A few days in Chicago

Lurie Garden and Randolph Street skyscrapers in the background

In May of 2008 I accompanied a good friend on a road trip from Baltimore to San Diego, Lauren was moving back to California, Another friendAshly joined us. The trip would take us a week in Lauren's Mercedes. Half of the time we stayed in hotels and the rest of the time we stayed with family and friends of Lauren. I was so excited as this was my first big cross country road trip. On the way to Chicago the big events were we ran over a squirrel crossing on the interstate and got a speeding ticket. After all of this we were happy to see the windy  city, we made it to Chicago around 6pm and arrived at a very nice home of Lynn a collage friend of Lauren's. Lynn lived by himself and everything was immaculate and in it's place in his lovely home down to all utensils organized in his kitchen drawers, after seeing this I thought he could never see my home and I asked if he had a house keeper and he said no he keep his own house plus had a full time job running the family business!

Lurie Garden and Randolph Street skyscrapers in the background

Lynn and Lauren left to get dinner for the night as Ashley and I slipped into something more comfortable. That night I can remember Lynn grilling some tasty meats for dinner and we played some kind of a trivia game over wine from Lynn's basement wine cellar, The girls against the boys. The boys won. The next morning we were to head out but Lauren ask if we could stay another night. We agreed and Lynn fixed us homemade buttermilk pancakes with blueberry's. I could get us to this kind of treatment and never leave! It's so nice to find gracious, hospitable people outside of the South! Because we stayed the extra day we decided to explore downtown Chicago. As we approached the inner city I expected it to look like the area views from the theme song of "Good Times" When one has never been to a place you equate what you do know about it as to how it might look. I was expecting to see high rise projects. Instead I saw a beautiful city that looked like most large East Coast city's.

Ashley & CoCo

Lynn

What a wonderful meal Lynn prepared for us after a long day on the road

Dinner time

Ashley and I enjoying white wine

Lauren & Lynn

Butters making himself at home

Lynn & CoCo

Lynn

CoCo & Butters

We only had one day to explore downtown and after a lot of walking around the girls decided to eat lunch but I went to the art museum. And after the Chicago Historical Society. My first experience in Chicago was wonderful! I can't wait to return. But not in the winter time.

In Millennium Park

Lurie Garden

I wish this was my yard lot's and lot's of lilac 

Marie Antoinette's favorite flower lilac

Marie Antoinette's favorite flower lilac

Marie Antoinette's favorite flower lilac

Millennium Park

The Chicago sky line and Millennium Park

The BP Pedestrian Bridge

The BP Pedestrian Bridge

Millennium Park

Buckingham Fountain is a Chicago landmark in the center of Grant Park. Dedicated in 1927, it is one of the largest fountains in the world.

Buckingham Fountain is a Chicago landmark in the center of Grant Park. Dedicated in 1927, it is one of the largest fountains in the world. Built in a rococo wedding cake style and inspired by the Latona Fountain at the Palace of Versailles, it is meant to allegorically represent Lake Michigan.

The Field Museum of Natural History

The Field Museum of Natural History

The Field Museum of Natural History

The Field Museum of Natural History

The Field Museum of Natural History

The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago History Museum (formerly known as the Chicago Historical Society) was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history.