Chicago

Markel Family Combo Breaker 2024 Getaway—-Day Two

The second day of our trip north was one I look forward to all year long, because it’s the day we visited downtown Chicago. This year, for the first time in a long time, all five children were able to go with me, which made it even more fun.

It was not an adventure without challenges, though, because the train line we usually take was shut down due to mechanical difficulties. We were able to make it to another Metra station on a different line in time to arrive downtown more or less when we wanted, so it all worked out in the end.

Taking a different train line meant arriving at Chicago’s Union Station instead of the familiar Ogilvie Transportation Center. I am not kidding when I say the two stations are across the street from each other, so it shouldn’t have been a big deal, but somehow that minor difference was slightly disorienting, as everything looked just a bit off from the other side of the street!

We walked almost 10 miles, seeing everything and nothing in particular, which sounds like a contradiction, but is how we usually do things:

Of course we stopped to feed the pigeons…we stumbled across quite a flock!

It is always a thrill for me to see the lakefront:

While walking the Magnificent Mile, we stumbled across “Flight of Butterflies,” an art exhibition presented by the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Most were outside, but we found one inside Water Tower Place:

This was the first time Turkey got to see the Water Tower itself!

We stopped at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery, where I was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the place, so we left without ordering anything…it was a cool place to see, though!

To make up for our hasty retreat, we stopped at the Ghirardelli store and shared some of their chocolate creations:

I walked down to the Vietman War Memorial:

And then we went to Marshall Field’s…I mean Macy’s.

We tried the new summer varieties at Starbucks while we were there…they were very refreshing!

We were able to leave from our regular train station, which was nice, because we know exactly how to find where we’re going there!

As is tradition, we road on the upper floor on the way home:

It’s always hard to say goodbye to the city!

And we returned to the station we had intended to leave from in the first place!

We ordered pizza from a local place, Moretti’s, that we had never tried before…It was amazing! I especially loved the use of asiago cheese in the stuffed crust!

Up next…a little more fun, and then the beginning of our work!

Quote of the Day

“Chicago is a town, a city that doesn’t ever have to measure itself against any other city. Other places have to measure themselves against it. It’s big, it’s outgoing, it’s tough, it’s opinionated, and everybody’s got a story.” Anthony Bourdain

Chickadee Thursday

Yesterday, we hopped on the Metra in Schaumburg (which is a whole story in itself) to go on an adventure:

In my favorite city in the world.

We also visited the flagship American Girl store, which is one of Chickadee’s favorite places!

Quote of the Day

“New York is one of the capitals of the world and Los Angeles is a constellation of plastic, San Francisco is a lady, Boston has become Urban Renewal, Philadelphia and Baltimore and Washington wink like dull diamonds in the smog of Eastern Megalopolis, and New Orleans is unremarkable past the French Quarter. Detroit is a one-trade town, Pittsburgh has lost its golden triangle, St. Louis has become the golden arch of the corporation, and nights in Kansas City close early. The oil depletion allowance makes Houston and Dallas naught but checkerboards for this sort of game. But Chicago is a great American city. Perhaps it is the last of the great American cities.” Norman Mailer, Miami and the Siege of Chicago

Chicago Day

Yesterday, 3/12, was “Chicago Day” or “312 Day” because the original Chicago area code (the first area code for my home phone number when I was a child!) was 312. It split several times over the years (I had two additional area codes as the Chicagoland area codes continued to be exhausted), and now the city itself has more than code, just like New York and Los Angeles. Anyway, to celebrate Chicago, I made one of our favorite dinners, Chicago-style pizza, and a new dessert, Chicago-style cheesecake (which has 8 oz. more cream cheese than New York-style, making it a fluffier dessert).

And I’m not done, because tomorrow is STL Day, celebrating the 314!

Markel Family Combo Breaker 2023 Getaway–Day Two

Our second day of our trip to Chicagoland was the one that is always the most exciting to me, because it was the day we took the train from Palatine into the city!

When we arrived downtown, we started walking east toward Millennium Park. Of course Bunny had to feed the pigeons along the way!

We visited the Bean:

There may have been less people in our selfie than in previous years, but they’ve all gotten so big, you still couldn’t see much behind us!

We walked down to the lakefront:

And Buckingham Fountain:

I never tire of visiting Chicago and noticing new things and seeing old favorites!

We dropped Bunny off at the Art Institute so she could see the new Van Gogh exhibit…here’s a look at a few of the pictures she took there:

Then we walked along the Chicago Riverwalk for the first time, where I got a great look at my “corn on the cob” buildings:

After we had taken in the sights there, we headed back up Michigan Avenue toward the Wrigley Building and the Plaza of the Americas, where I was surprised to find that the “Wings of Mexico” art installation we saw last year was still on display:

We stopped at Ghirardelli and shared a frozen hot chocolate:

After we collected Bunny, we headed to Marshall Field’s (sorry…Macy’s), where I was happy to see some references to the old store:

Saying goodbye to the city is never easy!

After we got, we moved some of our stuff into the third hotel room we had for the weekend, and then checked out some of the action at Combo Breaker, but we reserved Saturday for really participating…say tuned!