Rain rain stay away

Our Saturday went well. We started at the Farmer's Market, made a quick trip to the Art show and then we went back to the hotel so we could meet up with one of my friends from back in my days at UF. I met Laurie when I lived in the dorms. We both ended up on the same floor in Mallory Hall.

that was my room- right over the covered entrance.....I lucked out I got a huge room

 Because she was from out of state (Indiana) I think she arrived a day or two before the rest of us. She reminded me about how she met another friend of ours, Betsy, when the two of them were the only ones around. We have kept in touch over the years and she's been back to Florida a few times since that first year of school. She came for my wedding and a couple of other times as well. I have always enjoyed her sense of humor and recently we have "connected" on Facebook. Now instead of an annual letter, we get to see what's happening in each others lives on a regular basis.
Ironically, Betsy who is from Chicago....just recently moved to Florida! hahah so we didn't get to see her on this trip. My niece picked out a place around the corner from our hotel for us to go have a nice breakfast. It was great to see Laurie again...it's been quite awhile since our last visit. (I believe she was in town and I called in sick so I could join her at the beach...hahah I can still hear her saying to me, as I made my call, "I can almost feel your pain" hahahaha

I was so glad she was able to make the trip up for the quick visit. It was great to see her again!

                              Maybe next time we won't wait so long to get together again.
As I mentioned we made our way to Millennium Park after breakfast and then we meandered around downtown for a bit. we stopped in a couple of stores along the way.
Had to check out Dylan's Candy Bar

 We all decided it was a good thing we never went in that place when we were little, or took my girls when they were little...hahah a kid could go crazy in there with all the options! hahahaha

I enjoyed seeing the mix of old and new buildings and the details on some of them. We passed the Chicago Tribune building and other big offices downtown.

We saw the tour boats going out; Meredith wasn't really interested, and even though Liz and I were, we didn't want to take up too much time, so I'll save that for another trip. Because we weren't sure about the weather, we tried to get in as much sight seeing as possible on Saturday while we could. Liz has been on one of the tours before  and said it's a fun way to learn a little about the city and see things from the river. Definitely will try that another time.
After a few hours downtown we went back to the hotel to relax for a bit. We were happy because so far, we did not have any rain.....and decided we'd try to make our way back downtown if the rain held off on Sunday because there was plenty more to see.
Sunday morning our plan was to go to brunch...at Brunch (the restaurant). At first we were sure we'd never last until our 11:30 reservation....but as the morning went on it worked out perfectly. Sunday morning there were some storms...and it was raining when I got up.  It looked like we might need the umbrellas and boots after all. *Saturday night the committee members at the show had warned the artists that a line of strong storms might be moving through during the night, so they should pack up accordingly. While I sat and sipped on my coffee I watched people moving along outside in the drizzle. People were still out jogging, walking, etc. That's another thing David had told me before the trip...even it it rains, people will be out and about. They just wear boots, or a raincoat and grab an umbrella and carry on as usual. The rain seemed to be mostly gone, but there were some deep puddles left behind. It was hard to tell what the day would be like; but I had my umbrella and Meredith and Liz had their boots and we went to brunch.

Like almost every other place we went to, Brunch was pretty busy but we got our table after a short wait. The only disappointment was Elizabeth wasn't able to have one of their "famous" cinnamon rolls. They were all out and it would be a while before they had any more if they made them. Oh well...we were going in search of a place called "The Doughnut Vault" later anyway, so we'd have to settle for a doughnut later. There were some items on the menu that sounded really great...but I settled for seared muffin tops with lemon creme fraiche. and some fresh fruit. Meredith had a nice egg dish and Elizabeth enjoyed her choice too. we did periodically eye the cinnamon roll on the table next to us (" the last  one")....it did look good.
After we ate we got out our map and tried to find our way to the doughnut place. The streets were pretty quiet, like any Sunday morning anywhere I guess.

We found the place and laughed because all it was was this one entrance. You went in the front entrance( above) turned to the left and there was a young woman at the counter. No display cases...just the girl at the register. Because it was late all they had left was one Buttermilk doughnut and a few glazed" doughnuts of the day". Liz bought one of each...which we intended to bring back to Paul and David; after we had a small taste of course...hahaha.
By now as you can see the clouds were moving out and the sun was moving in. It looked like our luck was going to hold for another day!

We made our way around town and passed all the theatres. Lots of great shows were playing...yet another thing to keep in mind if we go back again.

We were slowly making our way down to the Navy Pier. We did decide to ride the trolley the last few blocks. There was definitely a lot of activity down by the pier. Traffic was coming in from all directions; the trolley driver though that maybe no one was directing traffic, but realized there was in fact someone there...he was just trying to manage all the traffic, and it was a slow process. We finally made it to our stop.

We decided to take a ride on the Ferris Wheel, even though Elizabeth really doesn't like heights, she told us it was a nice way to see the lake and the city.

We were so happy that the day turned out like it did...it was beautiful! The ride wouldn't have been the same in the rain :)
We looked around a bit and then hopped back on the trolley. We rode it down to where we could get a ride back to the hotel. Getting out of the area proved to be much easier than getting in...hhaha
We made our way back to the hotel and took a little break. Liz and I  sat out on the patio and enjoyed a drink and talked and watched people milling around.When we were done we went back for a last walk around the art show.
We met a friend of David's (a Greek man who's son is the artist, he just goes along to help). He was quite the character. hahah But one thing he did say was that he knew David was happy to have us there with him for the weekend. I believe he said something like "His eyes lit up when he told me "my sisters are here". That was nice. Apparently they  originally met at a show in Des Moines ,Iowa a couple of years ago(a show they both raved about) and hit it off. They have run into each other a different shows along the way since then.
Sunday sales were a little slower for David, but there was still plenty of activity around the booth.
We made plans to meet up for dinner at a place a few blocks away....Twin Anchors. A scene from the Dark Knight was filmed in the place. (Meredith has seen it , more than once, planned to watch it again to see if she could spot the restaurant). Personally...I really didn't care...hahaha and was a little unsure because it was  another barbecue place. Hey...I figured there would be something to eat that I liked and the company was just as important as the meal.

parking lot on the right is where the truck and trailer were parked...Art Show was a block or two further down this sidewalk

My stomach was a little upset for some reason...but Paul saved the day with a Pepto tablet (or something) I found some barbecue chicken on the menu and all in all we had a good dinner.David and Paul had to finish packing up after we ate...and then they were going to hit the road.  As it was getting dark,Meredith, Liz and I went back to our hotel and got organized and ready to leave in the morning. Monday morning it was raining and we got a little nervous when we couldn't seem to get a cab to take us to the airport. We finally decided to go for an Uber ride...even though Liz and I never did manage to get the app downloaded onto our phones. Once Meredith placed the call...we had a car within 5 minutes and we had a rainy, 45 minute ride to the airport.  Chatted with our driver and learned a little about how Uber works which kept us interested.
Once we got to the airport

we got dropped off at our terminals , checked in and then we.....................waited.
Their flight was delayed a little less than an hour. My flight kept getting delayed. 1hr, 2 hrs..one plane had mechanical trouble, found a replacement. When it finally arrived after some weather delays, we actually boarded and headed out to the runway. But, then we stopped and had to turn around and go back to the gate. (a gate). More mechanical issues on this plane...so we got off and moved to another gate.

 Eventually, a plane arrived, a new crew arrived and we took off 8-9hrs after our original departure time. Through all the delays the group stayed pretty calm. I was impressed...especially considering how many of them were families headed to Disney World. A day at the airport was not quite what they had in mind. Everyone clapped and cheered when we finally took off...and again when we landed in Orlando. hahah We missed the bad weather...so that was a plus; we were all just a little weary. But it was worth it...I had a great trip!
One final shot

good times in Chicago!

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!!!!