Good old chicago, lol. Sounds like you are on the northside somewhere. I have yet to see a vaper around here, I usually get strange looks when people see me with my PV. If I were an employee of CPK, or any restaurant for that matter, I would tell you the same thing, especially if I thought my minimum wage job was on the line by allowing you to vape. People generally dont like something they dont know about, and although ecigs are catching on, alot of people still dont know about them. It looks like smoke, and thats enough for most. Frustrating? yes, understandable? yes. And what do we really know about vaping indoors? The effects of vaping from a health perspective is an unknown. You can show me all the studies you want, nobody will know for quite a while, and like it or not, we are all test dummies. I choose to vape because my chances of dying from lung cancer, or any other smoking related disease, is HOPEFULLY significantly less. Do you have kids? Do/would you vape in the house with them? I dont, because tomorrow, there may be a new study, which can say, anything.
This was in Lake County, but Chicago itself is very progressive. I don't know of anywhere else in Illinois that bans analog smoking on beaches but Chicago.