Starbucks Reserve Roastery

Markel Family Combo Breaker 2026 Getaway–Day Two

Last Wednesday we were at the Metra station in Palatine pretty early to get a jumpstart on one of the best days of the year…the day we go to Chicago!

We even managed to get on a train earlier than I planned, which gave us a little more time downtown.

We visited all of our favorite spots:

And we found lots of pigeons!

I got to spend some time on the lakefront:

And we enjoyed a few treats:

Marshall Field’s (or Macy’s if you’re from out of town) is always an important stop, because we have to get our box of Frango Mints for the year…we were impressed to find that they are doing a lot of improvements in the old flagship store:

Our time went by entirely too quickly, though, and pretty soon we were back at Ogilvie Transportation Center:

I think we walked almost from one end of the train to the other looking for seats up top, as is our tradition on the way home, and we finally found our preferred spot:

When we got back, we headed down to the convention center to help out a bit with setup before we got some pizzas for dinner…after walking seven or eight miles downtown, we were famished!

Up next: a sculpture park, and the real beginning of our work!

Markel Family Combo Breaker 2025 Getaway–Day Two

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!