Right place, Wrong time

And some times, you conceive and execute a (presumed) well-oiled plan, and it all goes South.. 

 

I flew into Chicago O’Hare just after 7:30pm knowing I should eat right then instead of going into the city, despite the fact that I was still on Pacific time. With early morning meetings fast approaching the next day, eating later would only jeopardize any chance for a good night’s sleep – I was cutting it close enough already. 

 

My plan was to grab a sashimi or nigiri ‘first course’ at Wicker Park Sushi then hop across the same hall to Summer House for a healthy salad. I enjoyed a fairly quick, delicious and light salmon sushi; and then around 8:30pm (by my clock only 6:30pm) proceeded to Summer House – at which point my grand plan started falling apart. I second-guessed myself and was curious to see if Publican might have a good salad available at their grab and go market. Publican was a 10 minute walk away in the next terminal, and I reasoned I needed the extra steps and would grab a taxi from there. 

 

I arrived to Publican only to realize I’d prefer Summer House after all – all the ‘good stuff’ at the grab and go stand was gone, and they were no longer seating in the main restaurant. Intent on getting some greens, I walked all the way back to Summer House where to my dismay, the chairs were on top of the tables. The register was closed. It wasn’t even 9pm! 

 

 

 

I went back to Wicker Park hoping to sit down and order more, but they too were now closed! My backup choice would have been a healthy vending machine (yes, you can get salads from a vending machine at O’hare!), but the location was of course near Publican, and I’d already spent 20 min walking back and forth – I needed to get into the city! The only immediate and available option was Starbucks. I was done. I caved and opted for an egg white spinach wrap and some nuts for the road. Not exactly my “whole food” of choice, but somewhat healthy. 

 

Oh, the irony of trying to get only the best and ending up with what you intended to avoid in the first place… 

 

Certainly KNOW before you go! Fancy plans are wonderful only to the extent that they are practical and work for you — and are coordinated around actual business hours.