For the last few years, I've gotten together with my friends from Western Michigan University in Chicago. As we're coming from Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Michigan, it's a great meeting point!
Friday
I picked up Erica at her parents' house and we parked in Michigan City at the train station. There was a sign that told us that we'd have to get off the train and get on a bus at one point. Erica asked me about it, and I told her it didn't apply to us. Guess what? It did. At one point we had to get off the train, they immediately led us to a bus, we got on that bus, and then got off and back onto a train. The conductors led us, because they also had to do it, and there was no pausing for bathrooms, eating, or slowing down. It was actually very efficient. They told us they've been working on the tracks and it's been this way for two years. We also had to wait for a train to pass us on the tracks...in retrospect, I would have driven closer to Chicago before getting on the train - probably to Hammond. Free parking and cheap tickets on the South Shore Line! Worked great, really.
We stayed at the Marriott Downtown, which is really a great location on Michigan Ave. We just walked from the train station to our hotel. I'd gotten suggestions on where to go from a woman who lives there, so we went to eat at the Green Door, which we liked, and then went down to the Drifter, which we also liked! I especially enjoyed that it had a secret door. We walked back to our hotel for the night.
Saturday
I got up early and ran to Navy Pier along the river. I have all good memories of Navy Pier, and I love Lake Michigan. The water was so blue, and it was wonderful. I love this place.
We walked to have breakfast at Yolk, which is a good chain, and I had an awesome breakfast burrito. We shopped along the Magnificent Mile. We were at Marshall's and I looked at some shoes I liked. I looked at the box for the price tag and the name of the shoe was CARLA. Of course I bought them - they literally had my name on them!
We went in Sugar, a cool-looking candy store I've never seen, plus other fancy stores along the way.
Then we went to our reservation at The Museum of Ice Cream, which I'd never heard of before Aletha suggested we go there. It was heavenly! Different ice cream in every room, fun activities in every room, beautiful scenes, and even...hot dog flavored ice cream, complete with a bun, mustard, and relish! It ended in the sprinkle pool, which was a giant room with a pool full of sprinkle-shaped pieces of plastic. There was one hidden in there with hearts on it, and the person who found it got a free ice cream sundae. A little girl found it and she was so happy. Honestly, I looked for it, but I don't know if I could have stuffed down any more ice cream at this point. I was very full and very happy! This place is SUCH a good idea, and we had so much fun.
Our friend Sarah who lives there had made us reservations at Happy Camper, which was full of campers and Christmas lights and even had swings at the bar! It was a fun atmosphere and the pizza was great. We stopped by Sarah's apartment, and then we went to Bassment. As soon as I walked in, I realized I'd been there before! The singer said he was going to give a free drink to people, and he asked if anyone was named Tiffany. Yes, there was! She had to meet him at the bar with her license. He went through a few more names...Penelope, no. Gwen, no. Carla...YES! Chicago just had my name on it.
The band and singers were so enthusiastic, and we danced and danced with everyone else in the place. So fun. We took an uber back - at first to the wrong hotel, then to the correct hotel - and called it a night.
Sunday
I woke up early and walked to the Bean, which is under construction, but still pretty. We got on our respective trains, and it seemed much faster to get back than it took to get there, in part because we didn't have to wait on the tracks.
Thanks for the ice cream and dancing Chicago! I'll be back!
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