The not really so Windy City

Prologue (because this will be a novel, Friends)

Whitney is not adventurous. That should be noted from the start. She would gladly sit at home with a good book any day of the week, and if she were to venture out it would decidedly be to places known and events planned.

The Doctor... not so much.

This trip to Chicago was on the unexpected side for me, and I did not have time to mentally prepare before my mother-in-law was in my house and I was headed to an airport. (BLESS the woman who took beautiful care of my rowdy monkeys while we were away) But away we went! And I rode on an airplane with my sweetheart and remembered a time when we sat on a plane and decided we could get married. I'm so glad we did.

When we landed in Illinois, I asked my husband what our plan for getting to the hotel was.

He asked me if I was up for an adventure. I can't say I loved that answer,

but I shrugged and said I was just along for the ride. (It was a conference trip for his work, after all)

That ride was on the "L" train from O'Hare to Downtown Chicago.

Then we walked across the river and through lots of tall buildings to our lovely hotel.

A view from the front window-wall.

A view from our room on the 8th floor (yes, that's the lake!)

I decided I want to live in the penthouse of that tall building in the middle-- it had big circle windows.

A view up from the 'sky lobby' to the window roof

On the first day of his conference meetings, The Doctor asked me what my plans were.

Oh, how I was tempted to cozy myself into that king-sized bed and watch Food Network and read my historical fiction/mystery from the library in Arizona. But I decided that the time I had away from my children should not be squandered with things that can be done anywhere-- I was in the CITY!!

So I went for a walk-- all by myself. And I found a place to get a pedicure. (I do love a good red on the toe, don't you?) And I got myself lunch and I walked the city. I took a few reflection pictures (my silhouette on the city windows) but I think they got deleted in the attempts to make room for our other adventures. 

so all you get is toe pictures.

 After his day of conferencing, we walked to Navy Pier.

And rode the Ferris Wheel.

We took a zillion pictures as we walked, but my most memorable was this one. This sail boat (schooner?) pulled around and came very near the pier where we were sitting. I took a picture and the moment my shutter clicked, they shot a cannon (obviously with a large, resounding BOOM) and I almost dropped the camera. How's that for timing?

 We walked the city again to find dinner at a gormet bar/restaurant on the river (Salmoln Nicoise Salad for me and Steak and Fries for him)

 I will confess that the next day actually did have some book reading and Food Network-ing in it. But I also wandered up to the Miracle Mile shopping sector of the city,
and HOLY SHMOLY was there a lot of shopping to be done!

 I might have been one of those stylish ladies stylishly carrying 87 different shopping bags
if not for the resident's salary we are living on. (But a girl can dream, right?)

 I tried on way too many clothes at H&M and Forever 21. I browsed at a kazillion other stores
 and got lost in the American Girls THREE-story monstrosity of delight.
 (Can I confess that a little part of me covets these dolls, even now?)

These are the ones that reminded me of my Grapesie.

That one, in the middle on the back row-- she wanted to come home to live with my 8-year-old.
I was sad to tell her no.

 We ate dinner at Gino's Pizza. We used to watch the Amazing Race, and we remembered seeing the contestants eating large pizzas and signing their names here. It was a Chicago experience, for sure!

Deep dish and an IBC... can it get better?

Oh yes- add a Canoli for dessert! (although we had no idea what the green stuff was...)

On our last morning it was rainy and cooler. It had been so nice in comparison to Arizona's rising temps, but that morning I was officially freezing. We took a walk along the river, and while we were under the Columbus Street bridge it began to open.

A bunch of boats were coming through!

We stayed (in the spotty rain) to watch the bridge close. Pretty cool.

My sweet husband agreed to taking a taxi to catch the train (rather than walk in the cold. My legs were pretty much dead after all the walking we did, so I was grateful!) It was also my first taxi ride. ever. And it was a lot like riding in the back of a car. Who knew?

I'm so glad we went. It was brilliant to get away from everyday life for a moment- it made me miss my sweet monkeys and feel ready to mom them again. It made me remember what it was like to be a single person all those years ago, when I only had to take care of myself.

It made me push myself to do new things, and think a lot (it's so much easier without a constant kid soundtrack!) and I hope we get to do it again.

Next time, though, I will bring better walking shoes!