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A Wicked Good Weekend
By Steph | November 3, 2007
So what do you get a 14 year old girl for her birthday? Hmm. Well, what do girls that age like clothes, jewelry, a cell phone, an ipod? Not that simple for my daughter, Mariah. She wanted to go see Wicked, the Broadway musical, but what do you expect. She’s my daughter. While, I loved the idea of going to see Wicked it would involve a weekend trip to Chicago. The cost is a great deal more than we usually spend on our children for their birthdays.
Our family came to the rescue and Mariah received cash for her birthday from grandparents, aunts, uncles and us. So the planning began.
Who: Mariah, Jody Elslager, Jennifer Seddelmeyer and myself
When: October 25th & 26th, 2007
What: A weekend in the Chicago area including a matinee performance of Wicked
Where: Doubletree in Schaumburg, IL
How: Jody drove us in her new Prius (assisted by her GPS, Melissa)
We left Friday afternoon and drove through some nasty rain. We had difficulty deciding on a route. There are so many options on how to get to Chicago from Terre Haute. Yet, none of them are appealing. Mostly because there is no obvious, direct, fast way. Other than us missing a toll booth (oops) we arrived in Schaumburg safely.
We found the hotel and check-in was a breeze at the Doubletree. See this post for a hotel review and my Priceline bidding strategy. We headed to dinner at P.F. Chang’s. This was my first time eating there and it was delicious. We had Lettuce Wraps as an appetizer and then I had the Orange Peel Chicken for dinner. Everyone else enjoyed their meals as well.
After dinner we headed to Ikea and had about an hour to look around. Just enough to get a taste of this wonderful, favorite store of mine. Ikea is well known in the home design TV show world. We headed back to the hotel and settled in for a good night’s sleep.
In the morning, we headed toward the windy city and found parking near the Downtown Chicago Theater District. Parking was $13 for the day. The gang walked around and shopped a while before grabbing a quick lunch at The Corner Bakery.
Finally the event we were waiting for was upon us! We headed to the Oriental Theater. It is a gorgeous place. Very ornate and features decor inspired by the architecture of India. There certainly was a buzz of excitement in the place. Wicked opened in June 2005 in Chicago and has a permanent home at the Oriental Theater. We purchased some souvenirs before the show.
Wicked is the untold story of the Witches of OZ. It is the story of the life of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West ,and Glinda, the Good Witch. It explores how their paths cross and the effect they had on each other.
I was introduced to Wicked through the soundtrack and grew to love the music. I then read “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” this summer. It was very dark. I checked with a few people who had seen the musical and they assured me that it was very different. I agree. The musical is much less serious and doesn’t delve into the dark areas that the books does.
Jody purchased our tickets and we bought them about a month out. Seating choices were a bit limited on a weekend performance. We were in the balcony in row P, just to the left of center. They were good seats with no obstructions. We certainly were able to see and hear everything going on, but not the expressions on faces.
The performance was wonderful. Most of the cast that day were understudies, but we didn’t feel shorted in the least. They sang beautifully. It was very moving. I enjoyed my time in Oz. We all agreed that we would love to return and try to book earlier to see if we can get seats a little closer to the stage.
After the show, we headed to Millennium Park and looked around. A great place to explore and people watch. It is a beautifully designed park and really is worth a visit. We then headed back to the Schaumburg area for our second visit to Ikea. With purchases in tow we headed to dinner.
We ate at Gaylord Fine Indian Cuisine restaurant. This was Mariah and I’s first experience at an Indian restaurant. I had a very spicy and tasting chicken and vegetable dish. The naan was wonderful. They had very friendly staff that went out of their way to make us comfortable, aka free drinks! Jen and Jody, who are experienced Indian Cuisine critics, say it was the best Indian meal they have had. It was then back to bed for another good night’s sleep.
In the morning we jumped in the car and headed back home. Our only pit stop was in Highland, Indiana at Sophia’s House of Pancakes or the Home of Incredibly Huge Amounts of Food that No One Person Should Ever Attempt to Eat. We all had some sort of meal involving eggs, potatoes, pancakes, and meat. It was good but seriously, one meal could have fed my family of four. They came to the table not to ask us IF we wanted to go boxes, but rather how many. Sadly, we passed since we were traveling.
It was a Wicked good weekend!
Topics: trip report |
November 3rd, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Hey Travel Mom,
There’s no better route from Terre Haute to Chicago then straight up 41/63 to Cedar Lake. Then, left where 231 ends, make a couple quick jogs and you’re on 394. Take it to 94 and you’ll be at the city limits at just over 3 hours.
November 3rd, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Thanks, Shawn. I will give that route a try next time. I’d love to make Chicago in just over 3 hours!
Stephanie