We are coming off of a great weekend! Bill and I surprised the kids on Thursday evening, telling them we were going to Chicago for the weekend! They were VERY excited! Ali had only been to Chicago two years ago to fly out of O’Hare on her 8th Grade Washington D.C. trip. Other than that, they had never been there, and it had been years for Bill and I…I believe it was the year before we got married! I had been looking forward to this weekend for months!
We stayed in a wonderful hotel downtown, Courtyard by Marriott, a block away from Michigan Avenue, a half mile from the beach, and in walking distance from Navy Pier. I would DEFINITELY stay there again…very nice and very reasonably priced! We parked our car in the parking garage and didn’t need to get it back out until we left to come home! It was great!
Friday after arriving and settling into our room, we walked up to Michigan Avenue. I have to say one of my most memorable moments was when it began to rain, and since we didn’t have an umbrella, we took cover in the Fanny May chocolate store! We each picked out a couple of pieces of chocolate…we love Fanny May candies! 🙂
We took a water taxi to Navy Pier and boy, was it chilly! The marquee sign said it was 55 degrees when we arrived! We ate at Bubba Gump’s (I had an awesome Po’ Boy!) then walked down the Pier. Bill and Zach toured a Coast Guard ship that was docked, while Ali and I shopped at the little booths. We took in some beautiful sights, but it didn’t take long for us to get chilled! We went inside for some hot chocolate and coffees…who would have thought we would enjoy hot drinks in the middle of July??! 🙂 We walked back to our hotel, through a beautiful park next to the beach. It was a beautiful evening!
Saturday Ali wanted to do some shopping! We walked up and down Michigan Avenue after having breakfast at Dunkin’ Donuts! 🙂 The weather was warmer than the day before and it was nice to soak in the sun! Zach found the Lego store, and Ali found some fun clothes and accessories!
After a day of seeing the sights, we headed back to the hotel to relax and change for the evening. We had an even bigger surprise for them on Saturday night…I could hardly wait! Ali and Zach were a little apprehensive to take the subway, but I wanted them to experience what it was like to ride on one. We took it to Addison Street, near Wrigley Field. They aren’t Cubs fans, so it wasn’t a big deal to see Wrigley Field. Besides the stadium though, were semis with Rascal Flatts painted on the sides. They still had no clue what we were doing there until I said, “Hmmm, look at those semis!” You should have seen Ali’s face…yes we were going to the Rascal Flatts concert in Wrigley Field!!! Ali was thrilled and Zach was not. He “just didn’t feel like going to a concert tonight.” What? 🙂
We picked up our tickets, enjoyed dinner at a neighborhood bar and grill (Bill’s meal wasn’t the greatest…found a hair in his french fries, ugh!), then took in the concert! It was such a great show! Darius Rucker and Vince Gill performed as well! It was fun for Ali and I to update our Facebook status through my phone before the concert started saying that we were at the Rascal Flatts concert in Wrigley Field! Her friends were excited for her! My favorite part of the show was the second song of Rascal Flatts’ set when they sang “The Broken Road” and at the end of the song, Gary the lead singer, sang the words “Thank you Jesus!” It was awesome! 🙂 Zach even ended up enjoying it too! 🙂 It was a late evening, but one we will all remember for a VERY long time, and we will be reminded of it each time we hear a Rascal Flatts, Darius Rucker or Vince Gill song!
Zach woke up on Sunday with a very stiff neck and in much pain. Instead of trying to do more sightseeing, we decided to go to Woodfield Mall, let Ali do a little more shopping while Zach rested. She found what she was looking for, I found what I was looking for, we took time for ice cream, and then began our trek home.
Even though our weekend was cut a little short, we still had an amazing time! Since we couldn’t fit everything in this trip, we now have a list of things we want to do the next time we go to Chi Town! I’m hoping we can go again this fall! It was certainly a weekend to remember! 🙂
Why is it that Bill always get ruded on the food?????? Glad you had a blast and made lots of memories!
Tell me about it! You know as well as we do that he’s the one to get ruded more often than not! Poor guy! 🙂 Thanks for your comment Stacie!