Liz Strauss was right…Basil arrived in Chicago and immediately went to Rush Street. He must have gotten some advice from Dick Cheney while they were on the train together.

I heard from Basil late last night, he called me and woke me up in a drunken stupor. Of course, he’d been partying since he got of the train, enjoying the Gold Coast’s Rush Street. Something about the Rush and Division neighborhood, but he was slurring very badly.

Basil told me he started the evening at Downtown Dogs wolfing down four Chicago-style hot dogs. Then, he had to wet his whistle, so it was off to Bootleggers.

Basil claims some old ancestor of his was a bootlegging-donkey, carrying hooch across the Canadian-US border, but when he tells the story he always refers to this ancestor as “fleet of foot”…and, well…we all know donkeys aren’t going to win any sprints in the near future.

Back to Chicago’s Rush and Division area…His next stop was Pippin’s Tavern. By this point in the night, I get the impression Basil thought he’d meet the hobbit Pippin at the tavern, and while he says he met a few short people, there were no hobbits.

Basil’s report on Pippin’s Tavern is sketchy at best, but he was very clear with me that they have, “Sixteen cold beers on tap, Ben. S-i-x-t-e-e-n.”

Was there even any point asking how many Basil tried?

The last thing Basil said to me when he hung up the phone was something about hanging out with a few friends he’d met, going to see a Chicago Cubs baseball game and possibly having a guest appearance at Cirque du Soleil’s show Corteo. One can only imagine what Basil might be doing in such a show…

Chicago sounds amazing so far! I hope Liz Strauss was able to find Basil or vice versa so that she can start her adventure with him!

(Related Tags: chicago, rush street, basil, humor, chicago cubs)