February 18, 2015: Cars

Yesterday brought my first vacation day of the year (from my real job), and I took that opportunity to attend the Chicago Auto Show.  Technically not a sport… well, yes, there were race cars there, and that’s a sport… and it was in Chicago… close enough.  It qualifies for today’s blurb.

I figured going on a Tuesday morning would be the best time to go, thinking it would be empty.  Wrong!  It was packed; I couldn’t imagine a weekend day.  I definitely underestimated it.  The thing about it was there were probably more people NOT from Chicago there than anything else.  I guess the Chicago Auto Show is one of the biggest in the country, and really does draw people from all over, and with parking at $21 a pop, they’re making a nice bit of dough too.

Then you have all the food stands inside McCormick Place.  Those prices are jacked up too.  So much so, that you have vendors coming from Mackinac Island to make their money for the season.  It’s a good deal if you can get it.  I mean, stuff up there is probably up charged to begin with, being on an island and all, but then you roll down to the big city… prices go up even further.  That fudge looked mighty good, but it was mighty expensive too.  Then my son is asking for an ice cream, and the guy behind the counter is just smiling… waiting for me to break and chuck up that $10 for a cone; it didn’t happen this time.  Maybe I should have broke down…

The cars were pretty sweet.  They had some cool exhibits, including some cool test drives.  For the Toyota I believe, there were people peeling out, and screeching to a halt; I would have liked to do that with a brand new car.  For Jeep, there was an all-terrain course setup.  You drove up an incline, and then into some dirt with logs to climb over.  My son really enjoyed that one. 

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They had a plinko board, where you dropped a “puck” and had the chance to win some prizes.  We walked away with a Coach Q poster after my son’s winning attempts, and got an Ice Girls poster after my wife won.  Anybody interested in that Ice Girls poster?  Next to this game, was a “shoot the puck” exhibit.  They had a goalie setup with about 5 different holes in which to try to shoot the rubberballs that substituted as pucks.  My son of course wanted to try it…

Now remember, he’s not even 3 yet.  He takes the “youth” hockey stick, which is about his height, and immediately turns it around like he’s shooting a backhand shot; yeah, we think he’s a lefty.  Next, he proceeds to swing and miss multiple times, before finally tapping it.  Good ol’ Dad helped him with the next one, problem was, he didn’t want any help.  So for the 3rd and final ball, he did it again by himself.  Swinging and missing repeatedly, we had now drawn a crowd.  He finally tapped it, and was told it was time to go; he didn’t like that either.  For the final act, he threw the hockey stick at the goalie, which led to some laughing and clapping from the crowd; he didn’t like that either.  It was meltdown city after that.  So much for my great plan…

So a planned family event doesn’t go as planned.  I’m sure everyone has those stories, and now I have one.  The Auto Show was fun, but I’m ready to get back into some sporting action.  Ready for the Hawks Wings battle tonight, followed by the pitchers & catchers reporting for the Cubs and Sox, then the return of the Bulls on Friday.  It was a nice break, but we’re back in the swing of things now.  My son will be in his happy place watching the Blackhawks and the Bulls in the comfort of his own home.  Plenty of ice cream, but no stick throwing…