Blogger Friends

Blogger Friends
Originally uploaded by Michael_L.

Yesterday was a stellar day.....not only did I get the chance to add two more bloggers to my list of "Bloggers I've Met in Real Life" but I was also someones first exposure to meeting a fellow blogger in person.

I drove out to the Suburbs yesterday, past the airport.....past Ikea.....and even past Woodfield Mall. It was the furthest West I've ever been before.

We weren't meeting until 2:00 so I spent my morning getting ready for the trip. I made sure the car was tuned up, had the oil changed, filled up the tank with gas and also the spare one I carry for emergencies. The cell phone was charged up and showing five bars and I programmed in the number for 911 and AAA, just in case.

It's great having AAA because I was able to get some Trip Tik Travel Planners for the adventure. Have you ever used those before? They're really cool and they give you a fun little binder. I really don't care that the lady gave me a funny look when I walked in and told her I wanted directions from the City to the Suburbs - it was apparent she had no idea who she was dealing with. I made her give me the full treatment as though I was driving from Coast-to-Coast. I wanted to make sure I knew where every Starbucks and Denny's was along the route, just in case.

Surprisingly it was very easy to find the burbs, just drive West Young Man - (and sorta north too). It helped that I was listening to the Techno Remix of Go West by the Pet Shop Boys to help pass the time.

The plan was to meet The Sour Kraut, The Medium Swede and The Big Finn for lunch at an exotic location called Bahama Breeze. Being from the city I had never heard of such an exciting place so I was looking forward to being whisked away to a place where peole pass the doobies and call each other Mon. I found the place pretty easily, I only missed one turn but I never lost sight of the place. It looked so pretty from outside, I'd never been to the Bahamas, but it looked like what I've seen in National Geographic!

The Boys showed up, minus TSK as she had to stay home and watch over their oldest who has strep throat.....so we had a boys lunch out. If I had known it was just gonna be us boys I would have suggested Hooters instead. I've always wanted to try the Chicken Wings there and I'm sure that the boys would have gone just to support my curiosity and explain to TSK & Mrs. TBF that they were only doing it for me and that they didn't enjoy themselves at all.

***SIDEBAR*** When I lived in Atlanta, there was a strip club a few miles from work and their lunch special was a t-bone steak & baked potatoe for $9.99. I once told my boss that I was willing to go there for lunch with him one day if he wanted. I'll put up with a lot for a cheap t-bone dinner. **END SIDEBAR

It's always a blast meeting Bloggers in Real Life - at first you think that you'll have nothing to talk about because you already know what's going on with them ----- but really the conversation goes so quickly and easily it's like you've been best friends for a long time and you've got all that clutter of "who are you? what are your hobbies?" out of the way.

I'm getting lucky in that I get the chance to meet up with The Big Finn almost everytime he comes to Chicago and if you've had the chance to meet him in person you know what a treat that is!

After lunch we went over to TSK & TMS beautiful new home, there was no way that I was going that far and NOT meeting up with TSK. At the very least I would have driven by and waved from the sunroof, there was no way I was passing up this opportunity.

It was a fabulous spring day here in Chicago...er I mean the Suburbs, so we sat on the patio and enjoyed everything: the chatter, the company, the sun, the kids and watching the dog run across the invisible fence....oh wait, I enjoyed that, but I don't think anyone else did.

The burbs are a nice place, but I don't think I would want to live there. The streets all have cutesy names like "Daisy Path" and people chase their dogs around their yards in their underwear first thing in the morning....hmmm, maybe that wouldn't be so bad. But I'm a city boy where we have street names like "Daisy Chain Way" and I really enjoy living in the city, I grew up in the country so that was enough for me.

When I first arrived in the burbs I was a little freightend, in fact it was a little bit more difficult to breatheout there, I was a little light headed. I think there's more oxygen in the burbs and it made me a little loopy, sort of like sucking the heilum out of a balloon.

The afternoon flew by and before I knew it, it was time to go home. I had heard from a friend of mine that came out here a long time ago that if you weren't back in the city before nightfall I'd need a special permit, and I didn't have time to go to the DMV this morning.

We said our goodbyes and hugged like old time chums and I jumped in my car and headed back to the city.

The Moral of the Story - Meet up with Local Bloggers!

TSK - I hope I was gentle enough for you.......