Battle of the Deep Dish Part One - Giordano's

After a day of Frank Lloyd Wright and a quick visit to my Illinois colleagues to say hi, we made our way to the first stop of the deep dish pizza-off.  We only tried two places, but they are the most well known and Chicago-specific of the deep dish titans.

Up first Giordano's:


Giordano's definitely wins on availability.  There seem to be a million of 'em scattered around the Chicago area.  This one was only about a mile away from my Illinois office.

We got there during happy hour so we loaded up on half-priced appetizers, including garlic fries and cheese bread.

The garlic bread was really cheesy, and it was kind of a half loaf cut into strips.  The marinara was slightly spicy, but good.  I apparently didn't get a picture of the cheese bread, but here is a picture of the adorable container for the garlic fries:


We also managed to talk our way into special blood-orange margaritas.  They weren't on the menu, and I'm not quite sure how it happened, but they rustled up a special just for us.


Everyone told us to get at least a medium pizza because it was a) super delicious and we'd eat a bunch, and b) super delicious cold/warmed up.  We defied recommendations and got the small.  It ended up being a very, very wise choice.

It takes a good 45 minutes or so for a deep dish pizza to cook, so we stuffed ourselves with the appetizer and conversation.

When our pizza finally arrived they do a whole presentation... and dish it up for you.

(Okay, so this was technically someone else's pizza, but the angle on ours was not as good)

This was ours, so cheesy.  We went with a traditional pepperoni pizza to make the comparison easier.



I do not love super saucy pizza, and I knew that deep dish (Giordano's specifically) has a whole lotta sauce on top.  But sometimes I think you just gotta try it the way it is made and experience it the way it is meant to be experienced.  I was actually pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as saucy as expected.

I was, however, surprised that the crust tasted very much like a regular pie crust.  Or maybe a pot pie crust?  I don't know, but the crust definitely wasn't the high point, and I usually LOVE pizza crust.


Overall, though - it was so delicious.  Cort and I had a debate about whether we were too full to eat another piece.  We were, but decided we owed it to Chicago to eat anther piece anyway.  I'm so glad we got the small pie.

We also treated ourselves to cannoli, which we didn't eat that night, but had for breakfast the next day.  They were so good, I again, did not bother taking a picture before eating them.

Portillos

I have several friends who either hail from the Chicago area or currently live in the Chicago area so recommendations for what to see, do, and eat were not in short supply.

I chose mid-May for this trip in the hope that the weather would be perfect - not to hot, not to cold, and hopefully nice and sunny.  This mostly ended up being true, but not on the first day.  Cort flew in around noon, and I arrived about 7:30 p.m.   It was pouring rain, the airport was crowded, there was some sort of military arrival going on and a BAND at TOP VOLUME in the baggage area.  Anyone who knows me knows how much I dislike noise and crowds, and this was not a very auspicious welcome to the Windy City.  (Or was it merely a nod to Hamilton's Helpless opening?)

Cort picked me up and off we went...like a herd of turtles.  The GPS seemed to really want us to stay away from the freeway, so we took a lot of back roads, including one with a flood detour (did I mention the rain?)  We were also racing the clock.  It was about 8 pm; I hadn't eaten much all day, and I was starving.

Of the many recommendations for where to eat, Portillos consistently came up on the list as a Chicago standard.  Portillos closed at 9 pm, but we thought we could make it.  Cort had seen one (and the hotel clerk had recommended it at check-in) near the hotel.  We watched the expected arrival time creep closer and closer to 9 on the GPS when we passed Portillos.  Or at least we passed a Portillos.  By this time, we were both pretty suspicious of the GPS, the dark, rainy night, and our ability to know exactly where we were.

So we turned back and ate at that Portillos - which I had only noticed because I thought it was a movie theater ala Alamo Drafthouse or Brewvies.



I was encouraged to order the half and half, wet.  So that is what I did.  The half and half is half Italian beef and half  sausage, and "wet" means it has been soaked in the au jus from the beef.  Sounded like a solid plan to me.


My assessment.  It was wet, all right.  Maybe don't get it wet.  Maybe just get it dipped (or whatever the not as wet option is).  It made it impossible to eat without knife and fork, but it was tasty.



After dinner we finally found our hotel (and passed another Portillos - the Portillos we thought we were driving to!) and settled in for the night.  and by settled in I, of course, mean talked until 2 am.

A Two-Act Play About Being Single

The scene: I hate Comcast right now.  As in, really hate them, and I've been in Texas for 2 years and just signed a contract to be here another 2 (can you believe - 4 consecutive years in the same place?!) so I decided to explore my satellite provider options.  The following is a real text conversation that happened while the installer was here the second time.

ACT I:

Me: I'm sitting here thinking if this DirectTV guy here murders me someone is going to have to babysit my Amazon deliveries for the next month.  Cause I ordered a shit-ton of presents for myself.  #badweek  #stuffsinglewomenthinkabout

C: LOL Don't tell him there are packages coming.... #freegiftswithmurder  

Me: He would just shove me in the closet and hang out in my apartment.

Me: OMG if I got murdered while I was still logged in to work they could probably keep a half decent "she's alive" ruse going for at least a week depending on my meeting schedule.

C:  And the family would never know....

Me:  Do murderers know how to use Outlook?! Social Media?!

C: 😱 If they plan right they do....they could post politics and Hamilton once a day

Me: I'm lucky to be alive right now (#HamiltonReference this was not included in the text; C knows Hamilton) how have I lasted this long?

Me: He actually seems like a really nice guy.  He offered to come back off the clock to look at my wiring because he used to be a Comcast tech.  Which is why I'm totally suspicious.  Who is that nice?

C: That's exactly what I was going to say.  And if he comes back off the clock there's no record to trace back to him being there at the time of the incident.  

C: Haha seriously...I'm gonna have to step up my check-ins on you.  Although if you don't answer I find that normal....  (I once got a text from C that said, "If I call you on Friday @ 7 will you actually answer?")

Me:  I know!  I've told my co-workers they need to call 911 for a welfare check if I just don't show up for work, but DAMN if I'm logged in from home....  (My team members all work in CA so as long as I'm logged in it doesn't matter if I'm in the office.  I work from home a couple of days a week, and for a couple of hours most mornings. My co-workers in TX are used to me keeping a weird schedule and wouldn't think anything about it if I didn't show up at the office for a couple of weeks.)

C:  They'd never know....  You'll have to establish some kind of code email they can send to prove it's you. It's gotta be something non-googleable.

Me: I feel like I also can't text you a safe question cause the murderer would also have my phone.

Me: I just got the blue screen of death on my computer so someone will call 911 on Monday. It's the bright side of losing 2 hours worth of work.

C: LOL, Oh Man!

ACT II: 

(An hour later)

Me: I'm not dead yet!  He left to go make a loaded baked potato for dinner and appears that he's just a generally good guy.

C:  Hmmm, or is that what you, MY SISTER'S MURDERER, wants me to think?!  

C: Is he bringing you back a loaded baked potato?  Cause that would make him a nice guy in my book.  LOL

Me: I wish (he was bringing me dinner)!  LOL, I'm a sweaty mess because I'm either starting menopause (with hot flashes) or having side effects from my new Fibromyalgia medication (causes sweating).   

Me: Would a murderer say menopause?!

C: Identity proven, that's better than photo ID right there.

/End Play

It Was unBelizeable!

Belize was the next port city on the list. Belize is a tender port, and Cort was pretty nervous to have to transfer ship to ship after Mom's accident, but our ship to ship transfers were smoother and safer on this trip than I've ever seen them. They took a bit of maneuvering, but they got the boats right together so we weren't ever stepping over open water.

For our shore excursion we transferred right to the boat that took us to our snorkel point, so we also came straight back to the ship instead of to shore. Cort and I decided to clean up a little bit and then take the next tender to Belize City to see what there was to see. Side note with bonus half-rant: We had been told over and over by the ship's staff not to go out of the touristic area right off the dock because it was unsafe.

I don't know if it's because I travel by myself alot or what, but most of the time I'm really suspicious when people say stuff like that without anything to back it up. Don't get me wrong I'm a very careful traveler, but a lot of times people have told me that somewhere wasn't "safe" to visit, or "safe" for women, or "safe" to explore, but they just have a low tolerance for venturing outside their carefully curated comfort-zone. /end rant.

That said, with a giant hole in my foot, I wasn't exactly in any condition to go adventuring anyway. So I'll never know if it was safe or not.

Cort had heard somewhere that you can get your passport stamped (maybe on the tender) and that was something she really wanted to do. So, when we docked we looked at a the map of stores and stuff - decided that we maybe wanted to do to the chocolate factory, and find the immigration place for passport stamps. We eventually asked directions to the immigration place (it was close to the chocolate place!), got our passports stamped, and had the guy tell us that Roatan (our next port) also had a dockside immigration office, and headed to Moho Chocolate.

The original plan was to go do the factory tour and make our own candy bars, but we ended up just buying lots of chocolate and getting milkshakes. I got a pretty good sampling - the only types I didn't get were the plain dark chocolate, and the one with chocolate nibs.  Pretty tasty stuff.



Our tender ship on the way back was crewed by some locals that looked in their 20s or so.  They were crazy-comfortable on our fast-moving boat.  One skirted around the tiny ledge outside to close the windows (while we were moving), and sometimes I'd just see one leap up on the roof, and we could hear them walking around up there the whole time.  Sometimes one of the guys would just leap and disappear and then you'd see them reappear at the other end of the boat.  Crazy balance those guys.  I'm pretty envious of that ability, tbh.

Tulum

This year's annual crossing off the list consisted of a 7 day cruise to Cozumel, Belize, and Honduras.  Cozumel doesn't have anything on The List nearby (at least not nearby enough to see in just a port day), so Cort and I talked about revisiting the Jose Cuervo tasting room.  In the end, my love of history (and the feeling that we lost out on seeing a lot of the ruins because we decided to walk to the cenote - which - Big Mistake, Big, Huge!) won out and we both decided to go to Tulum.

This ended up being a brilliant decision and I'm so glad we decided to visit here.  Our guide was excellent, the ruins here are so much prettier than those at Chichen Itza, and I felt like we got a whole lotta history bang for our buck.

In the little shopping square outside the ruins they have this pole.  Everyone once in a while these guys climb to the top, start spinning and then hang upside down and spin around.  We didn't get to see the whole show - just the first part.





Coatimundi are members of the raccoon family.  They eat lizards, snakes, birds, fruit and grubs and nearly every Mayan family in Tulum kept one as a pet.  They are super friendly and made good pets - and are pretty adorable.


Tulum's purpose in the Mayan empire was as a seaport, trading mainly in turquoise and jade. It's the only Mayan city built on a coast and one of the few protected by a wall.



The wall surrounds the city on three sides and the barrier reef provides protection from the sea.  A channel affords safe passage to the beaches below the city, and lighthouse were constructed to guide Mayan ships safely through the channel.  In order to keep hostile ships from navigating the channel the lighthouse didn't actually line up for generally accepted navigation.  Anyone not knowing the key would run aground.



This is standing at the third lighthouse and looking back down the cliff at the other one (with the castle in the middle).


Look really closely and you can see all three structures.


Our guide also said that archaeologists and historians also believe that the city was camouflaged by day.  The sea-facing structures were all painted glorious shades of blue that made it indistinguishable from the sea when viewed beyond the reef.

On top of all the history, it really is just a beautiful place to visit.










Our guide was wearing a talisman made of onyx and silver.  A traditional piece of Mayan jewelry, made by local artisans.  On it, the wearer inscribes a word or phrase of great meaning - his was his wife's name - as a touchstone, good luck, a reminder of who and what you are.  I love the idea of that, a physical reminder of something important to me and my life - so, I had one made for myself.



It was such a great day.  An amazing place to visit.  I loved our guide; he had an incredible knowledge of the history of the people and places, and was clearly proud of his ancestry.  He expressed genuine appreciation for us taking a "cultural" excursion instead of a boozy-beachy one, and spending time learning a little bit about the history of the land we were visiting.  In every port, our guides all made a point of telling us how proud they were of their country, and how they genuinely invited us to return and spend time with the local people and culture.

Sounds of the Season

I spent last night making a new version of my favorite Christmas playlist.  You guys, I have a very love/hate relationship with Christmas music - I love, (LOVE!) traditional songs in traditional arrangements (where the melody is so beautiful you cry with the majesty of it), and the singers aren't too shrill (Mariah Carey) or too vibrato (Josh Groban AND Mariah Carey).  Seriously, though, there is no worse Christmas music than Mariah Carey (sorry, if you're a fan, but she is not my taste.) And if it doesn't make me FEEL LIKE CHRISTMAS IS POURING OVER ME FROM THE SPEAKERS - then whatever.  Ain't nobody got time for that.

So here is the playlist that will be non-stop on my radio for the next month, and if you love traditional songs, that are achingly, hauntingly, spiritually Christmas try these...you may be able to discern certain preferences in artists and songs from this glimpse into my Christmas spirit.

• Song for a Winter's Night - Sarah McLachlan  (I heard this on the radio one morning -years ago- as my alarm went off and spent the next year of my life trying to track down the song and the artist.)                                                                                                                                     
• God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings - Barenaked Ladies/Sarah McLachlan (I love this arrangement so much, and when it turns into We Three Kings...."King forever, ceasing never, over us all to reign...King and God and sacrifice - hallelujah, hallelujah worship Him God most high" /shivers)                                                                                                                    
• Belleau Wood - United States Navy Band (though I did not know the language the song was "Silent Night" then I heard my buddy whisper all is calm, and all is bright.)                               
• Do You Hear What I Hear - Carrie Underwood (Listen to what I say, pray for peace people everywhere!)                                                                                                                                               
• Baby It's Cold Outside - Dean Martin (yes it is a little date-rapey "Say, what's in this drink?" also the woman is uncredited on my version, but I think it's more that she does want to stay but doesn't want to deal with judgy-judgersons tomorrow, "My maiden aunt's mind is vicious") Also I think this is the sole non-religious/spiritual song on this list - make of that what you will.                                                                                                                                    
• Silent Night - Kenny Chesney (Kenny and an acoustic guitar, quiet accompaniment after the first verse, you don't get more traditional that this rendition with literally no bells or whistles.)   
• The Holly and the Ivy - Mannheim Steamroller (You guys, I don't even know the words, but this is one of my favorite Christmas melodies and while Mannheim Steamroller can really get carried away by bold, brash, garish tricks in the arrangements this is one where they let the beautiful, traditional melody shine through.)                                                                            
• What Child is This - Lonestar (see: Silent Night above)                                                          
• Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella - Mannheim Steamroller (see: The Holly and the Ivy, when they get it right, they really get it right.)                                                                                  
• I Saw Three Ships - Sting (I just love the funky percussion in this one.  "And all the angels in Heaven shall sing on Christmas Day in the mornin'.)                                                               
• O Holy Night - Collin Raye (Not only is this just a lovely, traditional version akin to KC and Lonestar it also contains the rarely heard third verse, which is THE BEST VERSE!

  "Truly He taught us to love one another.  His law is love and his gospel is peace.  Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease.  Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, let all within us praise His holy name.  Christ is the Lord.  Oh praise His name forever.  His power and glory evermore proclaim."

• Stille Nacht - Mannheim Streamroller (Chills, over here.  CHILLS.)                                         
• What Child is This? (Greensleeves) - Sarah McLachlan (She really nails the lullaby rhythm of this song. "Let loving hearts enthrone Him.  Let singing fill the earth and sky.  Joy, joy for Christ is born, the babe the son of Mary.)                                                                                                                                         
• Christmas Cannon - Trans-Siberian Orchestra (because do you know the only thing that will make Pachelbel's Cannon in D better?  Make it a Christmas song!)                                           
•  Silent Night - Sarah McLachlan (seriously, though, her voice is just so well-suited for Christmas hymns.)                                                                                                                                  
• Greensleeves - Mannheim Steamroller (Here is what Chip Davis writes about his arrangement,

"Because of the staggering number of requests for this, I decided to do it again (fourth time) for this album ...  This is an Old English folk song from around the time of Shakespeare.  I save the beauty of the entirety of the tune until the last of the arrangement as not to wear out its charm"

When the full power of melody plays at the end of the song - WOW.  It is my very favorite arrangement of this, my very favorite Christmas song.  

• Veni, Veni (O Come, O Come Emanuel - Mannheim Steamroller (My 8th grade choir sang this for our Christmas concert and I was bowled over by how beautiful it was, and is.  Again, from the liner notes,

 "When I decided to arrange this, I started looking for an unusual way to go about this arrangement.  The melody really reminds me of a Gregorian chant and I thought that would be very unusual to hear on a Christmas album.  It also seemed neat to accompany the chant with hand-bells ... as for the choir ... I thought the purity of the Cambridge Singers with "cathedral echo" seemed most appropriate.  As the arrangement and performance mediums got more unusual.  I decided to do the most unusual of all...translate it to Latin.  I asked my friend if he knew of anyone who could translate "O Come, O Come Emanuel" to Latin to add to the unusual approach.  He said, "Oh, it's already in Latin; in fact, it was written in Latin because it was originally a Gregorian chant." And was probably performed with hand-bells."                                                                                          

• Still, Still, Still - Mannheim Steamroller (I heard this song for the first time during 7th Grade Choir - another Christmas concert - and I fell in love with this quiet, peaceful lullaby.                                                 
• Cantique de Noel (O Holy Night) - Mannheim Steamroller (So, of my 5 favorite Christmas songs Mannheim Steamroller's A Fresh Aire Christmas has 4 out of the 5 in absolutely divine arrangements. It is almost the perfect Christmas album.                                                            
• Were You There on That Christmas Night - Dickens Carollers (Another Choir Christmas concert song, one I love so much I kept the sheet music.  "Did you hear how the choirs of angels sang at the glory of the sight?  Did you hear how the bells of Heaven rang all through the night?  Did you know it was God's own son?  The salvation of the world begun?  Did you know it was love that was sent from above to the earth?"

5 Things – Carnival Magic Edition

1. Warm Chocolate Melting Cake has been renamed, but it is still my favorite dessert.
2. This sunburn hurt badly enough to spend $15 on cooling gel with lidocaine.
3. I was FREEZING about 80% of the time, and SCORCHING the other 20% - there was no in-between.
4. Brick will forever be known by the oldest and youngest of the Taylor daughters as nicely-shaped.
5. We may never know if Trevor got his massage.

Additional details to follow both here and over at 1000Places…