Last Friday was a long and busy day for all of us. Ryan was busy directing things, Turkey was doing production with 10/0, Bunny, Moose, and Ladybug were working registration and/or the info desk, and Chickadee and I helped staff the Crew Lounge, starting with the very important task of getting the coffee going before 6 a.m.
We also helped serve all three meals for the staff and volunteers, including sandwiches from a local deli for lunch, and everyone’s favorite dinner of the event, Portillo’s Italian beef!
The two of us were so busy that we only managed a quick walk through the event before we returned to our room, exhausted!
Up next…another early morning, more meals served, and a visit to the Combo Breaker arcade!
By last Thursday morning, things were really starting to come together on the main floor of Combo Breaker:
But before things really kicked into high gear, Chickadee and I took around the Schaumburg Sculpture Park, which was a lot of fun (we even got to see a nesting swan!):
And the lilacs were still in bloom:
And then we got to work in the crew lounge…on Thursday, we only serve dinner, but we also have coffee, water, and snacks for everyone working so hard to get all the last minute details taken care of.
The real highlight of the day, though, was the delivery of the Red Bull fridge to the Crew Lounge!
Last Wednesday we were at the Metra station in Palatine pretty early to get a jumpstart on one of the best days of the year…the day we go to Chicago!
We even managed to get on a train earlier than I planned, which gave us a little more time downtown.
We visited all of our favorite spots:
And we found lots of pigeons!
I got to spend some time on the lakefront:
And we enjoyed a few treats:
Marshall Field’s (or Macy’s if you’re from out of town) is always an important stop, because we have to get our box of Frango Mints for the year…we were impressed to find that they are doing a lot of improvements in the old flagship store:
Our time went by entirely too quickly, though, and pretty soon we were back at Ogilvie Transportation Center:
I think we walked almost from one end of the train to the other looking for seats up top, as is our tradition on the way home, and we finally found our preferred spot:
When we got back, we headed down to the convention center to help out a bit with setup before we got some pizzas for dinner…after walking seven or eight miles downtown, we were famished!
Up next: a sculpture park, and the real beginning of our work!
Just like that, our favorite week of the year has already come and gone, but we had a great time at Combo Breaker 2026!
We set out last Tuesday. As always, we stopped at Wally’s on the way…it might be a controversial opinion, but I think it’s the superior gas station!
Arriving at the Renaissance always feels like coming home:
We did things a little differently this year, and went to Rainbow Cone on our first day in Chicagoland instead of our last (and we went to one of the suburban locations that’s paired with Buona Beef):
And we stopped at Meijer to pick up supplies, which is a treat for us, although it’s rumored that St. Louis will be getting one eventually:
And then a truly rare treat…Ryan found an amazing taco place, Thlaco Taco Tijuanense, in Arlington Heights, and we tried their tacos al pastor, which were amazing…we’re already planning on going back for dinner next year!
I capped off the evening with a visit to the hotel pool and hot tub:
In honor of Memorial Day, today I’m taking a look at the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, MO, which Chickadee and I visited back in March.
The first thing we did was take the elevator to the top of the Liberty Memorial Tower. I’ll be honest…when I planned our visit, I wasn’t looking at the information too closely, and I didn’t even realize that was something you could do until we got there! It only costs $6 per person, and I think it’s well worth it.
The view of Kansas City from the top is amazing!
The area around the base of the tower is also really cool. I especially like the pair of Assyrian Sphinxes, one which faces east towards the battlefields of France, and the other towards the west and the future, with both shielding their eyes from the horrors of wars and the unknown.
There is a really cool gallery in the basement that is an open storage center…hundreds (thousands?) of WWI artifacts on display with minimal or even no explanation:
The main museum has an impressive, large-scale timeline of the events of the war, split into two sections…one focusing on the battle prior to US involvement, and the other after we joined the fight.
There are many items on display in the main exhibit, too, including weapons:
And vignettes that give a glimpse into life during the war:
I always enjoy a glimpse at propaganda:
As well as all the other many items on display:
And going into and coming out of the exhibit, you pass over a lovely and moving poppy field:
This is an amazing museum, and one that I wasn’t even aware of until fairly recently. I’m really glad we had the chance to visit, and now I’d like to go to the WWII museum in New Orleans!
Today I’m taking a look back at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, which Chickadee and I had the opportunity to visit when we were in Kansas City in March.
The reason I wanted to visit the museum in the first place was because I had seen photos of their shuttlecock sculptures, and they really amused me!
We didn’t have a lot of time to explore the museum (it’s quite extensive!), so I asked a museum employee what his favorite piece was, and he directed us to this Chinese sculpture, “Guanyin of the Southern Sea”:
I asked another docent what the museum was most known for, and he directed us to paintings by Monet, van Gogh, Rembrandt, and especially Caravaggio, a master whose works are not often found in the US.
I always like to check out the religious art, and I was really impressed with how their collection was displayed:
And Chickadee was excited to see the Egyptian art, especially anything that has to do with mummies!
Who doesn’t love a good suit of armor or two?
I wasn’t expecting to find an art museum this large in Kansas City, and now I’m really hoping we can go back someday when we have more time to dedicate to it!
It’s Combo Breaker week! My mani is inspired by the colors of this year’s staff shirt featuring Holo Taco “One Coat Black” and “Be Kind Rewind,” and styled with my staff medal from last year.
