Just because we chose Chicago as a destination because we wanted to see friends, same as Cincinnati, it doesn't mean we didn't want to do touristy things. So we parked at a brown line Park and Ride at Kimball, north of the city near Brian's, and wandered around the city.When I recognized Millenium Park, we decided to walk through and have a hot dog. The last time David had been in the city, I'm not sure Millenium Park even existed. We saw "the bean" and the Crown Fountain (see above photo) and decided to go into the Art Institute of Chicago.
Our feet were tired afterward from walking all day so we sat on the front steps of the Art Institute and watched some guy put on a show with his sound system and rock n' roll puppet musicians. It was entertaining.
We walked around Downtown a bit, taking photos of various buildings and architecture, until it was time to meet Erin in Wrigleyville for dinner. We went to Goose Island, which is a pub/restaurant that brews its own beer. There, Brian met us.
We called Emily and Ryan to come out as the night progressed and ended up in some bar Erin hangs out at a lot in Wrigleyville. It wasn't the greatest place on earth but it was fun. It was nice to see people we hadn't seen in awhile as well, whether they are from home or school.
After not too long, we called it a night. The next day, Saturday, would be a beautiful day to spend at the beach. And that's exactly what we did.
We grabbed Subway and took the train to a stop I can no longer remember, then we got off and walked to the North Avenue Beach. We ate our sandwiches and then spent the bulk of our time (Brian, Brian's friend and his girlfriend, David and I) hitting the volleyball around in Lake Michigan with complete strangers.
When we were done there, we headed to U.S. Cellular/Comiskey Park to see our first White Sox game. No, we weren't emotionally invested. No, we didn't get to see an American league team -- they were playing the Rockies. However, we hadn't ever been to a professional baseball stadium outside of the two Busch Stadiums, so it was an experience. I bought a Crede jersey-T to mark the event and decided that I will buy one jersey T from each stadium I go to in my lifetime, a little like souveniers.
That night we ate at a restaurant called Whistlers, which wasn't the best but we survived. I had my very first taste of Matzah ball soup. (I feel very worldly now, haha.) Brian and David wanted to watch "Dr. Strangelove," but I was dead so I went to sleep.
The next day, I asked Brian to take us to a record store, and we ended up at a Half Price Books! It was a pleasant surprise being that we'd been to several with Thomas and Beth before. We bought like 20 movies together and bulked up our media library at home.
The drive home was nice -- we listened to Mike Birbiglia and took lots of photos as we left the city. Then we were finally home.
It was nice to be away and to see new things, but at the end of the day, I just want to be in bed ;)
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