Trip to Chicago (Vacation)

We spent most of this past week in Chicago.  We went for Monica's niece's first birthday party.  Her actual birthday was two weeks before, but they scheduled the party around when we could be in town.  How nice.

Usually when we go to Chicago for a family event, our trip is all spending time with family and not really a vacation.  The most touristy thing we do is "go to the mall".  But we actually managed to combine a bit of vacation with this trip.  With three young kids in the house, Monica and I wisely chose to stay in a hotel, which gave us some space but also meant we weren't tied to the family schedule.  In part because of that, we actually got to play tourist.

Sunday was about Lily's birthday party, a nice brunch buffet at a local hall, which coincidentally was a 5-minute walk from our hotel.  Then we headed to Monica's sister's house to watch the Storm-Mercury game (well, I watched) and hang out.  Monday we went to the Cubs game which was a unique experience.  Monica got tickets at Costco to sit on a rooftop across the street from the ballpark.  The provide an all-you-can eat and drink menu along with first-come, first served seating.  We were on the lower roof deck, protected from the weather and with a surprisingly good view of the field from beyond right field.  They also have TVs set up so you don't miss anything and bathrooms and what not.  Between the four of us, we had one beer, but a lot of people must have run a beer per inning.  It's come a long way from when people used to sit on the roofs with lawn chairs and a charcoal grill.  I'd certainly recommend trying it once and it's probably a great way to see the game when the Cubs make the playoffs again.  But I think I prefer to be in the ballpark, closer to the action.

We drove back after the game and since it was Labor Day, there was surprisingly little traffic.  Was actually a pleasant drive rather than a long aggravation.  Went out to dinner at Claim Jumper (Monica's favorite) and had salads, since none of us were very hungry after lunch.

Tuesday we went to Long Grove and walked around the shop with Sandra and Ariana.  Had a nice lunch and bought lots of stuff (see clothes, Monica) but it was sad to see the place basically deserted.  Spent Tuesday evening cooking brisket for Rosh Hashanah and cooking dinner (pasta, rice) for the sick bay.  Wednesday Monica and I went downtown to the Planetarium and then browsing along the Miracle Mile.  We saw social networking at its best.  After I posted on Facebook that I was in downtown Chicago, one of my poker buddies saw it and text messaged me about meeting for lunch.  We were able to meet him without any advance planning -- the way Facebook places should work.  Raced home later than we planned and got to Sandra's for a nice holiday dinner.

Thursday AM we were up before the crack of dawn to catch our plane home.

Seems like we did a lot in what was really four days in Chicago.