Patrice and Rhonda in Ikea-land
So, we headed out to Columbus on Thursday, only to find that our friends from Stepford Five were headed to NY and wouldn't be able to come see the Chicks on the Road Show. Bummer. But still looking forward to meeting lots of cool girls from around the Midwest-- Lojo Russo (MN), Athena Reich (NY), Red Dahlia (Columbus), Adam Evil and the Outside Royalty (Pittsburg)[Adam, btw, is not a girl, but has a female violist, who we, unfortunately, did not get to see.] All in all it was cool and since we started off the show, we got home by midnight, which never happens. Before we left, we met Will--one of cool new fans and Danny, the sound guy from Brazil.
Friday, Patrice had to work and I had a million things to do, so we left late. But we reached Gunther Murphy's in Chicago in enough time to load-in and grab some Subway before we had to go on. We ran into our new fan Will, who oddly enough had never been to Chicago so we gave him a good excuse to go. His advice, don't stay at the hotel next door to the club--apparently, if you have an overnight guest you must take them to the front desk to get their I.D. checked to make sure they are over 18. Scary, eh? All in all, a good night. This time we heard from Sunspot (WI), Goldman (Chicago) and KK and the Flying Hamsters of Doom (Chicago). Lojo and Athena played too, but all the other bands from Columbus went to Pittsburg. They all ROCKED!
On Saturday, we finally made it out of our hotel (around noon) to find the only IKEA in Chicago and head to Milwaukee. See, I recently bought a condo and figured that Ikea was a great place to pick up a few things for the new pad. Pulling up to the place was like finding an oasis in a desert, though the Chicago suburbs are not exactly desert—you can find anything you’ve ever dreamed of. But the store is the size of a small shopping mall and the parking lot was completely full. We finally made our way to the door and whoa! It’s crazy. There are people everywhere and merchandise everywhere. I remember just standing there, completely overwhelmed. I didn’t even know where to begin. Patrice commented that it was like shopping inside the Internet. That’s certainly how it felt. She never even made it up to the 3rd floor. 3 ½ hours later, we decided that we should leave or we might be late to Milwaukee.
On we forged, driving N to the land of Cheese and Beer. Milwaukee wasn’t as bad as I expected. In fact, it seemed pretty nice. Windy, and everything closes really early, but nice. Points East Pub was a really nice bar and the crowd seemed warm and inviting. I met an old man, a regular there, who had been drinking quite a bit who told me some things he did when he was a young man—let’s just say, he was keeping it all in the family. As if that wasn’t weird enough, Lance from KK, started singing the Laverne and Shirley theme with Wendy (Sunspot drummer) and myself on the steps of the Pub at 2:30a. Then some guy in a Corvette came flying around the corner and did a donut in the middle of the street. It was super funny when the cop sitting across the street from us took off after him. I was amused.
Sunday, we began heading back home when Patrice received a call from a friend of hers from Cincy, Doug, who happen to be in Chicago. We ended up stopping downtown and eating real Chicago pizza (three times to Chicago since August and we finally got pizza). We made it home with all our Ikea goodies—back to the chilly fall whether of Ohio. Wait a minute…we were just 7 hours North of here and it was warm. What’s up with that?
‘Til our next adventure,
Rhonda
Friday, Patrice had to work and I had a million things to do, so we left late. But we reached Gunther Murphy's in Chicago in enough time to load-in and grab some Subway before we had to go on. We ran into our new fan Will, who oddly enough had never been to Chicago so we gave him a good excuse to go. His advice, don't stay at the hotel next door to the club--apparently, if you have an overnight guest you must take them to the front desk to get their I.D. checked to make sure they are over 18. Scary, eh? All in all, a good night. This time we heard from Sunspot (WI), Goldman (Chicago) and KK and the Flying Hamsters of Doom (Chicago). Lojo and Athena played too, but all the other bands from Columbus went to Pittsburg. They all ROCKED!
On Saturday, we finally made it out of our hotel (around noon) to find the only IKEA in Chicago and head to Milwaukee. See, I recently bought a condo and figured that Ikea was a great place to pick up a few things for the new pad. Pulling up to the place was like finding an oasis in a desert, though the Chicago suburbs are not exactly desert—you can find anything you’ve ever dreamed of. But the store is the size of a small shopping mall and the parking lot was completely full. We finally made our way to the door and whoa! It’s crazy. There are people everywhere and merchandise everywhere. I remember just standing there, completely overwhelmed. I didn’t even know where to begin. Patrice commented that it was like shopping inside the Internet. That’s certainly how it felt. She never even made it up to the 3rd floor. 3 ½ hours later, we decided that we should leave or we might be late to Milwaukee.
On we forged, driving N to the land of Cheese and Beer. Milwaukee wasn’t as bad as I expected. In fact, it seemed pretty nice. Windy, and everything closes really early, but nice. Points East Pub was a really nice bar and the crowd seemed warm and inviting. I met an old man, a regular there, who had been drinking quite a bit who told me some things he did when he was a young man—let’s just say, he was keeping it all in the family. As if that wasn’t weird enough, Lance from KK, started singing the Laverne and Shirley theme with Wendy (Sunspot drummer) and myself on the steps of the Pub at 2:30a. Then some guy in a Corvette came flying around the corner and did a donut in the middle of the street. It was super funny when the cop sitting across the street from us took off after him. I was amused.
Sunday, we began heading back home when Patrice received a call from a friend of hers from Cincy, Doug, who happen to be in Chicago. We ended up stopping downtown and eating real Chicago pizza (three times to Chicago since August and we finally got pizza). We made it home with all our Ikea goodies—back to the chilly fall whether of Ohio. Wait a minute…we were just 7 hours North of here and it was warm. What’s up with that?
‘Til our next adventure,
Rhonda
posted by pale beneath the blue @ 11:22 PM
3 Comments:
At 5:45 PM,
dawsonsnewrage said…
so hello rhonda, just wondering, did you eat a UNO's pizza pie? I love Chicago, and one of my good friends, tenor sax genius Mitch always performs at a great venue, the Green Mill, which was Al Capone's old bar-hangout-speakeasy - complete with old smugglers tunnels! And everybody yells "Quiet!" when the be-bop solos get really burning. Peace,
At 8:53 AM,
Anonymous said…
Howdy,
As a fellow IKEA fan, there is one tip you need to know, (if you don't
know already).
Obviously, if you plan to spend four to six hours weaving through the
labyrinth of cascading show room displays, then go the standard IKEA
path
of amazing room displays. However! If you find yourself again rushed,
there is a way to conquer the incredible marketing onslaught of
perpetual
merchandise immersion.
Arm yourself with an IKEA catalog. Develop a plan for exactly what you
want. Then take the secret direct merchandise purchasing path.
Yep, there is actually a quick way through IKEA.
Upon entering the initial double (or quadruple) doors, do not proceed
straight through the main entrance. If memory serves me right, either
to
the right or left, (depending on architectural local layouts), there is
a
door that leads straight to the area where you can immediately pick out
items of desire and head straight for the checkout counter. Now, don't
get me wrong, I love walking through the sample displays, but sometimes
you just need to get in and get out.
Hope this helps your next IKEA experience.
Best Wishes,
Jay
At 8:56 AM,
pale beneath the blue said…
Dawson,
We did eat an Uno's pizza pie. Those things are huge! I was so full I didn't eat anything else the rest of the day. Mmmmm, pizza.
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