Pete and I arrived home late last night after a fantastic few days in Chicago! We were so thankful to have a chance to take a trip by ourselves.... and as it turned out, the Windy City was a great place to go -- and it wasn't too windy. Pete was presenting a paper with a very long title at a conference with an unpronounceable acronym name, attended by 3500 other academics in sport coats. But the beauty of it (believe it or not) was that it was held at a great hotel right downtown, so I tagged along to do some exploring. Here's how the trip broke down:
2 airplane rides, 3 bus rides and 3 train rides (including some stretches on the "El" which made me think of the movie "The Fugitive")
2 nights at The Palmer House, which boasts being the oldest, continuously operating hotel in North America. Don't think that didn't scare me more than once as we were going up the elevator to our room on the 18th floor... Exactly how were they doing all the maintenance and checks by engineers it must need when it was continuously operating all these years?
4 great restaurants... and I have a new favorite of all-time: Big Bowl. Thanks for the rec, Karin!
9 stories in the Macy's I shopped at! Yes, 9! It was overwhelming, to say the least.
6 seminars attended at the conference by Pete. He seems to have enjoyed them, but I'm glad I was out walking around instead.
1 walk on "Magnificent Mile"... which Pete kept calling Miracle Mile by mistake... or Magical Mile... or...
2 famous deep-dish pizza places we tried. Giordano's was our favorite.
5 wonderful hours with my friend Jen. We were able to talk about all kinds of good things.... and as I walked away after she boarded her train I realized how uplifted and encouraged I felt. And how much more I loved Pete! It's funny... after Pete spends time with her husband Bryan, he feels the same way. These must be signs that they are good friends.
And speaking of friends.... 1 very handsome, strong and smart man I got to spend many hours with! I was very proud to be his guest for the weekend -- and he spoiled me.
Some other miscellaneous highlights.... 1 chocolate cafe; 1 huge new Trump building -- way to go, Bill!; 1 fun used bookstore and 2 nice parks.
And finally.......Countless long, uninterruped conversations for 3 days: Priceless!
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