We made it to Chicago Saturday and found our hotel fairly easily. I'm not sure why it never entered my mind, but we got checked in and I wasn't paying 100% attention as we did so, but we were in a very tall building and our room was at the top-- on the 40th floor! For most people, that is probably not a problem, but I have a very bad height phobia--even pictures can make me dizzy, and I'm not even comfortable going higher than 7 or 8 floors. So I kept telling myself it was okay--and it was. I just avoided the window as much as possible!
We aren't very familiar with Chicago, or it's transportation system, and the man at the desk didn't give us the best advise, so we got a little lost trying to get to the venue. It's funny, because I don't get too excited, I just ask people and go about it, but my husband is wired different and that was a bit difficult for him. I finally asked some police officers standing near, and they actually got on the next bus with us, rode until our stop, got off, and showed us where to wait for the right bus. Honestly, everyone was so nice and we got where we needed to be--hours early. We found a pizza joint, ate a slice, and then went and got in line. We had other "Booshlrs" that were joining us and they arrived soon, so that the 3 hours we stood in line went quickly as we visited and laughed. It's nice to finally be able to put faces to URLs. That's how everyone introduced themselves-- by their Tumblr names instead of their real names. It was the funniest thing, really. We got lucky--Chicago in March can be brutal, but the weather was mild all weekend, great for walking and standing in line.
Our wait was worth it-- general seating, which meant our little clump of fans got right in the front. I was less than 20 feet from the stage! It was amazing! I now know how those girls felt when The Beatles stepped off the plane. I screamed and laughed myself hoarse! And I clapped so much, my hands were bruised (I wear a handful of rings). I was familiar with the show--after all, he's been touring it off and on across Europe and Australia for the last year and a half. But still, seeing it live, hearing it in his voice, just seeing the expressions on his face, it all felt fresh and new. And there was material that I hadn't seen posted on Tumblr and he does enough improv that there is new stuff even for those who have seen the show multiple times.
A couple of the girls were hosting a party in their hotel room after the show and we went, but we were so tired, and our train only ran for less than another hour, so we made our goodbyes, found our way back to our overly posh room, and passed out--for about 3 hours. Again, the husband was so worried about being late, that we got to the train station with more than an hour to spare. The train ride home was packed but uneventful. I dozed for most of it. And now I'm home and (still) exhausted. But oh so happy!
I had hoped to have lots of brilliant photos to post this week, but it didn't really happen. Several reasons, actually. For one, my camera is on its last leg. And of course, they didn't allow photos during the show. Now, some people were brave and did (the one above isn't actually mine, I kind of, uh, borrowed it), but I wasn't taking the chance of getting kicked out. And, although we waited outside for a while, we heard the cast weren't coming out for several hours, and we didn't hang around (partly because we had a train to catch). Some of them that did stay still didn't get to meet him. It would have been a bonus, yes, but at the same time, the show was amazing and we got to sit in the second row, so I'm just going to revel in that (for the rest of my life!). And remind myself that we're never too old for adventures! I know my husband even had a good time (not that I doubted he would) just because he actually visited with some of the others of our group. He's usually content to sit back and people watch. But he actually engaged! (Bonus!)
