Travel

Markel Family Combo Breaker Getaway–Day Two

Last Thursday was one of my favorite days of any trip up north…the day we took the Metra into the city of Chicago!

Those first moments in downtown Chicago are always a thrill for me!

Our big activity this year was going to the Sears Tower Skydeck. (Yes, I hear some people are calling it the Willis Tower these days, but it will always be “Sears” to me!) Not only were we thrilled with the views from all four sides of the Skydeck, we also walked out onto the “Ledge” for an even more amazing, and slightly terrifying, view!

After we had our fill of Chicago views, we made our way to Buckingham Fountain, where we had lunch, and a nice lady offered to take a picture of the six of us:

We then started walking toward Millennium Park, and found this cool dog along the way. I think he’s a companion to the dog we saw on the Wendella dock last year!

Bunny was thrilled to have an opportunity to feed some pigeons:

And we took some pictures at The Bean, as has become our tradition:

We then walked across Michigan Avenue to the Chicago Cultural Center, which used to be the central library in the city, and is home to beautiful mosaics and Tiffany glass domes:

Outside of the Cultural Center, we stopped to see the Bronze Cow statue, a gift to Chicago to commemorate the 1999 Cows on Parade display:

We of course had to stop at Marshall Field’s of Blessed Memory for a box of Frango mints:

And then back to Ogilvie Transportation Center to catch a train back to Geneva. We even found seats on the second floor!

After dinner in the hotel room, we indulged in the chocolate torte cake that I mentioned yesterday. It was as good as I remembered, and the children loved it!

After we spent a little more time relaxing, we headed to the outdoor pool, and stayed in the water as the stars came out. It was a lovely evening for a swim!

Back in the room, we watched a little more Food Network, but not a lot, because we were all exhausted from our busy day, and knew there was more fun to come!

Summer Fun at Pheasant Run

It’s summertime, and that means there’s plenty of fun to be had at Pheasant Run Resort! Of course, the number one summer activity is pool time. Pheasant Run hosts pool parties at the outdoor pool on Saturdays from 11am-4pm, as well as on the Fourth of July and Sunday, September 1, from noon-4pm. There’s a DJ to provide plenty of music, plus poolside games and activities, and drinks available for purchase at the Splash Bar. And if you live in the area, you don’t even have to stay at the resort…you can purchase a wristband that allows you to access the pools all day for $15!

If you want to get out of the sun, you can swim through to the connecting indoor section of the famous indoor/outdoor pool:

Or even visit the charming indoor pool in the Garden Atrium:

If you find that you’re worn out from all of that swimming, you can even check out a board game to continue the family fun!

Summertime also means evening fire pits, and you can purchase a S’mores kit to make your night more fun!

If you’re looking to explore the area a bit, Pheasant Run can also help you purchase tickets to a Kane County Cougars game. The games that the Arizona Diamondbacks minor league team plays are a lot of fun to attend, and you just might be watching tomorrow’s stars on the field!

There are so many fun things to do in the summertime at Pheasant Run, you’re guaranteed to make special family memories, and have tons of Fun at the Run!

Markel Family Combo Breaker Getaway–Day One

It’s time for another Markel Family Road-Trip Wrap-Up!

One week ago, the Fab Five and I left home dark and early to drive up to St. Charles, IL, to meet Ryan at Pheasant Run for this year’s Combo Breaker. Even with the lovely Chicago construction traffic, we made it to the resort by 10:30.

As always, we ran to the Super Target to pick up a few things…the novelty has yet to wear off, and it’s still a treat to shop there!

Then it was pool time! I think we spent almost three hours swimming that first day!

Upon returning to our room, we discovered that the resort fairy had stopped by, and left a basket of goodies, Kane County Cougars caps, and vouchers for tickets to a game while we were in town (stay tuned for the details on that!), along with a lovely note!

We went to dinner with my mom and her husband at one of my favorite Chicagoland restaurants…Alfie’s Inn in Glen Ellyn.

We stopped at the Jewel-Osco after dinner to pick up a chocolate torte, a dessert I have loved for about two decades (more on that tomorrow).

We then enjoyed a pleasant walk around the resort before the storms rolled in and we headed to our room to watch the Food Network on cable TV:

Tomorrow’s post will feature our adventures in downtown Chicago!

Flashback Friday–Beautiful Chicago

As much as I love St. Louis, I still think Chicago is the most beautiful city I’ve ever seen in person. Here’s a look back at some of my favorite Chicago photos that I’ve taken over the last few years:

Flashback Friday–Fun at Pheasant Run Resort!

I’m so excited that it’s almost time for our annual getaway to Pheasant Run Resort! Here’s a look back at some of the fun we’ve had over the years at the pools, on Bourbon Street, and of course, at Combo Breaker in the Mega Center!

Wheaton Grand Theater

I have fond memories of seeing movies at the old Wheaton Theater when I was a child. These days, it looks a lot different, mainly because it’s currently sitting vacant, but I was happy to see that the old sign is still hanging above the marquee.

Chicago’s Field Museum

Here’s a closer look at our visit to the Field Museum in Chicago:

There was so much to see, and we didn’t have a lot of time. We knew we weren’t going to get to everything, so we made sure we hit all the highlights. We walked through the Hall of Birds, learned about the state fossil, the Tully Monster (sounds like a Sesame Street character, doesn’t it?), visited the Hall of Gems, where we saw a likeness of the museum’s benefactor, Marshall Field, carved in green beryl, took a look at ancient Egypt, and saw meteor fragments:

The highlight of our visit was definitely the Hall of Dinosaurs:

And the best part of seeing the dinosaurs was becoming acquainted with Chicago’s most famous resident, Sue, the T. rex:

We were able to use the reciprocity that comes with our St. Louis Science Center membership to offset some of the cost, so we only had to pay admission for three children. I thought that was a great deal for how much we saw and learned while we were there…someday, I’d like to go back and see some of the things we missed!

Brookfield Zoo

Here’s a closer look at our winter visit to Brookfield Zoo!

There was a bit of snow on the ground when we walked around (there would have been a lot more if we had waited two days!), and it was just beautiful:

The best part of the trip, though, was our experience seeing the animals. I was really worried about this aspect, because I thought they might all be hiding indoors due to the cold. In reality, though, this was the best chance we’ve ever had at any zoo to observe the animals…they were unbelievably active! The big cats were probably our favorite (we especially enjoyed hearing the lion roar…he was LOUD!), but we also saw so many other animals in greater detail than we ever have before! (Not pictured: The sea lions we watched fight over position on a rock for at least 20 minutes…they were hilarious!)

In the end, we spent around five hours at the zoo…but we had so much fun, I really thought we had only been there for about two!

I’d like to go back and see everything in warmer weather at some point, but I have to admit, this special trip, where we pretty much had the place to ourselves, will be almost impossible to top!

Markel Family Winter Weekend Getaway–Day Four

We were worried we would wake up to more snow on the final day of our trip up north, but instead, we were greeted by the sun for the first time since our arrival! The views from the windows in our hotel room were excellent!

It was sunny, but quite cold and windy, so we loaded up the van as quickly as possible, and then headed into Chicago to visit the Field Museum. The retreating winter storm over Lake Michigan was still apparent from the museum’s windows:

One of the main reasons for our trip to the museum was visiting Chicago’s most famous resident, Sue, the T. rex. We were not disappointed!

Because I’m me, I had to brave the cold and wind to get a look at the city skyline before we left:

As we often do, we stopped for a late lunch at Portillo’s in Bloomington on the way home.

The rest of the drive was…interesting. We ran into some unexpected snow on the way home, and the last hour of our trip was slow-going and messy. But we got home at a decent time, and the clouds even cleared out for us to see the lunar eclipse later that night! It was a fun getaway, and we’re already planning our next trip to the Chicago area!

Markel Family Winter Weekend Getaway–Day Three

Last Saturday we woke up to the winter storm that had been forecasted…in the early part of the day, even the highways were covered, and from what we could see from our eighth floor hotel room, it was rough going out there. I was a little concerned that we would have to spend the entire day in our room…

We did have fun watching even more Food Network, and I went out to clear off the car at one point, but eventually I got kind of restless, so we walked over to the Oak Brook Home Show, which was being held next door at the Drury Lane Theatre. The show was kind of a bust (I hate high pressure environments), but I did enjoy seeing the inside of Drury Lane for the first time since I was a child. We were especially impressed by the beautiful chandeliers and ornate ceiling:

Back in our room, we noticed a bit of winter drama down below. One of the hotel snowplows had managed to get stuck in a snowbank, and we rather enjoyed watching as first they attempted to plow it out, then tried with shovels, and finally gave up and towed the thing out.

The snow did finally stop, and at some point I realized that the cars in the parking lot down below were no longer spinning their tires and the highways looked pretty clear. So we decided to venture out. First we stopped at Mariano’s, which is a new grocery store chain from when I lived in the Chicago area. We were very impressed with it, and decided we’ll probably need to go back in May, if only to sample the offerings from their “mochi bar.”

Then we went to church at St. John, Wheaton:

We even managed to stop back in at Frosty Faustings one more time, where we caught a bit of the cosplay contest and took a few more pictures.

Once we were back at the hotel, we dug into the treat we picked up at Mariano’s…an Eli’s Cheesecake sampler! We really enjoyed the specialty from “Mama’s Little Bakery, Chicago, Illinois!”

More Food Network, plus some Friends on Nick at Nite before bed on our last night in the hotel. We went to sleep wondering if there was going to be more snow overnight, but at least I parked in the theatre’s parking garage this time!