"Bitter" Sweet Home Chicago

This was the first trip back to Chicago for the kids and I since we moved.  Greg had been back once early on after we moved to sail for a weekend.  It's crazy to think it's been 7 1/2 years since we moved!  Once we finally got settled at the hotel Friday afternoon, we went to go get a quick bite to eat and maybe go up the Sears, I mean Willis Tower.  We were right around the corner from one of Greg's old offices.  Our walk around that part of town brought back lots of memories for him. 

After lunch, we met my Dad and Step Mom who had driven down from Michigan.  It was a 2 hour wait for the Tower, so we decided to skip that and head down to Millennium Park.  The park had opened a year or so before we moved. I knew it had some fun things the kids would like so we walked across the loop to the park.  Kellen loved the Crown Fountain.  It's an interactive water fountain that kids can play in and it's pretty cool.  Bella wasn't into it, too many little squekers, to use her term.  Greg took her to the bean sculpture instead.  After awhile, Kellen was soaking wet and it was getting late.  We headed back to the hotel to change and meet my parents for dinner at my favorite deep dish pizza place, Girodano's. There was a pretty long but it was downtown on a Friday in the summer, so we expected that.  The pizza was just as good as I remembered it and worth the wait.  

At the old Sears Tower

Millennium Park

Getting "Spit On"

Bean Reflection

Trying to eat the bean.

Saturday, our 17th wedding anniversary, we woke up and decided to go up and see our old neighborhood.  It's a long L ride from downtown, but since the kids wanted to ride it anyway and the RV isn't that city friendly, we figured it was the way to go.  At this point, I still wasn't feeling that nostalgic but that changed as we headed up the red line towards our old neighborhood.  We got off the L and noticed quite a few new restaurants and a new high rise building right on the main street.  We walked towards our old house and pointed out to the kids that if we had stayed, they would have had a McDonalds right around the corner.  Kellen thought that would have been awesome.

Bored on the L

Not Impressed with Chicago Public Transit

Our old house looked good.  We ran into an old neighbor who said it was still the same couple who had bought it from us.  That was nice to hear.  The neighbor filled us in on some of the changes in the community and then we headed towards the park I used to go to with the kids.  I was starting to feel really nostalgic, I spent a lot of time in the neighborhood and I really miss being able to walk everywhere.  At the park, we found the brick we had dedicated to Bella when they re-did the park.  The kids had fun playing and seeing their old park, even if they didn't remember it. 

1248 W. Granville

Bella and Her Brick

We then grabbed some lunch and popped in our old local grocery store, which had been remodeled.  They had also built a new library across the street.  All in all the neighborhood looked great and on a beautiful sunny summer day just a tiny part of me wished that we were still there.  We then walked over to the lake front park at the end of our street.  It's a really cool park that actually had a little waterfront cafe.  Most of the Chicago lakefront is public parks, but this was one of the only ones that had a restaurant.  We were pretty lucky.

View from Berger Park on our Old Street

After that we headed back to our hotel for a bit of a rest.  We then headed up out of downtown for some dinner and then to see some old Chicago friends.  We picked a restaurant that looked kid friendly and after some coaxing, got Bella to sit down.  We ordered their dinners and some cocktails.  After awhile we got to talking with our waitress.  After telling her we used to live in Chicago, she asked where we live now.  We told her Maryland, she said she was from Maryland, specifically Annapolis.  That's right, another Annapolis connection on the road.  She had grown up here and then worked in DC for 9 years.  She had moved to Chicago for her boyfriend turned new fiance.  We had fun chatting with her and enjoyed a good dinner as well. 

Anniversary Drinks!

Our friend Rob and Laura met us at the restaurant with their son Tristan.  We had met them in our birth class when we were pregnant with Isabella.  We became good friends but unfortunately didn't stay in touch with them that much after we moved.  We had such a great night catching up with them.  I love that about good friends.  Years can go by, but when you get together, it's always easy and natural, like no time has passed. Rob is a play write and they come to New York from time to time. They are planning a trip for the fall and we are hoping to go up and see them.  I'd like to stay in touch this time.

We stayed up way too late with Rob and Laura, getting back to the hotel after midnight.  It was going to be a long day driving back to Annapolis, but I was so glad we had stopped in Chicago, even if it felt bittersweet to be there and reminisce about our time in the big city.

Bella and her fancy hot chocolate at Metropolis Coffee

Bella and her fancy hot chocolate at Metropolis Coffee