Free goldfish

You may recall me mentioning that, for James' 25th birthday, we took a trip to Chicago. It was his first time in a big city, other than Louisville or Cincinnati, which I don't really count as "big" cities.  The trip was my treat to him. I paid for everything but our drinks, which we had a lot of.

Part of the appeal of the trip was that we stayed in a boutique hotel. I always prefer the boutiques over the big chain hotels because of their decor and atmosphere. I happened to get a really good deal on Hotel Monaco. I didn't know much about the hotel or it's location but it turned out to be perfect. We were right on the river, within walking distance of everything we had planned, and the hotel was amazing.

I love hotels where, no matter how many times you visit, you always get a different room. Different bedding, walls, decorations, everything. It is part of the appeal. Well, the Hotel Monaco was more than just different decorations.

We arrived in Chicago later in the afternoon and we met with my mom's friend who lives downtown. He was going to be out of town for the weekend so he let us use his parking spot while he was gone. The little time we spent with him was the perfect window into fast paced city life for James.

We met this friend on the street in front of the huge high rise condos he lived in. He hugged us, without hesitation, and ushered us into the building. We chatted while we ran behind him, following him into the building and up to his condo. We sprinted down the halls to keep up with him. Once inside, he tossed us both a beer and said he only needed to gather a few things and he would ride us to the hotel. We sipped the beers while we stood on his balcony, admiring the view of Willis Tower and all of downtown from at least 15 stories up. James didn't have much to say. It was his first time in Chicago and he was still in shock over seeing so many buildings all on top of each other.

While we stood on the balcony, drinking the beer, the new friend ran through the condo tossing things into his bag. He called us back in and he chugged his beer and threw the can into the recycling. James and I glanced at each other, took the hint, and chugged our full beers too. We were off!

We ran behind him again, even with his luggage he was faster than us. Faster at everything - thinking, talking, walking, and... driving.

We climbed into his range rover for the ride to our hotel. I let James ride up front so he could see more of the sights. We set off with a jump out of the garage and leaped straight into the swift moving traffic. He sped around cars, honked, swerved, and told us a little bit about Chicago in between curses.  I even caught James holding on for his life as we dodged in and out of the traffic.

Finally, we pulled up to a screeching halt in front of our hotel, here we are!  I got out of the car when our bellhop opened my door. James went around back to find that someone was already taking his luggage out of the car. He grabbed it from the luggage cart, and I gently put it back down for him. We said our quick goodbyes and shuffled into the hotel.

We checked in at the counter and were asked if we would like a goldfish for our room. Apparently they keep a stock of goldfish for each room, just in case you are traveling alone and need some company. Much to my disappointment, we passed on the goldfish. We did, however, accept the offer to return to the lobby for the happy hour that night.

We were given our keys and we scuttled into the elevator to find our room. Once we found it, we entered, our luggage already set about the room.

We took the next hour or so to settle in, explore our room for the next few days, shower and clean up after our long drive, and sip on a bottle of champagne. I have a habit of bringing champagne on road trips. There is nothing sweeter than a sip of champagne in your new hotel room after a 6 hour drive. I highly recommend you pick up this tradition, for me, it is the official start of "vacation".

James approves of vacation champagne.

Once we had cleaned up and rested we began to wonder what we should do for dinner. We had become huge fans of the Chicago-style pizza place in Louisville so I suggested we try some authentic chicago deep dish. But where? We got to googling, of course. The goog was giving us mixed results. I had been to a good place around the city before but couldn't remember the name of it now. So I suggested we call the concierge. What?

What do you mean call the concierge? James wondered. I explained that a concierge is someone who's job is to take care of your every wish and desire whilst you visit. A concierge is something I wish I could use every day. James asked how it works and what it costs. I then explained further, that when you stay in hotel like this, it is included.

I picked up the phone and dialed "0". Immediately a man picked up the other end. James listened in as I requested a deep-dish authentic Chicago pizza place within walking distance of the hotel. He gave us the name of the restaurant and directions, and, again, invited us down for happy hour.

After I hung up James looked at me, pondering some more, what else could we ask him? Will he do anything we ask? Can he bring us things? Can he rub his belly and pat his head at the same time?

I brushed off his other questions about concierge responsibilities and we headed downstairs to the lobby before our pizza. We enjoyed complimentary glasses of red and white wine, hot toddies, and music from a cellist. We sat amongst other hotel guests, some who had clearly just arrived. After a few glasses we headed out into the frigid city air in search of deep dish pizza, with our concierge's directions at hand.

Our room also came with these badass robes.

One of the things I may need to explain is that not all fancy hotels come with goldfish, but maybe, just maybe, if you ask the concierge, you can get one.