Thanks...and an interesting Friday night

1) I'd like to thank Joy Davis for finding my blog and offering to profile it in the Beacon News. Maybe that will increase the average readership from 10 all the way to 12, you never know! I just enjoy writing regardless, no matter if people read or not.

2) The next restaurant in Chicago I want to visit: Butcher and the Burger. It's right off the Armitage stop on the brown and purple lines. It intrigues me that they have 9 or 10 different meats and that there's an actually a butcher who prepares the burgers on site. I definitely like bison, but I don't know if I can justify spending $14.50 for a bison burger, especially once I add the extra toppings.

3) Speaking of burgers, the Squared Circle makes one of the most filling ones I've ever had. I ordered the Hottie Tottie, cheddar-stuffed, topped with more cheddar, four strips of deep-fried bacon, and two types of BBQ sauce. Throw in a side of the beer-battered onion rings and I'm still amazed I was able to walk at the end of the night. The toasted marshmallow shake did help to calm my stomach down though. That shake along with the oatmeal cookie shake are worth returning for.

4) And getting home from the Squared Circle was quite the adventure. First, Q gave me a ride from Ashland and Fullerton to the Clybourn Metra station. Since it was 10 degrees and snowing out, waiting outside for a train wasn't exactly ideal. My plan was to take either the North or Northwest line one stop south to Ogilvie. After that, I would walk over to the west line and head an hour out to West Chicago before driving 15 minutes home.

Well, I waited ten minutes alone in the snow. The North line came first and the ten minute ride to Ogilvie went smooth. So I stepped off the train around 10:22 and walked down the track to the main platform where the monitors were. I checked the schedule and I saw the Elburn train was leaving at 10:40, which I knew, and was leaving from Track 7. I saw the track and saw the electronic display where all the stops were posted. I climbed on and walked past several cars of Blackhawks fans before finding a seat. I removed my winter jacket, hat, and gloves, and settled on the leather seat. I took my iPod out and put some music on, not sure what the song was, but it was not too loud.

Good thing it wasn't loud. All of a sudden, I heard the conductor's voice over the loudspeaker. "Ladies and gentlemen this is the 10:30 train to Crystal Lake." I sat up in my seat and I was thinking "Did I just hear him right?" I put my jacket on and made my way quickly down the narrow aisle. I was just waiting for the train to start moving. I tried to open three sets of double doors, but they were all locked. I finally found the conductor and he let me off. I wound up next to this cute brunette girl who apparently made the same mistake I had. We both felt much better, knowing we weren't the only one who had been duped. With ten minutes, we realized the correct train was actually one track over. So somewhere there was a mix-up, we don't know what it was, but we were glad we figured it out in time.

I asked if I could sit with her and she said "Sure." We chatted about a little bit of everything. Of course when she mentioned she liked Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, I scowled. I opened my coat and showed her my New York Jets hoodie that I was wearing. Yeah, that killed the mood pretty quick for both of us! Actually, we had a decent conversation about the city vs. the suburbs, work, parents, etc. We sat together for about a half hour, before she got off at Elmhurst, well before my stop. I thought briefly about asking for her number, but I think I had about ten years on her, it just didn't seem like it was a great idea. But it was fine while it lasted.

5) Even though I'm looking forward to the merger between American Airlines and US Airways going through, it's apparently not helping my weekend trips to New York City. Usually, American had 7 or 8 flights from O'Hare to LaGuardia every Saturday. This coming Saturday...three stinking flights to New York all day. There are probably more flights going to Ann Arbor that day. Ridiculous.