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!
By the time the third day of Combo Breaker rolled around, we had finally learned how to set up all of our kitchen appliances so as not to trip any circuits, which meant all of the coffee was actually ready on time!
We finally got away from the staff lounge long enough to check out the arcade next door, and I even had the chance to play a quick game of pinball.
After going through something like 140 pizzas for dinner, we made it back down for the grand final of the last game of the event…Street Fighter VI:
After the staff raffle (Chickadee was one of the winners) we finally got around to getting a family photo:
We all received medals for our hard work…they mean more to us than I can explain!
We were up super late, but at that point, we were so exhausted we didn’t even care. We did still have the drive home to think about in the morning, though!
We were up bright and early again for the second day of Combo Breaker.
The three days of the event have a very specific routine for those of us in the staff lounge…we serve breakfast, make sure there’s lots of snacks and water, serve lunch, put out more snacks and water, and serve dinner, plus even more snacks and water. Oh, and lots of cleaning up in between. This year, we tried out a new deli (Finuccio & Sons) for our lunch order, and we were very pleased with the sandwiches they provided!
We did take one brief walk through the event again…it’s easy to feel detached from what’s going on when you spend all day in the same room!
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!
Last Thursday, Chickadee and I had a little adventure before we really got to work…we visited the Leaning Tower of Niles! More details to come in the future…
We both had custom badges for the event for the first time…it was very exciting!
We did manage to sneak in a walk around the hotel…that was the last time we set foot outside until it was time to go home!
There was also some craziness with room switching, but we finally got it straightened out and our stuff moved into the room we were supposed to have…it was a nice one!
We took a peek at the main floor…truly the calm before the storm!
And then we got to work setting up our first meal of the weekend:
The second day of our Combo Breaker trip was one of my favorite days of the whole year, because we took the Metra into Chicago!
Bunny’s first objective is always to find the pigeons and feed them, and it was a successful mission!
We walked close to 10 miles…down to Buckingham Fountain, up the Magnificent Mile, and everywhere in between!
It was a chilly, rainy day, but that didn’t (if you’ll pardon the pun) dampen our spirits!
It was nice to take a break indoors at Water Tower Place, though, and we stopped in a few of our favorite shops while we dried off and warmed up.
We visited the Starbucks Reserve Roastery again this year, and this time, we actually figured out the menu and ordered some drinks…I got a lavender matcha malt (shocking, I know), and it was absolutely amazing…I’m going to try to recreate it at home!
Of course we stopped by Marshall Field’s of Blessed Memory, where we admired some of the historical details of the building and bought an entirely too expensive (and small!) box of Frango mints.
But eventually we had to get back on the train to head back to the hotel…we always ride upstairs on the return trip.
Back at the hotel, we switched to Combo Breaker mode and got to work alphabetizing badges. Once that was done, it was time for another swim and more game time in the lobby.
Up next…a trip to Italy? And the real preparation for Combo Breaker begins!
Time for a look back at one of our favorite events of the whole year…our annual trip north for Combo Breaker!
We were able to leave pretty early last Tuesday, which was nice. It was even nicer that we didn’t have to drive through a dust storm! We stopped at Wally’s, as is our tradition:
And we took a brief detour to see this year’s Umbrella Sky Project in Elmhurst. I was really excited to see it, because the color scheme is different this year, but they were all closed, most likely due to recent windy and (ironically) rainy weather. It did still look cool in its own way, but I’m a little sad we didn’t get the full effect.
After that we went to the hotel, where we had some challenges getting checked in, but got things worked out eventually.
We stopped at Meijer (which is a treat for us) for some supplies for our week in Schaumburg:
And then we went back to the hotel for a swim and some games in the hotel lobby.
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!
On the third day of our trip, we set out to see as many things as possible, beginning with the Cathedral of St. Paul in…well, St. Paul! The skyline of the Minnesota state capital is smaller than that of Minneapolis, but I still enjoyed seeing it, and there was something charming and cozy about the city that I really enjoyed!
The cathedral was absolutely stunning…it reminded me of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis in some ways, and was very different in others.
After we toured the whole cathedral, we drove by the Capitol Building:
And then made our way back to Minneapolis, where we found a good view of the skyline:
And a local landmark, the Witch’s Hat Water Tower:
I really wanted to see the Northwestern National Life Building, which is absolutely mid-century marvelous!
We drove around a bit more, and saw the flagship Target store and the Mary Tyler Moore statue, but it was so busy downtown we couldn’t find parking to get out anywhere. Then we stopped at the Basilica of St. Mary. It wasn’t open for tours, but we did walk all the way around it, and it too is a grand and beautiful building.
We stopped by Lyndale Park where we saw some lovely fountains and flowers:
And enjoyed a meal with friends at D-Spot. I had a burger with cheese curds on it, and there were wings with lavender…such brilliant and unexpected culinary offerings!
One more stop at Caribou:
And then a little excitement back at the hotel. Just as Ryan, Turkey, and Ladybug were ready to leave to see the Sonic Symphony at the Orpheum Theatre (the main reason we chose Minneapolis as the destination for our trip), the power went out, and then the fire alarm went off. There were rumors of flames, and I did smell smoke, but in the end, they allowed us to return to our rooms, and the power came back on not too long after. It was a weird time, with a wedding party in full dress and various motorcycle clubs standing around the parking lot (the two main groups staying at the hotel that weekend), and later on the balconies of the hotel, but there was a nice sense of community about the whole thing…I just wish our room hadn’t been on the 7th floor, because that was a lot of flights to climb down in the mostly dark (and then back up again…we didn’t trust the elevator while the power was out, even though it was operating!).
Anyway, they made it to their concert in the middle of the hotel chaos, and I’m told a good time was had by all.
We actually managed to sleep in a bit on the second day of our trip, which is pretty much unheard of for us…but that just meant we were well-rested for our visit to the Mall of America!
My first priority was getting Caribou Coffee…I was not disappointed!
A big highlight of our trip to the mall was visiting the Lego Store:
We even got to see a “Space Brick,” built by the ESA from a meteorite:
The m&m’s store was also really cool…it ended up being one of my favorite stops in the mall!
There’s a whole Nickelodeon theme park in the center of the mall:
I think you can find a Dole Whip just about anywhere these days!
It was just so much fun to walk around a thriving retail space!
Before we left, we stopped for boba:
Five+ hours later, we finally made our way back to the car, and decided since the rain had held off, we would go visit the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.
I loved the sculptures and the setting with views of the skyline in the distance!
Up next: A cathedral, a basilica, and a bunch more fun!
