The rest of the crowd wanted to stick around so we waited till about midnight or so singing a few more songs before catching an Uber back to the hotel . On Friday , we got up and we decided that it was going to be breakfast at Chick fil A . And man let me tell you that ’ s a good breakfast and much more affordable . After breakfast we went back to the hotel and started prowling around doing room to room trading and a little beer drinking and socializing . It was just a really good time . The gals went on a brief shopping trip . Friday night our good friend Patrick Moore was having a party for us at his place in Algonquin . And we planned on going out there this year rather than taking in the banquet . We got to Patrick ’ s house , and it was a good time . He ’ s got a nice place with a nice basement bar , a lot of cool beer lights and a beautiful backyard which is where everybody was hanging out on this evening . We got to his place and of course Judy brought some snacks and then he ordered food , and he ordered in from Portillo ’ s which is a well-known chain operation in the Chicagoland area . And he ordered C B S . I came to find out that ’ s a Chicago standard for parties and weddings . And it stands for chicken , beef and sausage . The beef is Italian beef and so I made a sandwich . I ’ ve never had one and let me tell you it was good . They have a hard crust bread that you load your beef up on and I guess you can put sausage which I wish I would have done . And then you can do it three ways you can do it dry , or you can spoon some of the gravy ( aujus ) on to your sandwich and let it soak into the inside bread . Or in some places they dip them where they take the whole sandwich with the tongs and just give it a complete dunk in the juice . I had some hot jardiniere on mine and man that was one good sandwich . We had a beautiful evening there . I drank more Hamm ’ s than I probably have in my entire life ( until I got to Casey ’ s in Oregon ). It was a great time , but we decided it was time to head back but before we had too many more Hamm ’ s . Before we left , we had to give Patrick some retirement gifts as he ’ s retiring from the Cook County Sheriff ’ s Department . So we ’ ve made him a set of Hamm ’ s glasses and coasters and a nice retirement plaque on the laser and presented that to him . We also made some deliveries . Judy had done some framing for Dennis Lovato and we picked up some stuff for some people and muled back some Hamm ’ s signs for Randy Sewick . It was a good time and we ended up back at the hotel and there was still time to go to the Jersey Shore party for a little bit . And then we sat around with Bill and Laurie Baburek in their room and enjoyed a little bit of conversation and beers until about midnight when we packed it in once again . Saturday morning , we loaded the car and then hit the trade floor for a while . Then we made the rounds and said our goodbyes and headed for Dubuque . Bullocks followed us and we like to make an overnight stay in Dubuque as it ’ s the halfway point . We stopped at a little bar in Wisconsin for a bathroom break and I drank an Old Milwaukee . I was really surprised at how good it tasted . I used to hate that beer when I was young . We kept pushing on to Potosi for a brewery tour and a snack . A few beers and then on to Dubuque . We checked in the hotel and headed off to some bars and then Paul ’ s Tavern for one of those burgers cooked in that old cast iron cooker . Dang good burgers ! We walked around Dubuque and hit some more bars including an interesting one with costumes and rather interesting décor . Finally , off to bed . The next morning , we ate at our favorite little diner and started rolling home . Bullocks turned north at Waterloo , and we rolled home on Highway 20 . NABA never disappoints and this year was no exception .
Haylee scores a Cubs sign for her room .
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