Chicago, Day 6

I finally got the chance to eat an Italian Beef sandwich, and frankly I'm disappointed. I've made Italian Beef at home for years. My husband talked about it so much over the years that I found a recipe and made it. Everyone loves my Italian Beef. But my husband said it was missing something, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. So one of my missions here was to eat authentic Chicago Italian Beef. The result was much the same as the Chicago style hot dog fiasco: disappointing. Several people recommended Portillo's and it was a good sandwich but it tasted like a French dip with a piece of steamed green pepper on it. There was no Italian taste to it. Plus, this meat was sliced and my husband always described the Italian beef as shredded.

We met the Indiana cousins there for lunch and had a great time listening to some of their travel stories. They've gone all over the world together on different trips. Again I am impressed by how close these families are. I can't imagine going on a weekend trip with my brothers and sisters. We just aren't very close. That's the way my mother wanted it – although I'm sure she was not aware of it. But she was always pitting us against each other, so we never grew up seeing each other as allies, much less friends. I can't remember a time in my life that she was speaking to all of us at the same time; at least one of us was on the outs. I really wish I could have had the kind of family my husband had.

After lunch we came back to the hotel for a quick nap before heading off to Chicago to see Wicked. I knew nothing about the story line. My son had read the book and recommended that we try to get tickets. Lining up to get in I was a little worried because of the number of children attending. I thought we were going to see the Wizard of Oz, part 2. Our seats were on the last row of the balcony and I was worried that we wouldn't be able to see. But the Oriental Theater, built in 1926, didn't seem to have a bad seat in the house. The interior was restored in 1998 and it looked like a grand theater of yesteryear with massive chandeliers and gilt trim. We had a thoroughly good time. The story was about how the Wicked Witch became what we saw in the Wizard of Oz; she was very much the sympathetic figure.

Afterwards we ate at Hugo's Frog Bar. The calamari was excellent and I hate to admit that it was nice not to eat Italian for one meal.