys had more burgers!
While Red Robin isn't unique to Chicago, it was easily accessible and fast.

We went back up to our suite, and had an evening glass of wine!

While the boys eventually settled into the living room- the girls helped Amy and I decorate the dining room table.

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Tomorrow - is ....

The Big Day!

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