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!!!!