Well, this really feels like old news now, but two weeks ago Greg and I went on a weekend getaway to Chicago to celebrate our seventh anniversary. I just now finished going through the photos from our trip. I'm so behind!!! The last week has been absolutely crazy getting ready for a garage sale, madly making 4th of July Annies, and getting ready for Father's Day. So much to do! But I thought I'd take a quick break from all that to share the highlights from our trip!
In the van bright and early to bring the boys to Grandma's house for the weekend. They were very excited about having two sleepovers in a row!
The weather forecast was pretty sure we were going to get rain the whole weekend. Of course, when so many of the things I planned on doing were outside! Instead of going straight to the city like we planned we made our first stop in Volo, Illinois at the Volo Auto Museum. It's this really cool museum type of place where they store a bunch of vehicles that were used in movies. They also have tons of classic cars for sale and four huge antique malls. It was a nice place for both of us and our varied interests.
One of many Batman cars.
A replication of the first automobile (which no longer exists).
This was odd, but of course we had to get our picture taken with him.
Took this picture for my dad. I remember watching Blues Brothers with him many, many times.
Took this picture for my brother. Johnny Cash's Git-Tar Car.
Ghostbusters car.
The truck Heath Ledger drove in Dark Knight. I took about a hundred other pictures of cars, but it's kind of boring... So enough of this.
With storms still looming in the forecast, we went to the Garfield Park Conservatory next. This was my favorite part of the trip. We were both pleasantly surprised at how big and beautiful it was. When we were in college we spent a lot of time at Olbrich Park in Madison and this is very similar. But way better. At least on the inside.
If you're ever near Chicago and looking for something free to do, I definitely recommend this. We were pretty much the only people in the whole place too. It was very nice.
That night we ate at a place near our hotel called Al's Beef. Greg got the beef.
I had a chicken sandwich (surprise, surprise) and we shared fries smothered in a chipotle sauce. Normally I can take or leave fries; they're really not my favorite thing. But I discovered they taste pretty amazing when covered in something this trip! All the food here was very good!
On Saturday we headed in to the city. All of our plans were a little more complicated because the outdoor concert we planned our trip around that night changed venues at the last minute and the rules for the new pavilion were a lot more strict. So instead of taking the train in as planned we drove to a lot where we could stay all day for only $5. It worked out really well.
Our first stop was Navy Pier, because that's where people go in Chicago. Though I'm not really sure why. That was my second time there and thought it was kind of boring both times. This time was slightly more interesting because we saw a naked man get arrested by about ten police officers a few benches down from where we decided to rest...
I was kind of cranky because my feet hurt so early in the day. With another forecast of storms we were also carrying our coats and umbrellas all day. I wasn't planning on that extra weight and it was annoying! At least it wasn't too hot out. Lots of walking, though. I ended up getting 22,000 steps in that day!
We were really stumped on where to eat for lunch. So many choices, but we didn't want to waste a meal on a bad restaurant. I researched a ton of great places ahead of time and then we got there and realized everything was just too far away. So we made a spontaneous decision to eat at a place called Bub City. I'm glad we did because everything was amazing! We had some stuffed jalapenos for an appetizer - yum. Greg got this super pork sandwich and waffle fries.
I had a turkey club sandwich and delicious tater tots. Everything was sooo good and we were completely stuffed. That was our only meal of the day.
Afterward we walked to the French Market. It was the one neat looking thing I really wanted to do, but it turned out to be kind of a let down. They had a lot of food for sale, but most of it would have needed to be cooked first! So I satisfied myself with a cannoli instead.
Then back to Millennium Park to see The Bean.
There was a cute little park behind it where we relaxed for awhile. And then it finally started to rain. I was kind of a little relieved that we didn't carry our gear around all day for nothing!
There was nothing else we were really wanting to do, so we found our way back to the van and rested for about an hour. It was pouring that entire time, so I'm glad we got to a good place for it. Finally we headed out to the Guster/Dispatch concert. The reason we were in Chicago in the first place. I don't really have much to say about the concert. We were in a crazy long line forever. Umbrellas were prohibited items, so even though it was pouring, all those people had to toss their umbrellas if they wanted to get in. Once inside everyone was immediately drunk. We left after Guster played since that's all we cared about. And that was Saturday!
On Sunday we (Greg) slept in and then headed home. We stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch and then waited for the boys to come home. They were both very happy to have some afternoon relaxation time with daddy! Anyway, it was a nice little getaway. Overall, Chicago doesn't really appeal to me and I probably won't want to go back for awhile, but it was still nice to spend some time with Greg and no distractions. It was a very good anniversary!
