It's been a good year so far

It's been a good year so far. I have been lucky enough to have had some fun trips so far this year. We started out with a trip to Hawaii, to see my sister in January. Next up was a trip to Utah  for skiing in March. In May we had a long weekend in D.C. And this month I got to go to Chicago for the first time ever.
For the last few years my brother David has been in the Old Town Art Fair up in Chicago.

 After hearing rave reviews from him, my brother Paul, Bridget and friends who have all been there, I decided it was time for me to go. Actually several months back at a show David did locally, one of his friends told me "You have to go to Chicago!' and even though as it turned out she didn't make it...I did!

 I threw out the suggestion to my sisters to see who might be interested in meeting up during the weekend of the show. Ellen was busy, but Elizabeth and Martha were interested. Turns out Martha couldn't make it, but Elizabeth and her daughter Meredith decided to make a plan.

Elizabeth found this hotel online that was within walking distance of the art show.

 We could fly in and use public transportation the rest of the weekend. I have never been a fan of driving in a city I don't know...especially somewhere big like Chicago; so that part of the plan sounded good to me. I am also not the best traveler. I 'm not crazy about flying, but I do it.( And believe me flying versus driving that far is a no-brainer!) John is always encouraging me do go somewhere/anywhere on my own...so he was hoping I would do this. Elizabeth made a room reservation and offered to share the room with me. good thing because otherwise it was too expensive for my budget

She made a reservation, I made a reservation and we had a plan! We would both arrive at O'Hare within 1/2 hour of one another and head out to the hotel from there. What we didn't know was that there were a LOT of things happening in town that particular weekend. Graduations, art shows (at least two), music festivals, etc. There was a lot of traffic ; more than one cab/Uber driver commented on the number of cars on the road.(all the more reason to be glad I was NOT driving).
When I left town temperatures were in the 90's , when we arrived in Chicago it was 57! Okay...I knew it was going to be chilly, with chances of rain...but 57 is winter for me! hahahah Started wondering if I was going to need more than my two little sweaters........hmmmmm
Once we made it to the hotel we had just enough time to check in and check out the place before we had to get ready for dinner. Meredith and Liz had made us a reservation at RPM Italian.

The hotel had a kitschy look and feel. Lots of fun furnishings and artwork, that made you feel like you might've stepped back in time. I spotted some familiar artwork on the walls.

wall  along stairs to second floor

 It was a quick trip to the restaurant. The place was big...but it was also packed. We were very happy to have a waiter who did not rush us at all. He let us take our time deciding what we wanted and when we wanted it. I think we were there for about two hours. In spite of a waiting line to get in the place, as I said, we were never rushed or made to feel like we were taking too long. The food was great! from the appetizer to the desserts- everything was very tasty.

We started off  each day down in the hotel coffee shop

A cup or two of coffee and the daily scone was a perfect start to the day.

Our hotel was in a great spot across the street from Lincoln Park. Saturday morning there was a wonderful Farmer's Market set up. Beautiful fresh flowers, fruits, vegetables. Fresh homemade breads and baked goods, cheeses...you name it. I wanted it all! I had ideas of buying a fresh baguette, some homemade cheese and fresh strawberries and cherries and taking it all back to the hotel for a snack....except we had all kinds of meal plans in place. And since I didn't want to spend the entire weekend eating...hahah I passed on most of the delicious treats. I did buy one cookie to share and some Burton's Farm Maple syrup....just because. (It tastes really good too)

looking out from our room to market across the street

The weather report for the weekend was not the best, there was a least a 50% chance of rain every day we were going to be there. David advised us that a pair of rain boots might be good to have. I tried to find some...but it's summer in Florida, and no one in town (at least where I looked) had any boots. So..I opted to buy an umbrella and wear some inexpensive shoes that I own, with the idea that if they got ruined I could replace them for less than the cost of a pair of boots. Liz and Meredith found some boots, so we were armed and ready for any weather.  I decided to literally look on the bright side...Hey there was a 50% chance that we would have sunshine! (Around here it can rain in the front yard and not the back...so I know anything can happen.) As of Saturday morning the forecast looked more promising for Saturday, and the rain chance for Sunday was now 85%. With that in mind we decided to visit the art show first and then see some sights around town in case the weather was bad on Sunday.

live music venues were set-up around the show

The tree lined streets were lovely. There was a "Garden Walk" included in the admission price...but we didn't really take time to look. We did glance from the street and from what I saw, I'm sure there were some beautiful gardens.

 The day started out cool and misty...but the skies cleared and it got pretty warm before the day was over. I think it got up into the 80's.
After we checked out the show we decided to head to Millennium Park. I wanted to see the "Bean" and get some photos since the sun was out.
We had each gotten a voucher for Uber  from the hotel...and we used that service almost all weekend. Meredith had it downloaded into her phone. (Elizabeth and I tried....hahah she couldn't remember her password...hahah and I finally got the darn app downloaded but my phone was so slow...that the one time we really wanted to use my credit...we couldn't waste time waiting for the app to load. Liz and I just laughed you have to...Meredith was just shaking her head. hahahaha Any way...Uber was definitely the way to go. we had a car within 3-4 minutes every time. We watched many others trying to flag down cabs as we loaded up and went on our way.
Our driver took us along Lakeshore Drive and dropped us off at the park. It was fun being in that crowd of tourists. Everyone just seemed to be enjoying the day, enjoying the park and  of course, taking lots of pictures! hahaha There were groups of friends, families, you name it.

                                   Here's a shot from under the bean...a picture of our reflection.

I have just decided that if I ever wrote a biography it would turn out like Bill Clinton's....hahah way too long, because I don't want to leave anything out. This blog is getting long so I am going to re-cap the rest of our Saturday and then there will be a part two to our visit.After a day with NO rain
We met up with David and Paul after the show at Chicago Q. I am not really a big fan of barbecue...but I figured there would be something on the menu I'd like. We had a great dinner. I opted for the Mac & Cheese with burnt Kobe beef bits mixed in. (how could you go wrong with that!) Everyone seemed to enjoy their dinners...the ribs looked pretty good. I personally rarely get ribs because I put them in the same category as crab legs or other foods like that. I just want to  EAT...I don't want to have to wrestle my food first. I know, I know...but I just want to be able to take a big bite of something...not have to gnaw around a bone. hahahahah. The place was busy and really noisy...but we still enjoyed our food and had a lot of good laughs. We also especially enjoyed David's dessert..Espresso Ice Cream rolled in bits of Peanut Brittle with Hot Fudge Sauce (or some kind of dark chocolate) and a big chunk of peanut brittle on top. I don't know how one person could possibly finish it on their own...but David didn't have to worry...Liz, Meredith, Paul and I were more than happy to help him out!!!!

We've been here before...but there's always something new

It's hard to believe that May is already coming to an end! Around here the kids have one more day of school before school is out for the summer...and that means our summer library programs are just getting started.
It's been a fun year with my Story Time kids. I've had pretty consistent numbers all year, which is always a plus. I have enjoyed the group of regulars who have been coming. Many of them will start Pre-K next year...so I won't see them much after the summer ends. Thursday we had a little end of the "year" celebration. I read a few books and then we enjoyed a few little snacks and watched a movie "The Caterpillar and the Polliwog". I had little bite sized cookies and crackers and some carrots and watermelon. We let the kids scoop out what they wanted onto paper plates and then they sat down for the movie. It was fun.
Earlier this month we headed up to Virginia to visit Megan and Marcus and Rob & Shane. Virginia is beautiful in the spring

The weather was wonderful...warm, but cool in the evenings and sunny for most of our trip.
We were going up to check out Megan and Marcus's new place. They bought a condo back in February and we wanted to see it. They have a few projects in mind for John to do...so he was checking them out and making future plans. We also got to visit with our nephew Ryan, who just started a new job in DC

There were a couple of tasks he wanted to work on while we were in town, so while Marcus and John got busy working on the projects, Megan and I made plans. They had to make a trip to the local Lowes (or was it Home Depot?) for supplies. They got what they needed and started to work... Meanwhile....Megan and I decided to act like tourists. There is always plenty to see in DC. I have been to the area many times, but I had never been to Georgetown, so that was our first destination.

We took the metro to the  stop closest to Georgetown ...and then we walked across the bridge.

I embarrassed Megan along the way by snapping photos everywhere....but she humored me.

          There were many boaters, paddle boarders, etc out on the water (you just can't see them in this picture...hahaha)

I'm not really sure what I expected the town to be like...but it wasn't exactly what I thought it would be like. I loved the feel of the place...the old buildings, etc. It was busy on that Saturday. Lots of people out and about shopping, eating, walking around. When you stepped out of a store...you kind of had to jump right in with the flow of the pedestrian traffic...or risk get bumped around. We saw LOTS of people with Georgetown Cupcake bags....and were it not for the fact that the place had a line out the door and halfway around the building....we might have stopped in ourselves. No thanks...there were plenty of other options. We shopped around a bit. Stopped for a snack or two and then made our way back to the Metro and home. John and I stayed at the Hilton hotel right around the corner from Megan's place. It was very convenient.

The next day Marcus had to work part of the day and John was going to finish up on the door change out project. This time Megan and I headed out to the National Zoo. It had been a looooong time since I'd been there...and Megan thought it would be fun...so that's where we went. Again, we took the Metro part way and walked part way.

          It was Mother's Day weekend...so we didn't know how crowded it would be...but it wasn't bad. There were plenty of folks there...but not overly crowded.

We got a map and came up with a plan (sort of) and made our way around.  It was the middle of the day, and warm...so a lot of the animals were taking it easy in the shade or out of sight. No problem...we just went to see the ones we knew would be out and about.

                   Naturally, we had to stop by to see the Flamingos! Megan's favorites.
   We saw all kinds of birds and then stopped for lunch at one of the plazas.

Our next stop was the carousel. I don't remember the carousel from past trips...and of course I was more than happy to hop on an animal for a ride.

Someone in front of us snagged the Flamingo damn them hahah so Megan hopped on the Ladybug (since she was wearing a ladybug skirt). I think I got on the ant eater. As we were getting off...we did get a picture by the Flamingo.

it wasn't till I looked at this photo that I noticed the unfortunate pair of pants on the woman in front of us...hahaha kind of looks like tire tracks on her rear end

                   We left that area to wander around some more. Everything was so green! It was
a beautiful afternoon at the zoo.

We left the zoo and headed towards another part of town I'd never been to. Lots of bars, shops, entertainment and nice housing in this part of town. The downtown area reminded me of Park City, Utah, the way it was laid out.
We were on a mission to find a Gluten Free Bakery that Megan had heard about. They have GF Chocolate Croissants...which are not easy to find, apparently. We found the place and sat in the nice cool shop while Megan enjoyed her tasty, warm, chocolaty treat. We decided to walk to the Metro station at Dupont Circle that was not too far away.

in case you forget where you are...you can spot the landmark in the distance

We lucked out with our timing and were able to hop right on a train and make our way back to Arlington in no time.

We had plans for dinner out with M & M and Marcus's parents later that evening. We stopped by to check on John and say Hello to Rupert

                                                        Rupert was glad to have us back.
We relaxed back at the hotel and then got ready for dinner with everyone. It was great to see Tom and Laura again.

We celebrated Megan and Marcus's anniversary and Mother's Day and just the fact that we were all together again. Then we went back to M & M's place for a glass or two of champagne.
Monday we had plans to meet up with Megan for breakfast, before she headed up to NJ for work. We checked out of our hotel and made our way back to Rob and Shane's house. We had plans for a cook-out at Rob's with Rob, Shane, Ryan, Laura, Tom, Marcus and my brother David (who had just gotten into town early for the Reston Art Show the following weekend) and his friend Auggie.
David went to one place and then we all met up at Wegman's (love that store!!) I was dying to go to a favorite Pie place in Leesburg...but knew better than to suggest it to John...he doesn't like to venture off the beaten path...especially when he's not sure  (or more likely I AM not sure) exactly where we need to go. But luckily for me David came through!!!! Hahah,...  when Auggie told me David had made a trip to the pie shop...I was so happy! hahaha I knew I could count on him!  :D
Dinner was nice...we enjoyed the evening, got a re-cap of Ryan's first day on the job, and then the usual stories from the group.
Our last day in town we planned to head out to the Air and Space Museum on our way to the airport. John had been with Tom during his last trip up...but I hadn't been to the new facility.

I took so many pictures there that it needs a blog of it's own.......but just have to close this one out by saying what a great city DC is. All the museums, the National Zoo, etc all open to the public for free admission! You just can't lose!