First, I want to pass on my thanks to everyone who attended CurtStock 2002. I enjoyed seeing everyone and glad you were able to take the time to come out and visit with everyone. Also, I didn't realize there were so many good cooks out there. I mean Molly Thomson baked a cake! Who would have thought that was possible. :) For those who didn't make it, you suck! Just kidding...I hope you can make it next year, though!

So, I wanted to mention a little about my final major travel destination this summer. In the early part of June, I traveled to Chicago for the weekend. Tau Beta Pi had its annual June Meeting of National Officers in Chicago, so I got a free trip as the newest District Seven Director. The meeting started with dinner on Friday night and concluded with dinner on Saturday night. So I figured I'd do a little sight-seeing beforehand and get into Chicago early on Friday.

I left Detroit on a 7:15 AM Northwest flight to Chicago O'Hare. I had a chance to see the new terminal in Detroit which is VERY cool. I arrived in Chicago a little after 7:00 AM...always a cool feat in my opinion. I only packed by backpack, so that's all I had with me as I boarded the "L" for downtown. It took a little over 45 minutes to get downtown. I had some time to wander around and relax in the park.

After relaxing for a while, I walked over the Field Museum which is right along Lake Michigan. It is a very cool museum, but I only got to see a small portion of it, even with four hours to look around. The coolest thing at the Field Museum would have to be Sue, the world's largest, most complete, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex. "She" was quite impressive. They also had a number of impressive exhibits to see on plants and animals, changes to the Earth over the years, dinosaurs, Egypt, and Africa. There was so much more to see, but I was able to see the major exhibits. You definitely need a day to see everything.

After the Field Museum, I stopped by Hard Rock Chicago for lunch. It was getting close to the time I needed to leave, so I grabbed the L for the airport and headed back to the airport to grab the shuttle to the hotel. The supposed "free" shuttle to the hotel actually cost $21 one-way. Geez! We had dinner that evening and had meetings most of the day on Saturday. The meetings were very informative and I got to learn a little more about the functioning of Tau Beta Pi. We had a fabulous dinner that evening, and I went to bed fairly early since there wasn't much to do where we stayed in "Chicago".

I caught a ride back to the airport with one of the other DDs on Sunday morning to catch my plane. I got back to Detroit around 11:30 on Sunday morning. The trip was brief, but I enjoyed the opportunity for a brief stop in Chicago and the opportunity to meet and interact with more of the national officers. I'm looking forward to next year's June meeting...I wonder where it will be!

Posted by Curt at August 14, 2002 04:57 PM