Some of you may remember my blog earlier in the year, when fellow GB user Wrighteous86 came to visit me in the UK. Well this summer was our 1 year anniversary and I was lucky enough to spend 6 whole weeks with him in sweltering Chicago, because of this I haven't posted at all in the forums in the last couple months. We have Giant Bomb to thank for our relationship, so I’d like to share our continuing story here with it’s amazing community. Here is just the first 2 weeks!

We planned for a long time for this trip, we weren’t going to miss out anything. Our schedule was so jam packed, it blew Ferris Bueller out of the water.

The Beginning

The weekend I arrived we were guests at Wrighteous’ old college roommates wedding, where we bumped into an old friend of Giant Bomb...

Followed by an amazing tour around the city on Segways. I was nervous at first, but they are so fun and effortless to ride and it was a great way to see the city. If you ever get the chance, I definitely recommend giving it a go!

During the week I went to the legendary Wrigley Field with one of Wrighteous’ friends to watch the Cubs play against the New York Mets. It was my first ever Baseball experience, and I enjoyed the hotdogs and the atmosphere, but I must have been bad luck as the Cubs lost 17-1!

After the game, Wrighteous and I were lucky enough to join his friend on her boat to watch the fireworks at Navy Pier from Lake Michigan.

Also on our schedule was Navy Pier. There wasn’t as much to do as we were expecting, apart from the ferris wheel and a boat tour that we had previously booked. If there is anything we missed, apart from the small shop stalls and restaurants, we’d love to know for next time.

That evening we went to watch Cirque Shanghai. It was a brilliant show and amazing to see what they can do. There were many hold your breath and wow moments. Women balancing on a leaning tower of chairs, whilst in a hand stand. 5 people on motorbikes driving inside a metal ball all at the same time!

The day following Navy Pier and Cirque Shanghai we went to see a show at The Second City, where many famous comedians first started.

The show had a slow start, but by the end of it our stomachs hurt from laughing. During one scene, 2 women from the show were playing 2 old ladies watching a Movie in the Park, setting up their garden chairs and talking to the audience sat in the front row. Wrighteous and I were directly in front of them and hilariously (though embarrassingly for Wrighteous) put him on the spot for me not having an engagement ring yet.

Food

With Chicago having a lot of famous food places, often mentioned on the Bombcast, Wrighteous and I had a huge list of places to go eat. During the first 2 weeks we had Portillos and Maxwell Street Polish.

Ever since hearing them talk about Portillos Italian Beef on the Bombcast the week before, I just had to try one! And it was delicious.

4th July

On the 4th of July we decided to invite Wrighteous’ family over and cook Dave’s famous Chili. It’s lucky I was there as Wrighteous thought that 1 whole bulb of garlic was 1 clove, and with there being 3 cloves in the recipe, it would have been an extremely garlicky chili! But Dave’s chili was a hit with all of Wrighteous’ friends and family, many saying that it was genuinely the best chili that they had ever tasted!

That night we went to the Hancock Observatory downtown to watch the 4th July fireworks. It was really amazing to see them while looking over the whole city, there were fireworks as far as you could see.

Well that was our first 2 weeks in Chicago, if you’ve gotten this far, I hope you enjoyed reading about it and looking at our pictures. We had an amazing time! If anyone is interested I’ll be blogging about the rest of the summer soon. Thanks for the taking the time to read my blog :)

If anyone has anyone questions, feel free to ask!

I think in the UK it's a duderess.

In Eastern Europe, a duderina.

In Australia, they say dudersuaress.

Well done stopping at Portillo's. You would be the subject of much ridicule had you visited Chicago and not risked heart failure.

For the uninitiated, @snide posted his chili recipe here. I highly recommend it. Best chili I've ever had.

Reading this made me realize that I've never been on a proper adult date. Going to Fudrucker's for dinner and a trip to the movie theater is kind of lame.

:)

Darn it, now I'm hungry. Are segways really that easy to ride? They always look incredibly unstable whenever I see anyone with one. I don't trust 'em.

@DuskVamp: Very nice blog post and it's always a nice thing to see happy people coming together. Reminds me of how my wife and I met :D

@CaptainTightPants: They are extremely stable - most of the wobbliness you will ever see is the person acclimating to it. When you first get on you feel like you're going to fall right over. However, if you just calm yourself down, it's smooth as butter.

As long as mysterious Fox watches over you, nothing can go wrong.

I'd ask how Mysterious Fox got to America, but, well, it's in his name.

This stuff is always heartwarming to read, I hope everything keeps going well for you guys.

@Brodehouse said:

I think in the UK it's a duderess. In Eastern Europe, a duderina.

I used "duderess" in my last blog and people said it should be "duderette", I'm so confused!

@CaptainTightPants said:

Darn it, now I'm hungry. Are segways really that easy to ride? They always look incredibly unstable whenever I see anyone with one. I don't trust 'em.

Extremely easy, after 2 minutes on it you start to get a bit cocky.

@Video_Game_King said:

I'd ask how Mysterious Fox got to America, but, well, it's in his name.

How did he get in the dungeon?? We'll never know.

@ck1nd: If you don't mind me asking, how did you and your wife meet?

@Sploder: Thank you :)

You should have put a warning not to click this blog when hungry. After scrolling to the picture of the Portillos my stomach has started to eat itself.

@CaptainTightPants said:

Are segways really that easy to ride? They always look incredibly unstable whenever I see anyone with one. I don't trust 'em.

I'm with you, I felt the same. I was nervous for the first 40 minutes or so, but the last hour and a half I felt totally comfortable making tight curves or specific maneuvers. @DuskVamp on the other hand, was zipping about and pulling stunts like it was nothing. I kept having to tell her to stay away from me because she was freaking me out. One woman kept losing it and speeding off uncontrollably and one old man completely wiped out, but other than that, we were accident-free. Extravagant, but soooo fun.

@Irvandus said:

As long as mysterious Fox watches over you, nothing can go wrong.

I kept looking around for that telltale afro, but it seems my riddle brother was nowhere to be found.

Great job duders.

You two remain adorable.

Yip.

@BraveToaster said:

Reading this made me realize that I've never been on a proper adult date. Going to Fudrucker's for dinner and a trip to the movie theater is kind of lame.

Fudruckers is the realest date bro.

(1) Fudruckers

(2) Mini Golf at the Orange Dinosaur in Saugus

(3) Drinks at Kowloon

If Anyone understands what i just wrote, then I'd like to say, hello Internet soulmate.

You know things will be OK when Mysterious Fox watches over you, nice to hear both are doing good.

@BraveToaster said:

Reading this made me realize that I've never been on a proper adult date. Going to Fudrucker's for dinner and a trip to the movie theater is kind of lame.

Fudruckers is the perfect first date. If they can't eat the one pound burger, you know it's not going to work out.

I just noticed that the Fox statue even has a scar in the right spot, over it's right eye... Yip!

It's not your bad luck, it's the Cubs. They're pretty famous for having bad luck. They suck this year winning a little over 3 out of every 10 games they play.

It's you're sampling Chicago cuisine, don't go back to the UK without trying a Chicago-style deep dish pizza.

Bravo!

Well, you'll have to click on the gif for the full effect.

Chicago Dogs < New York Dogs

Chicago Pizza < New York Pizza

Chicago Baseball < New York Baseball

Kanye West is from Chicago, though.

Looks like a lot of fun!

@LD50 said:

Bravo!

Well, you'll have to click on the gif for the full effect.

Like a caveman.

Chicago Dogs < New York Dogs

Chicago Pizza < New York Pizza

Chicago Baseball < New York Baseball

Kanye West is from Chicago, though.

Looks like a lot of fun!

How do you guys know that the other one isn't a serial killer or has a weird hobby?

This is fucking weird.

You picked like the hottest summer we've had in who the fuck knows how long to visit, but glad Chicago treated you well :)

@DuskVamp: I don't want to sound like an asshole, but, I hope it works out. It sounds like it is.

Aw, that is super sweet. You two seem lucky to have found eachother on here. Giant Bomb, bringin people together! Congrats to the both of you :)

Btw, that picture of Mysterious Fox is amazing. I would be floored if I saw that walking around. Yip yip!

What?! No Six Flags?

Chicago wins at being a city.

@PenguinDust said:

It's not your bad luck, it's the Cubs. They're pretty famous for having bad luck. They suck this year winning a little over 3 out of every 10 games they play.

It's you're sampling Chicago cuisine, don't go back to the UK without trying a Chicago-style deep dish pizza.

Yeah, that's what I hear. Cubs fans are seriously loyal though.

Oh I definitely had my fair share of Giordano's deep dish pizza! It was an experience, I'll give my full review in the coming blog.

@demonknightinuyasha said:

You picked like the hottest summer we've had in who the fuck knows how long to visit, but glad Chicago treated you well :)

It was definitely hard going from 68F to over 100F, thank god for air conditioning!

@Dagbiker said:

@DuskVamp: I don't want to sound like an asshole, but, I hope it works out. It sounds like it is.

Why would that make you sound like an asshole? That's a nice thing to say :)

@frankfartmouth said:

What?! No Six Flags?

We had Six Flags scheduled for our last week, but instead used that day to just relax around the house after 5 weeks of being non stop.

Nice bog--an enjoyable little read. Looks like it was a good time in Chitown. I especially like the picture at the dock with the city skyline and sunset in the background. I'd like to go there myself one day and see that amazing metropolitan center at night.

I dunno, since Kanye and Common are from Chi-town Ive had this preconceived notion that the music scene is amazing over there and that theres a lot of jazz with trumpets and stuff.  Wow, that deep dish pizza is really deep.  Its like a quiche!   

This might be because I just received my wedding photos back, but you both have somehow managed to thaw my icy black heart enough to make me go "d'aaaaaawwwww" once again.

And now my workmates are looking at me strangely.

Sounds like a great time was had by all. The long distance thing is kind of crazy to me, but I wish you two the best of luck. I'm curious though, if it came to it (and now that you both have visited each other's cities) would you be willing to move closer to the other? Hopefully I'm not being too nosey here.

Why did I click this allI got was mind cavities and insatiable feelings of envy. You both look so cute together and ugh, fml.

@PenguinDust said:

It's not your bad luck, it's the Cubs. They're pretty famous for having bad luck. They suck this year winning a little over 3 out of every 10 games they play.

It's you're sampling Chicago cuisine, don't go back to the UK without trying a Chicago-style deep dish pizza.

If you (this includes the lovebirds) haven't seen it, watch 30 for 30:Catching Hell on Netflix (if you have it and it's in your country). Well produced and entertaining doc on the Cubs but specifically about a certain incident in their history and how their fans dealt with it. It's a study on people; it's not so much a sports doc with all the usual trappings that accompany the stereotype of those things. It's good. Seriously, watch it.

@DuskVamp and @Wrighteous86, this is another great addition to this on-going story of duders in love.

@SexyToad said:

How do you guys know that the other one isn't a serial killer or has a weird hobby?

Not sure if you're being an ass or genuinely curious, but we vetted each other for about a year before meeting in person. Video calls and access to Facebook helped us check out each other's stories, and everything we told each other from the very beginning (before either of us thought/knew/expected it would come to this) checked out, so we hadn't been lying or full of shit. We slowly ramped up access to one another's lives until we felt somewhat comfortable. And then I went to visit her first, because it's (slightly) less risky for a guy to do something like that. We gave each other access to our credit cards too, in a sense, since we played on each other's Steam accounts, and nothing bad happened. Before we met, we knew each other as well as we possibly could, and after, as well as any couple could. Once you meet someone's friends and family, you usually get a good sense of them. It's easy to hide parts of yourself, it's harder to do that with those intrinsically tied with your life. So unless she's secretly Dexter, I think I'm safe at this point.

Also, we met on Giant Bomb. That's a pretty weird shared hobby, haha.

@Nentisys said:

This is fucking weird.

A cynical jerk on the internet? Somebody call Ripley's, cuz I don't believe it.

@demonknightinuyasha said:

You picked like the hottest summer we've had in who the fuck knows how long to visit, but glad Chicago treated you well :)

Fuck man, it's SOOOOOO hot here. Thank god for AC.

@PillClinton said:

Nice bog--an enjoyable little read. Looks like it was a good time in Chitown. I especially like the picture at the dock with the city skyline and sunset in the background. I'd like to go there myself one day and see that amazing metropolitan center at night.

Where you from? Chicago is an amazing city, but it's probably less "touristy" than New York. If you're the type to just live and breathe in a city though, it's one of the best. The food, the music, the culture, it's pretty great (and has a different feel to NY).

@the_OFFICIAL_jAPanese_teaBAG said:

I dunno, since Kanye and Common are from Chi-town Ive had this preconceived notion that the music scene is amazing over there and that theres a lot of jazz with trumpets and stuff. Wow, that deep dish pizza is really deep. Its like a quiche!

Blues and Jazz. Lots of Jazz bands (we saw one covering some hit songs for a wedding reception) and lots of old black Blues guitarists. And a fair amount of rappers, though that scene is bigger elsewhere. Our music scene is great though for going into a club, getting some drinks, and just mellowing out. And yea, deep dish definitely earns its name. After I got back from the UK, we actually shipped some to the guys as thanks for hooking us up. They made a pretty funny mailbag out of it.

@Tim_the_Corsair said:

This might be because I just received my wedding photos back, but you both have somehow managed to thaw my icy black heart enough to make me go "d'aaaaaawwwww" once again. And now my workmates are looking at me strangely.

Congratulations man. How's the married life so far?

@NegativeCero said:

Sounds like a great time was had by all. The long distance thing is kind of crazy to me, but I wish you two the best of luck. I'm curious though, if it came to it (and now that you both have visited each other's cities) would you be willing to move closer to the other? Hopefully I'm not being too nosey here.

She's still in school which complicates things a bit. Uni in America is also crazy expensive comparatively, too. Once she's finished with college, we might move her here to go to Uni and just bite the bullet on loans (unless we can find some good transfer/scholarship programs). In a perfect world, I could work there until she's done with school, but it's almost impossible for someone outside of Europe to work in the UK (unless their company sends them over). So, in 2 years, if it's still going good, we'll try to get her here one way or another. If anyone has any experience or advice on moving to another country, or going to school/work overseas, we're all ears.

@Lunar_Aura said:

Why did I click this allI got was mind cavities and insatiable feelings of envy. You both look so cute together and ugh, fml.

Hey man, I found a crazy hot, cute, sane girl on an internet gaming message board. If I can do that, anything's possible.

@nrh79 said:

@PenguinDust said:

It's not your bad luck, it's the Cubs. They're pretty famous for having bad luck. They suck this year winning a little over 3 out of every 10 games they play.

It's you're sampling Chicago cuisine, don't go back to the UK without trying a Chicago-style deep dish pizza.

If you (this includes the lovebirds) haven't seen it, watch 30 for 30:Catching Hell on Netflix (if you have it and it's in your country). Well produced and entertaining doc on the Cubs but specifically about a certain incident in their history and how their fans dealt with it. It's a study on people; it's not so much a sports doc with all the usual trappings that accompany the stereotype of those things. It's good. Seriously, watch it.

@DuskVamp and @Wrighteous86, this is another great addition to this on-going story of duders in love.

Is 30 for 30 about Steve Bartman? If so, I'm definitely watching it. I'm a Sox fan, I love that guy. That's why I sent Dusk to a Cubs game with one of my female friends while I was at work; they're more famous and touristy, but fuck the Cubs.

I wasn't trying to be an ass, I was just wondering because it just seems odd meeting someone online and getting together. But congrats to you guys!

@Wrighteous86: Yes, it's pretty much about Bartman and what happened along with other things along those lines including stuff about the Yankees and Red Sox fans. It certainly does not take a sports fan to enjoy it. Like I said, it's about people.

@SexyToad: Sorry for assuming. It's hard to tell on the internet. Thanks man. It was risky, but after I went there in Feb., we were pretty confident it was safe to move forward.

@Wrighteous86: Just curious, but what would you have done if it turned out one of you had been bullshitting all this time. Like if you turned up and were like 4'2 or if she was really an 80 year old transsexual from Zimbabwe?

I wasn't trying to be an ass, I was just wondering because it just seems odd meeting someone online and getting together. But congrats to you guys!