If my H said, "keep Saturday night free, I've got a surprise dinner somewhere special planned" and refused to tell me if I could wear jeans, I'd be bragging all over this board in the randoms thread that I was going to go and eat somewhere good.
And then the night comes, and it's Pizzeria Uno.
OK, so it's not Starbucks and maybe I wasn't expecting the French Laundry, but come on. I'm still going to be pissed I got all worked up for State Bird Provisions or Chez Panisse or something, and it's god damn Pizzeria Uno.
You all would waiting to hear where I was going, and then when I reported back, you'd all laugh and maybe even snark on twitter. YOU KNOW YOU WOULD.
If my H said, "keep Saturday night free, I've got a surprise dinner somewhere special planned" and refused to tell me if I could wear jeans, I'd be bragging all over this board in the randoms thread that I was going to go and eat somewhere good.
And then the night comes, and it's Pizzeria Uno.
OK, so it's not Starbucks and maybe I wasn't expecting the French Laundry, but come on. I'm still going to be pissed I got all worked up for State Bird Provisions or Chez Panisse or something, and it's god damn Pizzeria Uno.
You all would waiting to hear where I was going, and then when I reported back, you'd all laugh and maybe even snark on twitter. YOU KNOW YOU WOULD.
But the flaw in your analogy is that Chicago is not the city equivalent of Pizzeria Uno. (Yes, I realize the irony of saying this in light of Chicago deep dish.)
Chicago is an awesome city! With tons to do! And amazing restaurants!
I still think the build-up/delivery was off, but it's not like he told her he was taking her on a trip and they wound up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas (with all due respect to any Pine Bluff residents on the board). It's still Chicago!
A little bit. I guess it depends on the lead up. Does he know that I was thinking we may have been going to Jamaica and took me to Chicago anyway? Have we ever sat around and said "hey wouldn't it be fun to go to Chicago for the weekend?" If no, why not?
But okay, Chicago and show tickets? Chicago and a really nice hotel and dinner plans? Or Chicago and hey here's a Best Western, do you want to walk around in the cold? All these things would matter to me.
And if you never go there then Chicago will never have any special meaning to you. The places are special to you now weren't special until you went there at least once.
Post by maddiepaddy on Mar 30, 2015 14:46:08 GMT -5
I'd be pretty psyched if my H planned a surprise trip to Chicago, even though we've been there plenty of times together already. However, I would be a bit bummed if he played the 'you could need a bathing suit or snow gear' line. I would have definitely been thinking that we were going to somewhere more 'exotic'. Especially considering that we basically walk around and eat in Chicago - no special gear needed
We live an hour from the beach and I planned a getaway for DH there this past weekend. It was nice to getaway even though it was local-ish. If DH did that for me I would be super excited.
I picked "a little bit", but I think it would depend on what the plan was while we were in Chicago. The first trip my DH and I took together was to Denver, which we've both been to several times. However, he picked the coolest things to do- a horse/carriage ride, a VIP tour at the Coors Brewery, and a hike in Estes Park in the snow. I was totally surprised by the thoughtfulness of it all.
However, it the SO was just said "We're going to Chicago" and had no real plan, I would be a little bummed.
If my H said, "keep Saturday night free, I've got a surprise dinner somewhere special planned" and refused to tell me if I could wear jeans, I'd be bragging all over this board in the randoms thread that I was going to go and eat somewhere good.
And then the night comes, and it's Pizzeria Uno.
OK, so it's not Starbucks and maybe I wasn't expecting the French Laundry, but come on. I'm still going to be pissed I got all worked up for State Bird Provisions or Chez Panisse or something, and it's god damn Pizzeria Uno.
You all would waiting to hear where I was going, and then when I reported back, you'd all laugh and maybe even snark on twitter. YOU KNOW YOU WOULD.
But the flaw in your analogy is that Chicago is not the city equivalent of Pizzeria Uno. (Yes, I realize the irony of saying this in light of Chicago deep dish.)
Chicago is an awesome city! With tons to do! And amazing restaurants!
I still think the build-up/delivery was off, but it's not like he told her he was taking her on a trip and they wound up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas (with all due respect to any Pine Bluff residents on the board). It's still Chicago!
LOL. I was trying to think of a better analogy than Pizzeria Uno, but couldn't, so I went with the Chicago-style option.
Maybe they're having dinner at the Girl and the Goat?!
I want to eat there!
I agree with the people who said it matters what was actually planned for Chicago. I think that's true. Because if H built up to a big surprise, and it was just Napa to go to the wineries that we've been to a million times, then meh. But if it was Napa because it was French Laundry, then huzzah!!!!!!!!
We went to Pizzeria Uno on Saturday night with a friend and all of us could not stop talking about how fucking delicious it was I was so happy with my meal.
Maybe my husband *should* start putting surprises together for me because apparently my bar is set SUPER low.
I've never been to Chicago, so I'm pretending it is some other city that I've been to. I think it would depend on where we were staying and what was planned for food and actuvities. If it was a nice hotel and we had awesome plans, I don't think I would be disappointed. If it was a a mediocre hotel and he planned nothing special (or things that I had already done before), I would be disappointed.
We went to Pizzeria Uno on Saturday night with a friend and all of us could not stop talking about how fucking delicious it was I was so happy with my meal.
Maybe my husband *should* start putting surprises together for me because apparently my bar is set SUPER low.
Pizzeria Uno might be my favorite chain restaurant.
This is probably where I should say that I have never been to Chicago.
Maybe they're having dinner at the Girl and the Goat?!
I want to eat there!
I agree with the people who said it matters what was actually planned for Chicago. I think that's true. Because if H built up to a big surprise, and it was just Napa to go to the wineries that we've been to a million times, then meh. But if it was Napa because it was French Laundry, then huzzah!!!!!!!!
Remember that time my train was delayed by 30 hours and I missed my reservation at the Girl and the Goat? /sadtrombone
We went to Pizzeria Uno on Saturday night with a friend and all of us could not stop talking about how fucking delicious it was I was so happy with my meal.
Maybe my husband *should* start putting surprises together for me because apparently my bar is set SUPER low.
Pizzeria Uno might be my favorite chain restaurant.
This is probably where I should say that I have never been to Chicago.
I actually went to pizzeria uno two weeks ago with my H because I had a coupon, and we were both like wow, this is delicious....
I agree with the people who said it matters what was actually planned for Chicago. I think that's true. Because if H built up to a big surprise, and it was just Napa to go to the wineries that we've been to a million times, then meh. But if it was Napa because it was French Laundry, then huzzah!!!!!!!!
Remember that time my train was delayed by 30 hours and I missed my reservation at the Girl and the Goat? /sadtrombone
I know you love trains, but you know how insane that sounds, right?
I didn't chime in when you suggested v take the train to Toledo, but I was thinking of the delays. A friend of mine once took the train from Indiana to Boston. I believe it took him over 2 days because of delays!
We went to Pizzeria Uno on Saturday night with a friend and all of us could not stop talking about how fucking delicious it was I was so happy with my meal.
Maybe my husband *should* start putting surprises together for me because apparently my bar is set SUPER low.
Pizzeria Uno might be my favorite chain restaurant.
This is probably where I should say that I have never been to Chicago.
You're definitely way more foodie than I am so feel free to disagree, but I will recommend that if you ever go to Chicago, even as a foodie you should be sure to set aside at least one meal slot for deep dish pizza.
Although honestly -- and I know Chicago people are going to start throwing virtual batteries or whatever at me -- even having tried "real" Chicago pizza, Pizzeria Uno remains super fucking delicious (and not even really a step down) to me.
Considering that DH surprised me with a hotel room complete with a fireplace right down the road from where we lived for our first Valentine's Day-I'd say no. Granted we were 19, but he put a good bit of effort into it and the surprise. He's done this for other weekends as well-surprise trip to Savannah and Charleston-both of which are within 4 hours from here.
It's the thought/effort that counts, I really don't care where it is.
Pizzeria Uno might be my favorite chain restaurant.
This is probably where I should say that I have never been to Chicago.
You're definitely way more foodie than I am so feel free to disagree, but I will recommend that if you ever go to Chicago, even as a foodie you should be sure to set aside at least one meal slot for deep dish pizza.
Although honestly -- and I know Chicago people are going to start throwing virtual batteries or whatever at me -- even having tried "real" Chicago pizza, Pizzeria Uno remains super fucking delicious (and not even really a step down) to me.
The main reason I want to go is to eat.
But that is the main reason I want to go to any city, really.
You're definitely way more foodie than I am so feel free to disagree, but I will recommend that if you ever go to Chicago, even as a foodie you should be sure to set aside at least one meal slot for deep dish pizza.
Although honestly -- and I know Chicago people are going to start throwing virtual batteries or whatever at me -- even having tried "real" Chicago pizza, Pizzeria Uno remains super fucking delicious (and not even really a step down) to me.
The main reason I want to go is to eat.
But that is the main reason I want to go to any city, really.
Oh, I know! And Chicago's a fantastic place to do that. My point was more that despite the fact that you'll have limited time and will never have time to get to all of the fancy foodie places you'll have to choose from (because Chicago has so many of those), you should still set aside time for their pizza.
While H didn't over-hype it, he did plan a surprise trip when were first dating. It was in the same county in a nice hotel. I really enjoyed it. We had a nice little staycation.
A little bit but just because of the build up leading to it.
H planned a surprise trip once. All he told me was that I needed shoes for walking, wear a nice dress, and pack for over night. I loved the mystery. It involved a little driving which ended up at the airport, us flying to Chicago (we were in NC so it's different for us) then H proposing in the signature room at the Hancock center. I don't think he could pull it off again though. I'm too much of a control freak to not ruin the surprise now.
Remember that time my train was delayed by 30 hours and I missed my reservation at the Girl and the Goat? /sadtrombone
I know you love trains, but you know how insane that sounds, right?
I didn't chime in when you suggested v take the train to Toledo, but I was thinking of the delays. A friend of mine once took the train from Indiana to Boston. I believe it took him over 2 days because of delays!
I will actually give amtrak a pass because we were on a single track section of the Empire Builder (the hi-line) through Montana and a freight train derailed ahead of us. There was no way around it because its a single track mainline.
But it was getting a little bit lord of the flies like when they served us this for lunch on the last day (emergency amrations):
Post by Wanderista on Mar 30, 2015 16:45:25 GMT -5
I would be happy with this and I go on these types of trips now. I like cities though and also I like to revisit places that I've been before now with more mature eyes. When I was younger, I would not have been interested at all. Now? I am a lot happier with a nice dinner and rediscovering some place that I've already been. I might be picky about what I'd want to do there though.
I would be pissed. There is too much build up for it to be a trip to Chicago unless coworker had been gushing about how they wanted to go there. I love Chicago but I still would be pissed.