Originally Posted by Cinders55
TO: Captain and Crew

FROM: Chicago F2F Committee

RE: Chicago F2F Planning Meeting


Meeting at our top-secret rendezvous point, E-CCO and I greeted SC with the obligatory hug. Young grandson #2 observed warily and could not escape my big hug. He’s just lucky that I remember the "big red lipsticked juicy kisses" my grandmother’s friends used to plant on my cheek when I his age because I spared him that uncomfortable experience. After a brief but informative consultation, we whisked SC off to explore the great unknown, known as Chi-town (well, a suburb of Chi-town anyway).

First order of business….Hotel #1 (names will be withheld to ensure safety of other hotel guests). We arrived there unannounced and headed right to the libation area. Oh my, this place impressed at first glance, scads of comfortable seating, lighting conducive to critical meetings, and skilled bartenders mixing every kind of concoction we could desire…and then some. But we have not seen any of the party…er, um, sleeping accommodations yet. We split up, leaving SC to inspect the toiletries (long trip ya know) whilst E-CCO and I approach the front desk.

We are shown four different rooms and find each one to be welcoming, comfortable, and definitely more than adequate for our crew. Our guide, Leslie, seems curious to learn about our gathering and the participants. SC explains that we are a group of "cruisers" and everything screeches to a stop! Leslie assures us that "they are not that kind of hotel"!!! to which I hurriedly explain that our kind of "cruising" happens on ships and that "we are not those kind of people". Egads SC! We have to remember that we are dealing with a land-based individual. We are allowed to keep an "access key" so we can inspect other areas on our own and we decide to check out the pool. How nice….an outside area for lounging and tanning, a very accommodating jacuzzi and generously sized towels. We leave Hotel #1 with a good impression and move on down the list to the next item.

Restaurant/bar option #1….within shuttle distance, but we decide to navigate in our own vehicle. As we pass through the front door, we are greeted with a welcome aroma of deliciousness wafting from the kitchen. Even though our first impression is excellent, we give nothing away and allow the hostess to guide us on a tour of the facilities. We are considering this for our Saturday night F2F gathering. Needless to say, after all this work, E-CCO and I are parched and SC must eat so she can have an adult beverage. So, we decide to sample some of the offerings. Stuffed mushrooms were delicious. I do not believe the dishes had to be cleaned when we were finished. I sucked-down a beer and E-CCO sampled a vodka-tonic, SC a chilled water with lemon. John, the bartender, shared his secrets to making the perfect martini and a refreshing mojito. We were impressed. The only downside is that they do not offer "blender" drinks. While initially discouraged by this, we all agreed that John more than compensated with his other drinks. No time to dill-dally….SC and I pose for a picture and we head off to our next location.

E-CCO docks the ship…er, I mean – parks the car along the Riverwalk in downtown Naperville and we begin our journey to four more eateries. Rather disappointing to say the least. Some obviously embellished their on-line profiles or required astronomically high minimum $$ guarantees, while others were just too aloof to care about a group of this distinction. We made quick work of those four establishments and found a comfy area along the riverwalk to gather our thoughts.

We needed to skeedaddle to our scheduled appointment at Hotel #2 and luckily, arrived with a few minutes to spare. Not willing to waste any of our precious time, we checked out the pool, restaurant area and settled in the bar to wait for our hostess, Holly. We are whisked off on our tour of four rooms with various amenities. Holly is also interested in what our group is all about. E-CCO and I leave it to SC to explain and again, she does not disappoint. Holly’s curiosity is swirling….she asks what kind of jobs we have and wonders how we can cruise so much. SC promptly replies "Well, my job was outsourced and I was replaced by a newer model." We chuckle and agree that SC’s "golden parachute" does allow her to cruise a bit more often than some. Naive Holly obviously draws the wrong conclusion and with a starry-eyed look in her eyes, proclaims that she can’t wait to retire as "young" as we are! (I wink and remind SC that's she's the senior member of our group in more ways than one.) Anyway, back to business …. These rooms are smaller and seem less accommodating than Hotel #1 and we notice a slight trace of disinfectant smell throughout the facility, which is somewhat unnerving. The bar was much smaller which was a bit of a concern since we are of the belief that our group may conduct many crew meetings at that location. Seating for the bar was also open and adjoining the main lobby which concerned us. What if some "others" from GASP the DNGIG infiltrated our group? We left Hotel #2 with a less than favorable impression of the facilities but agreed that Holly was sweet and would do anything in her power to make our weekend great.

We rushed back to Restaurant #1 to verify some information. Then, realizing that it’s now five o’clock somewhere and that somewhere is HERE, we head to the final destination that we are considering for our Saturday night F2F dinner. This has been grueling work and we are parched. We belly-up to the bar to begin taste-testing the foo-foo offerings. Each of us orders a different drink and we share a taste (or two), ignoring the brain-freeze that accompanied each sip. Drink number one goes down too quickly and we are forced to embark on drink number two. Most challenging assignment at this point is fishing the cherry from SC’s drink using two straws. It’s like blindly using chopsticks, but after several unsuccessful attempts, SC turned to E-CCO for assistance. And we finally had success. Phew, we can once again concentrate on sampling foo-foos. This establishment has everything going for it except it is beyond the mileage range for the shuttles. It is at least a 30-minute commute one way and we worry that it would cut into valuable "meeting" time.

We toast to a successful mission and bid each other farewell. We will follow-up with Hotel #1 to discuss group rates and accommodations for meetings. And, Restaurant #1 gets the nod of approval. Still much to coordinate, but we will be posting information very soon so that you can start getting your reservations made.

Captain has also offered to put all pertinent information on his website so that we have one place to go to for reference. That should be accomplished within the next week or two.

Respectfully submitted by your Chicago F2F Committee: SC, E-CCO, and Lt-HR!