Happy 312 Day, a day to celebrate the great city of Chicago based on the city’s (and my) original telephone area code. I made our favorite Chicago-style pizza for dinner, and Bunny made a Portillo’s-inspired chocolate cake for dessert…it was a most delicious day!
We took our time getting ready to leave for home last Monday morning, but at last it was time to say goodbye to the Renaissance and Combo Breaker 2025. We drove through Chicago on the way out so we could see the city one last time:
And then stopped at Rainbow Cone, as has become a tradition.
We took a break at Wally’s again:
And stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at Portillo’s…bet you thought I was sick of Italian beef after serving so many sandwiches at the event, but no, I was not!
And then it was on to home, with memories of Combo Breaker 2025 fresh in our minds and an eye toward Combo Breaker 2026!
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!
Even though we chose a wildly different route home (through Wisconsin and Illinois), we didn’t have much planned for the drive from the Twin Cities, but we did stop to see the Gaming Gen store in Eau Claire, WI, on the way…but we left so early, we were there hours before they opened!
We did stop in Madison, WI, and walked around their Capitol Building, which is in the lovely Beaux Arts style:
And since we were coming home through Illinois, we stopped at our favorite Portillo’s, where I had my favorite Italian beef!
And that marks the end of our trip north. I wish we could have stayed longer, because it was a beautiful place to visit, and I really enjoyed the cooler temperatures, but I’m glad we had the chance to see someplace new!
I’ll be doing a day-by-day recap of our recent trip to the Twin Cities starting today, but first, here’s a look at it through Chickadee’s eyes.
On the way north, we stopped in Riverside, IA, to see the future birthplace of Captain Kirk.
We went to the Mall of America:
And the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden:
We toured the Cathedral of St. Paul:
On the way home, we stopped in Madison, WI, and walked around their beautiful capitol building:
And had a meal at Portillo’s!
It was a great trip…stay tuned for the full details!
Combo Breaker might have been over on the last day of our trip, but we still had a lot of things planned, starting with our first-ever trip to the Chicago History Museum (even I had never been there!). The short film was really good (it made me cry a little when the things I remembered from my childhood were mentioned), and there was one exhibit in particular that I really enjoyed.
After that, we went to Rainbow Cone. I broke with tradition, and tried one of their new sliced creations (the first addition of those since they opened in 1926!), the “Cosmic Birthday” which included Superman ice cream just like I remember from my childhood. Between all of us, we also had a traditional Rainbow Cone, and two of the other three new additions, “Minty City” and “Chocolate Obsession.”
Then we went to the Pullman National Historic Park, a place I’ve wanted to visit for a long time. We had a nice walk around…it’s a really cool place to get a glimpse of history!
The trip home always involves a stop at Wally’s:
And as usual, we went to Portillo’s for dinner, but this time we stopped at a different location, in Springfield, IL. I love how no two of their restaurants look the same!
After that, it was only about 90 minutes to home…we arrived later than we usually do when returning from Chicago, but we had a full, fun day along the way!
Our weekend in Chicago ended on Memorial Day. We stopped at Wally’s (again):
And went to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Portillo’s.
After that, there was just the boring drive through Southern Illinois before we finally made it home.
Stay tuned for more of our summer adventures!
On Thursday, we chased one last wild hair of mine for the summer, and drove up to Chicago for the day. We had a few goals, starting with visiting Buckingham Fountain, which we didn’t get to do in May…it was just as grand as I remembered it!
The place we really wanted to spend time at, though, was Navy Pier, the last really big thing on my list of Chicago things to share with the Fab Five. We walked all the way around it, and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer day to do it…it was in the 70s with a beautiful lake breeze!
Seeing the anchor from the USS Chicago is kind of amazing…you just don’t realize the scale of the size of one until you see it for yourself!
The views from the Pier are amazing!
I also finally got to reunite some of my Homes Bracelets with the place they represent…Lake Michigan!
There was no way we could do all of the things, so I picked one big attraction…the Centennial Wheel. It is very similar in size to the Ferris wheel in St. Louis, but the views of the skyline and Lake Michigan are a lot more impressive than anything we have here in the Lou!
We stopped for Rainbow Cones after our ride. I really prefer the original Beverly location, because it has so much character, but the scenery made the five flavors taste even better!
We walked over to Polk Bros. Park just across the street:
We also shared a burger from the Billy Goat Tavern, just so we could say we had one:
And then we walked back through the mall and to the end of the Pier again:
I will never tire of the view!
The other big reason for our trip north was so that Bunny and I could visit the Rare Dirndl design studio, located in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, which is a really cool place! We toured the studio, did some shopping, and most importantly of all, got to meet and talk to the designer, Erika Neumayer!
On the way home, we stopped at Portillo’s, as is our tradition:
I’m not going to lie…it was a lot of time to spend in the car in one day (although we certainly had days that were longer on our vacation!), but it was worth it to get to see Chicago one more time before the end of the summer!
On Sunday it was time for all of us (minus Ryan and Turkey) to head home so that Moose could march with his school’s band in the town Memorial Day parade on Monday. We said a sad goodbye to Combo Breaker:
And got a few last pictures:
We took one last walk around the beautiful hotel lobby:
And then hit the road. We were excited to watch the odometer kick over to 80,000 miles on the way. We were even more excited to stop at Portillo’s and eat lunch on their patio!
It was weird arriving home without two members of our family, but they returned Monday with gifts. I didn’t have the opportunity to stop at a Jewel-Osco while we were in Chicago, but Ryan found time to buy my favorite chocolate torte:
And he brought back staff medals for the entire family as thanks for the work we did over the weekend…I was rather overwhelmed at being recognized!
And so that wraps up what was a slightly shorter than usual but greatly appreciated trip up to Chicagoland for Combo Breaker. Hopefully it won’t be another three years before we make it back, but like I said, I won’t take it for granted again!