“You’ll LOVE Chicago!” We kept hearing that over and over when we told people we were going there for a vacation. I smiled and nodded but kept my expectations low, after all, its an old dirty city! Honestly, I just wanted the pizza! Well, Barrett and I got started after Sunday School and made it an hour before stopping at an Outlet Mall to get him some much needed Jeans. He patted his shorts for his wallet…nothing. “Do you have my wallet?” “No.” He got out of the car and searched for it. Nothing. He left his wallet at home! Dough! Our neighbor was gracious enough to go next door and make sure it was there and then a friend of ours skipped her lunch with friends to meet us half way back with our prized possession. By this time my eyes were almost swollen shut due to a self-eyebrow waxing went awry the previous evening, Quasimodo had nothing on me!
Well, we arrived at the Somer’s (dear friends) house around 7pm beating all time odds thanks to Barrett’s heavy foot and lack of police. We thoroughly enjoyed catching up with them and hearing how the Lord has been working in their lives as well as eating homemade salsa and grilled chicken and veggies! What beats that? Going out to their new favorite ice cream store! Fantastic!
I will shorten up the details on the next few days save the fact that being military saved us countless amounts of money! Thank you for paying your taxes! Chicago loves the military! We even got in to Cellular Stadium (White Sox) for free! We reminisced Farris Bueller at the Art Museum, stood with dinosaurs and took part in the life of a Pirate Ship at the Field Museum, saw the sun through a telescope at the Planetarium, walked along the lake with our jackets on and with our Goosebumps trying desperately to hold in any remnants of stray heat, drank Argo Tea, got to the Sears Tower the day they were changing the name to the Wilson Tower, went up 86 stories in the Hancock Building, toured Millennium Park, wore our ponchos at the Blue Man Group, walked 500 miles, took the bus, the L, and the subway (YES!), and visited Starbucks for my morning coffee fix! The pizza? We had it the first night and every night after it was SOOOO good! I didn’t know that the “deep dish” meant TOPPINGS! I thought it was thick crust! Oh man, the cheese! What a blast! Then we finished two of the nights listening to dueling pianists play their hearts out, AMAZING! And the old dirty city? Nothing of the sort! It was clean, well policed, and the people were so helpful when they came into contact with map toting tourists!
Our trip home found us eating ribs with one of Barrett’s marine buddies and family. It was fun to be brought back to experiences that they tell so well you feel like you were there! After making sure that Barrett had his wallet we made it home late on Thursday night and fell asleep exhausted only to start work the next day!
I am thankful for home, but I am also thankful for times away from everyday life to spend time with my best friend to connect once again. So our take away’s from this experience is always check for your wallet, never wax your eyebrows the night before something special, bring your sense of humor, and always bring good walking shoes. So you’re going to Chicago? You’re gonna LOVE it!