president reception, history convention

 i flew to Chicago and arrived just after midday. i arrived for my flight about two hours in advance and this left me some time to walk around and explore. as usual, i saw some art displays. one of them had an 'American gothic' parody, with mickey and minnie mouse as the stand-ins. i also bought some coffee and twinkies but had just one of the two twinkies there. i looked around a little once i touched down at O'Hare as well, a display that said, 'American heroes, portraits of service'. it was about those who had served in the second world war. there was an issue with my car rental, couldn't pick it up as the readers were unable to read my credit card. i had to find another company to rent from, that would allow me to tap my card. once i left the airport i was ready to have lunch, especially due to the delay. i wanted something that i couldn't find in the twin cities and went to the brown's chicken in elk grove village. one pic from there included what appeared to be actor/comedian Steve Carrell in their ad campaign. next stop was Woodfield mall in Schaumburg, as i had let my niece know i would be out of town. then there was a request to get a shirt that said Chicago on it. i figured this mall was my best bet, and it was. i found a store that sold mostly Chicago souvenirs. then i went to another store and got myself a pair of bears socks, knowing my existing pair would be in need of replacement soon. then it was to my hotel to get checked in. i wasn't there for long as i wanted to get into the city for the convention. first it meant getting to the CTA stop in Rosemont, the park and ride, then the train all the way to the loop. it was at the Hilton on Michigan avenue. i made it there midway through the speech by the organization's president, then stayed for the reception after it. i spoke with various people about history at the reception and had a Yuengling beer. there was some finger foods brought around as well. i spoke the most with an older man that spoke of being at Illinois tech, or IIT, which is in town, just a little south of the convention site. we even went back to the train station together, until both trains left. of course, we had to go in different directions to get to our respective destinations. i didn't do much after getting back to the hotel.