When I posted my 2011 in review, 2012 goals post I vowed to roll out another serial-type blog post at the beginning of February…
TA DA! Every Thursday, I will post a piece about my travels. I’ll post about adventures past and future. Please comment with suggestions, and thank you for reading!
The following is the journal entry I wrote after Brian and I left Chicago this summer. Chicago was the 5th stop on our cross-country road trip and the first city we visited. Neither of us had been there, and we had a wonderful time. Can’t wait to return.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Chicago, IL – June 29-30, 2011
Driving into Chicago was exciting and HILARIOUS when we all-of-a-sudden changed time zones and realized we were an hour early to check into our hotel. All was well – it took us another forty minutes to navigate the way to our hotel and find parking. We stayed in a Days Inn near Wrigley Field; our room was very simple but clean and very nice. A young man at the front desk was very helpful; he gave us maps and directions and information about a lovely lakeshore walking path. That evening, though, we went directly to Wrigley Field to buy tickets to the Cubs game against the San Francisco Giants. With the tickets safely in tow, we went to find a place to eat. After looking at the menus at several places nearby (I love looking at menus, Brian sweetly tolerates it) we chose a place called Deleece. The food was delicious; I had two chicken breasts, pounded thinly, with goat cheese garlic sauce and caramelized onions on top. On the side, I had French fries and yummy, simply grilled asparagus. Brian had a bacon, egg and cheeseburger.
The game itself was way fun. No score for the first six innings or so, but then the Cubs scored! They held the Giants off until the eighth inning, when the Giants scored a run. The Cubs scored again in the bottom of the ninth to win the game. I bought one cup of Old Tyme beer because a fan told me it was associated with Wrigley Field. The stadium itself was awesome. Very small and intimate (oddly).
We walked back to our hotel, watched a bit of TV, and found out that Stephen Colbert was seeking and that week received permission from the FEC to form a PAC. Funny.
The next day, we had breakfast and got out to Lincoln Park on the shore of Lake Michigan early in the day. It was a beautiful day. There were fishing spots, marinas, a large lovely beach and lots of people out running and biking. We walked for about a mile along the water and then walked back through the park.
In Lincoln Park there is a zoo, along with a conservatory, nature museum, and several beautiful gardens. We spent awhile walking through the zoo and then the conservatory. We saw a gorilla, a rhinoceros, lots of monkeys, snakes, zebras, fish and lots more. It was a very cool zoo, especially consider it is free of charge to enter.
We walked back through the park to our hotel to change shoes, stopping to get a smoothie. In the afternoon we took the Brown Line “L” train to the City Center. We walked a bit along Millennium Park before heading to the Architecture Foundation, which has a full-scale model of the city and many informational exhibits. Brian loved it.
We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Art Institute, which was truly incredible. We saw pieces by Matisse, Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, and a very cool modern gallery, and some Thorpe miniature rooms. We also saw the “Sunday in the Park” painting of which we have a Simpsons version in our living room. The original painting is huge! Unexpectedly so.
After the art museum we went to Exchequer Pub, a Chicago deep-dish pizzeria at which Al Capone once had dinner. We had a yummy Santa Fe chicken salad and a deep-dish pizza with black olives and feta cheese. On the way home we got stuck in a crazy rainstorm, and overhead a funny conservation on two guys – one was complaining about how stupid his girlfriend was. Literally, about how much she did not know. Funny stuff.
We left Chicago the morning of July 1st and drove to Jackson, Minnesota.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
I loved being in Chicago. It was one of my favorite stops on the road during our 2011 summer trip. And if it weren’t for my fear of the extreme weather, it’s probable I’d be bugging Brian about moving to Chicago as much as I am Brooklyn, New York.
twomuffinsinanoven 