Lessons I've Learned on My Travels for Hennessy Artistry

In the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to travel with the Hennessy Artistry 2009 Series and learned a few things along the way:

Why is Chicago called The Windy City?

While heavily debated around the table at Shore Fire's Pizza Friday, it seems that no one is exactly sure why Chicago is "The Windy City." While I thought the moniker was a result of a local politics, and others insisted that it was the lake effect that resulted in actual gales, Wikipedia was unable to solve the debate - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_name_%22Windy_City%22#References

And, where does one go when Wikipedia has no answers? The Weather Doctor seemed like a good idea - and they backed me up!

http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/whys/chicago.htm

Where is the best breakfast in Chicago?

Hands down - its the Bongo Room in Wicker Park, this place rivals my all time favorite breakfast eatery Zaftig's in Boston's Coolidge Corner neighborhood. (Nora, THANK you for opening my eyes to the possibilities of a Benedict breakfast.)

Where do you get the best Chicago hot dog?

Not nearly enough time to time to answer this question - I must go back soon.

Does HotLanta live up to its name?

Well, the hip-hop scene and female attire is red hot - as evidenced by my evening at The Velvet Room surrounded by spandex, leather, Project Runway's Mychael Knight & Real Housewife Sheree Whitfield. But as far as the weather goes, we made it out of there just in time to avoid the state of emergency flooding... given the circumstances, I'll need to revisit Atlanta when its not raining to weigh in on this one.

Does Delta's electronic boarding pass get you on the plane?

Short answer - no. Despite the fact that I spent 20 minutes trying to get the pass on my iPhone, as soon as I got to the first security check point they wanted to scan my phone to print a boarding pass..... but the scanner was running low on batteries. Luckily, I had printed a back-up. Then when I got to the gate and asked about why they needed to do this, I was informed that even the boarding gates at Delta's U.S. hub hadn't been upgraded to accept their new technology. Maybe next time.

So here I am back in Brooklyn - a little wiser and ready to take on our grand finale at Terminal 5 on October 7th with Common, The Roots, Elevator Fight, Colin Munroe and a yet-to-be-announced but truly iconic surprise guest.

Will I see you there?