Lunds Take Chicago!

This is an overdue, and warning: QUITE LONG, wrap up of our summer trip to Chicago. It was a great trip and we happened to catch the first really gorgeous summer weekend in the City. It's true - few places are better than Chicago in the summer! Erik's youngest cousin on his mother's side of the family got married and we were lucky enough to be included in the festivities. His parents were so generous in helping us all gather and stay together and everyone made the effort to make to most of it! And, kudos to Betsy ... we decided Georgia just wouldn't do well in the city and/or she would limit everyone's fun, so she stayed home. PHEW.

And, we're off! Like. A. Boss.

My old walking route! Walked up and down Michigan Ave about 1 million times when I lived there.

Girls! Act like you're having fun!

 The American Girl Doll store was our first destination - wanted to get it out of the way! It is a huge store, in the old Lord & Taylor storefront on Michigan Ave, which had moved since I lived there. The girls loved it and Ellen really didn't even figure out that they served food there and you could eat with your dolls? Maybe next time (or maybe not).

We stopped for a quick (late) lunch at Hannah's Bretzel, which was good and fresh and tasty. There are a few locations close to Michigan Ave. 

We decided to buy the Chicago City Pass before we went - pricey, but we got every cent's worth out of it. To note: kids are free at the Art Institute, but adults are not. The pass is either Art Institute OR Planetarium, which we weren't paying very close attention to. Now you know. 

You get a free audio tour, one for adults and one for kids, with your City Pass. I didn't think Ellen would focus, but it was her favorite part and she borrowed Erik's to sit and listen at about every painting.

We stayed in 2 flats of a great condo in or near the River West area, just about a short block from the Chicago stop on the Blue line. Erik's folks found it on Airbnb and it was perfect. We all had El passes and rode and bussed and walked everywhere - allowed for all the eating and drinking! The kids all did great.

#aquariumselfie

Loved petting the stingrays. And, no one fell in!

We've done the show at the Shedd before, but it is impressive and these beluga whales are really awesome to see. We got there first thing in the morning on Thursday and practically had the lower level to ourselves.

Walking, walking, and we're stopping.

The tough thing about museum campus in Chicago is that there is really nowhere to eat. We had lunch on the outside terrace at the Shedd and it was pretty good, considering, and a great view of the lake.

I have really fond memories of visiting the Field Museum, but frankly, it seemed a little dated. Sue the T-Rex is cool and there are a few nice, new exhibits, but it is still a lot of the old school natural history stuff that didn't keep our kids very entertained. Also, we went toward the end of a long day, which didn't help.

RAWR!

The Egypt exhibit really did keep their interest and this docent was so sweet - answered all their questions and explained things in great detail. I think she was thrilled to have someone to talk to!

Genetics exhibit: Aunt Molly brainwashing kids since 2014.

Then Thursday night we split up a bit and the kids stayed home with Erik's folks (thanks!!) and Erik and his siblings and cousins did a pizza tour on a bus ...

While I met up with 2/3rds of my grad school class! There were only 6 of us in our class, all great friends, and by random circumstance 4 of us were in town at the same time! Scott lives in the Chicago burbs, Deb drove in from Milwaukee, I flew in and Theresa was on leave in the States from her job in Switzerland! She wins. We missed the other two ladies quite a bit.

Friday we headed for the Museum of Science and Industry. I also remember visiting as a child and, in fact, have a very distinct memory of the icky burning plastic smell that comes from those weird museum machines that make plastic souvenirs. Regardless, I wasn't sure we would take Ellen because it's just so far away and really takes a whole day. All the other kids wanted to go and there was no way we could skip out, so we joined the pack. It really is a great museum for kids and adults - tons to see and do - but truly does take most of a day.

Yes, Ellen. Do it!

We grabbed another late lunch at the food court at Marshall Field's (now Macy's) on State St. Pro tip: good way to have Rick Bayless's food without waiting in super long lines other places.

One of their highlights of the trip was riding down 7 flights of escalators. Truly - they were giddy!

Then we went to the Sky Deck late on Friday, trying to avoid the weekend crowds. The City Pass gives you the express pass thing, which was probably worth it, and really would be worth it on a Saturday, I think. The weather couldn't have been more perfect! Also, no express line coming back down - it takes a while.

Fearless! She loved this part and it was the only thing she really asked to do the whole trip, so I stood in line with her again for a second round of pictures!

I really wanted to get to Millennium Park and have Ellen see "the bean" and the art / water feature. It had been under repairs every day and I didn't think we would get back. She was a champ and we all pushed through, despite wandering through downtown Chicago at the end of a work day on a Friday. Couldn't have caught a cab if we wanted to.

I was bummed that the whole water feature wasn't up and running - it is so fun to see kids splash and play in it - but it was also cold!

Navigated the El home again, then Friday night we headed to Goose Island Brewery for the rehearsal dinner - lots of fun and Ellen got to stay up late!

Saturday was gorgeous and we were museumed-out. A few of Erik's buddies were getting together at the beach to play volleyball, so we tagged along. I had never been to the beach in Chicago, as I only lived there about 18 months and it was September 2000-March 2012. Poor planning on my part! It was so fun and relaxing - just perfect after the go go go of the previous days.

And then we lucked out and the Old Town Art Fair was the same day, highly recommended by our Chicago friends. Great place to grab lunch and people watch.

And then we cleaned up and headed to the wedding! Traffic was horrible horrible due to a main highway closure and we had drama getting 6 adults in an Uber Acura to the wedding site, but we made it and it was lovely. Erik's cousin and his now-wife must truly hold the record for long distance relationships: they met in Cairo, she is British, he was stationed in Asia, and now about 6 years later, they are together in Brooklyn. As you might imagine, the guests at their wedding were interesting and eclectic and nice and funny and we all had a great time!

We danced and danced and I wish I had more pictures,but, ahem, Pimm's Cups.

Chicago is a great place to take kids and I feel like we really hit all the highlights! Ellen loved it and probably some day we will have to (get to) take Georgia and do it all again.