Summer 2021: Day 36; Midwest Vacation: Day 5

Today was long, exhausting, and great. I just wish I slept a little better the night before.

My grand idea to run before taking the rental car back was thwarted when I didn't sleep well. Ben and I barely got out the door in time to return the car in time in Evanston. We walked to Walgreens to get a few provisions, then waited for the Metra train to take us downtown for our adventure.

The ride was free, as no conductor found us to collect a fare. We emerged from the station and proceeded to walk in a slightly wrong direction, though we get to see the giant bat sculpture in the West Loop. After getting our bearings, we headed toward Michigan Avenue, then north toward Water Tower Place. The goal was to do this day as cheaply as possible, which isn't easy in downtown Milwaukee when every place wants you to spend money. Looking at the bridge gears underneath the Michigan Avenue bridge would have cost $6 each, and I knew we'd be charged for taking a look at the Museum of Illusions was going to charge us an arm and a leg.

Just wandering downtown was fun enough. We made it to Water Tower Place and the pumping station (which, alas, was closed). We browsed the downtown Cubs team store (and, amazingly, I didn't come away with a hat). We ate lunch at the Billy Goat Tavern. We took pictures at Millennium Park. We popped into the Chicago Board of Trade and admired the art deco design. We also enjoyed the spectacle of Union Station.

By that time, four hours had passed. We returned to the Metra station, only to find the train that we needed to get back to Dad's house was Union Station. Thankfully, we had a little time to spare and didn't miss our train.

I took a long nap when we got back, then drove up to my friend John's house in Wilmette. Another friend John and his wife were also in attendance for a nice little dinner. It felt so normal, which is what this whole trip has represented. And hanging out with friends again was terrific.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Summer, Day 8

Today was Memorial Day, and as far as Memorial Days go, this one seemed somewhat anticlimactic. The sun came out after three less-than-stellar days, perhaps preventing the weekend from being a total bust. I worked late last night but was awake earlier than I wanted to be this morning. I fell back asleep and woke up around 10:30 to a thumping sound outside. Michael, Lori and my father-in-law got the rest of the sand in the base of the new basketball hoop, and Michael and his friend from across the street were shooting around. This was Lori's parents' last day in Utah, so we treated them to The Cheesecake Factory at the new City Creek mall downtown. I had the macaroni and cheese burger and most of a piece of Oreo cheesecake (no matter how much I pushed on my sons -- they wanted to share Lori's banana cream cheesecake). The boys and I wandered City Creek a little and came home. The afternoon wasn't much more eventful. Michael and I took Popcorn to the park for about
Read more

Vacation finale

Image
As expected, the last three days of vacation were much less eventful than the first 12. This happens every year -- we get back from Wisconsin for at least one day before leaving for Utah, and it's just wind-down time. And that's OK -- going nonstop for two weeks isn't easy, especially with kids. And vacation is supposed to be a time to relax, and for the past three days, that's what we did. The past few days weren't that relaxing, however. Monday, we met my mom, who is in Chicago this week, for lunch and then to Old Orchard Mall. That night, we met some friends at the new Superdawg (my favorite Chicago hot dog restaurant) in Wheeling. Tuesday, after pondering going downtown, we ended up just seeing the Smurfs movie with my dad. Last night, we went to dinner at a nice little Italian restaurant here in Edgebrook. Wednesday was mostly devoted to getting ready for our return trip Thursday morning. The heat and thunderstorms finally subsided -- this might have been the m
Read more

Nine days after the solstice

Image
The summer solstice was nine days ago, but I'm only now getting around to writing my annual reflection that is supposed to be created on the first day of summer. Nine days ago, I was frenetically trying to finish up work and get ready for a road trip to Denver, where Benji was competing in a swim meet. We got back Monday afternoon, but I was too exhausted to come up to my usual spot in Donner Park. The last three nights were overcast (though the skies cleared a little too late to embark on my quest last night), spoiling the goal of watching the sunset. So, nine days later, I'm finally here. And now that I am, I'm not totally sure what to write about. To say the last year has been a blur would be cliche, and I don't think it's gone faster than any other past year. But I've been struggling to wrap my head around the current summer and, thus, what's really on my mind. I could write about how we're a year away of having two kids in college and being sort of
Read more