Day 5 Chicago

If you are one of the two people who have read my blog you know I skipped day 4.  This was because there was not a whole lot to say, we took a Chevy Impala downtown when  we were expecting a stretched town car.  There was no time to argue as we had to get down town.  Checked into our hotel that is just across the street from the river and the Trump building and went down to the Trade show that was hosted by a company that Kendra and her dad represent who are putting on this shindig.  

At the trade show I stood back and let my wife talk to those companies in attendance.  Not that I don't understand the technology, it's just that I don't care.  I don't rep these items but Kendra does and she was asking the questions.  The funny thing is that while she was talking, the men talking to her had a hard time focusing on her.  They so desperately wanted to focus on me, I, however, never gave them the chance as I stood back as the trophy husband.  Funny on some level but serious on another.  They only took her seriously when she talked the talk.  My experiment to see how people treated Kendra worked well but I left her side so I was not a distraction.  Hard I know, I am an incredible distraction. 

There was an open bar and I introduced Kendra to something I might have thought twice about before doing so.  Bourbon.  Knob Creek Bourbon, on the rocks.  She took a sip, smiled and said, "Ooh, I could get use to that."  I drank Sprite as they didn't have N/A beer.  No worries, I can even make that look cool.

We had a long day so we retired early to our 18th floor room overlooking the back of some building.  Sweet I know, but nice none the less.  We were in bed and asleep by 22:00.  For me a restless night and at 03:00 when I awoke, I said, "Oh shoot" and I got up and got dressed.  I grabbed my camera and headed outside.  I walked around until 06:30 when I made my way back to the hotel.  The streets were empty and it had rained so the lighting was fantastic.  I did get some cool shots and I have posted 4 on my Photography website. Patrick Mitchell Photography & Imaging Studio.  There are probably more to come but editing on a laptop sucks without a graphics tablet so I let it stand at 4.

At around 08:00 Kendra and the men got on buses to head to the New York Blower factory in La Porte IN.  At 09:30 I met the other wives and we took a stroll down Michigan Ave for shopping.  I was hoping to find a nice hat but ended up just buying socks.  I forgot my dress socks so I went into Brooks Brothers and bought a pair.  I also bought some souvenirs for Miriam and Bridget but mostly I walked.  After my early morning hike I hiked some more.  It was exhausting.  At 12:30 I made my way to the Hancock Building and up to the 95th floor where they had a nice buffet lunch for us girls.  We had a private dining room on the opposite side of the building from the elevators and the walk was odd.  The building sways in the wind and I've been in tall buildings before but it felt like I was a wee bit tipsy.  The most unusual thing I saw was a spider on the outside of the window.  Wondering first what would happen if it fell, knowing gravity effects smaller object differently than larger.  More importantly I wondered, how the hell it got up 95 floors.  Oh, and the view wasn't bad either.  

At 13:30 I steeled my aching feet and took off back down Michigan Ave toward our hotel.  Arriving half an hour later I went straight to my room and promptly fell asleep.  Kendra woke me at 15:30 and we relaxed a little and started to get ready for dinner.

Dinner was at the Chicago Field Museum.  Oh my Lord what a dinner it was.  For those of you who don't know the grand hall of the field museum houses the largest most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus in the world.  She is called Sue.  Tables had been laid out in the center of this great hall and Sue was watching as we ate.  There was an hour and a half cocktail hour before hand upstairs and then a company photo on the stairs in the background of this photo.  This was a complete pain as they were trying to get 300 people who had been drinking from the open bar to follow the photographer's orders.  This took 20 minutes and annoyed a lot of sober people.  After the photo everyone sat and we had dinner.  The food was fantastic, the company was nice but the setting overshadowed all of that.  I was in awe.  Really.  And that is saying a lot.  After dinner the Company had some more awards to hand out and then everyone had an additional hour of cocktails.  And what do you know.  Kendra got some more whiskey.  Dear God, what I have I done?

A note about my wife.  There are many beautiful women in this world.  Yes, I have made it my mission to meet every one of them.  Kendra is, however the most incredible woman I have ever met.  Her talents run so deep that after 18 years of marriage I still encounter some new ability in her.  I know I can do anything, I mean anything.  I still need practice knitting but there is nothing that I can't do ( I mean this literally, not "You can do anything you want if you just put your mind to it.")  You ask me to something and I can do it like I've known it my whole life.  So can Kendra.  She doesn't think she can but she underestimates herself all the time.  In a room full of post graduate engineers she is intimidated and says she is only faking it, but when she holds a conversation with one or more of them she knows her stuff and they know that so they don't blink and eye.  If her and I were an encyclopedia set I would be A though M and she would be N through Z.    I think what intimidates her the most is that what she does for a living is something she never thought, in a million years, she would do. So somehow her mind is telling her that she isn't "smart about this stuff."  Anyone who has talked to her knows otherwise.  

Kendra is gentle but she is tough, she is kind but she is firm.  She hates to adventure out of her comfort zone but will try anything.  She is the most loving person I know. And last but not least, she is beautiful.  I am proud to be her husband.

Tomorrow:  Frank Lloyd Wright Tour and Motown.