Italian beef

Markel Family Combo Breaker 2025 Getaway–Day Four

Last Friday was the first day of Combo Breaker competition. The theme was “10 Years of Dedication” celebrating the 10th anniversary of the event, and if I did the math right, we’ve been there for all but one!

Chickadee and I stopped by the main hall before breakfast to see the complete setup before it got crazy:

Chickadee faithfully kept the water and snacks for the volunteers stocked all weekend…and helped us with the meal service, too!

We did get a chance to take a break from the staff lounge to check out the action…it was crazy busy all weekend!

The most-anticipated meal of the event is always Portillo’s Italian beef on Friday night…we served hundreds of sandwiches to all kinds of staff and volunteers, and we didn’t even run out!

The clean-up from that meal is an absolute beast, and I think we were all relieved when it was time to go back to our rooms for the night!

Up next…day two of Combo Breaker!

Markel Family Virtual Getaway–Day Six

Here we are, already at the end of our virtual vacation. After packing up the car, we had one more stop planned before we hit the road…a tour of Wrigley Field! (Pardon the blurry photo…it’s a picture of a not great picture I took in college!)

After visiting the Friendly Confines, we would have made our way to Rainbow Cone to enjoy the ice cream treat they’re famous for:

I love driving through the Beverly neighborhood of Chicago…there are so many cool vintage signs!

The final stop of our Memorial Day Weekend trip is always a meal at Portillo’s, where I get the Italian beef, dipped, of course!

And then home sweet home…no matter how much fun we’ve had, it’s always nice to pull into our driveway (and begin the process of doing all of our vacation laundry!).

Tasty Tuesday–Chicago’s Best Foods

Of course, one of the best things about visiting any city is finding out what foods that location is famous for and trying them for yourself. Chicago is no exception, and foods that I grew up with as just food are now special treats when we travel. I’m sure people could argue all day about constitutes a Chicago food, but here are my favorites…Chicago-style pizza, Chicago-style hot dogs, Rainbow cones, gyros, Eli’s cheesecake, and Italian beef:

Ryan thinks I should have added the Italian combo to my list, but I really don’t like Italian sausage that much, so the best I can do is mention it. Also, not pictured, but extremely delicious and addictive…Chicago-style popcorn. I could eat that stuff by the (cheesy Christmas) tinful!