Monday, July 14, 2008
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Home from Chicago! What a great city!
We left out early Saturday morning and drove to Indiana to visit Don and Doris (the pastor that married Loretta and David). We met their wonderful family, had dinner and went to church with them on Sunday morning. They also made us feel at home and we had a great time getting to know them. I know David and Loretta had a fun looking at old pictures and catching up with the family. After lunch at the church we headed to Chicago. We arrived and checked into our hotel and went to Carmen Garcia's house (Alicia's Godmother) and met her and her incredible family...Choli (Carmen's sister), Lety, Don, Little Don, Vanessa, Baby Lety, and Christina(Carmen's daughter and her family), Santi, his wife, Little Santi and Gabriel (Carmen's son and his family), Memo (Carmen's son) They are such a loving family...made us feel at home and special.
Monday morning we headed to the Lincoln park Zoo (which is a free zoo). Then we went to Navy Pier ate lunch at the Billy Goat Tavern (the history behind this dates back to the World Series in Baseball between the Cubs and White Sox), we spent the rest of the day at Navy Pier walking around, shopping, we road this HUGE Farris wheel and dinner at Bubba Gumps (yes the one from Forrest Gump). We headed to Wrigley field for pictures and went to where David went to High School- Lane Tech. HUGE school, like a small college campus!
Tuesday morning we rode the L-Train into downtown and went to the Sears Tower amazing view of the city. Ate lunch at Giordano's unbelievable pizza--better than anything around here! Back on the train and headed to Michigan Ave (Magnificent Mile) did some shopping, went to Tiffany's, Hershey's Store, Disney Store, American Girl for Maddie J., several other stores. Went to the Water Tower, which is the only building left standing during the Chicago Fire. Ate dinner at the U Lucky Dawg ( a true Chicago hot dog)...I did not eat one because my hot dogs have two names Oscar Myer...LOL. Went and played a round of mini golf at the Bunny Hutch and back to Lety and Don's house for a visit and to play Rock Band on the Wii. Tonight we met Anna and Little Alex (Carmen's niece and great nephew)
Wednesday we went to the Shedd Aquarium at lunch outside in the park by the Field Museum (this is where they filmed parts of A Night in the Museum) we then went into the Field Museum and saw "Sue" the most complete dinosaur and many other interesting things. After that back to Lety and Don's for Italian Beef sandwiches and sang Karaoke. We were able to met Alex tonight (Carmen's nephew). We were going to go out on Alex's yacht to watch fireworks but they closed the harbour due to a Lake Tsunami (I forgot what it is called). Rich was also there his daughter, Taylor, his wife and Christina were in Missouri and were coming in Friday.
Thursday we headed out to the Taste of Chicago...WOW! my senses were going crazy with all of the yummy smells. We had ribs, crab claws, calamari, frozen chocolate dipped bananas, chocolate covered strawberries, grilled corn, and a lot more! Buckingham Fountain is right by the Taste and is gorgeous, Millennium Park which has the huge "bubble thing" that has been in video's. Then we headed to Jade Dragon which is a famous tattoo parlor in Chicago...let say 9 walked in 5 came out with a new tat. Then to Lou Malnati's Pizzeria for a true Chicago style deep dish pizza. The crew from Alabama liked Giordano's better and the crew that are originally from Chicago is all about some Lou Malnati's.
Friday breakfast at Jacks Restaurant (not our Jacks) then off to Gurnee Mills for a day of shopping and just taking it easy. I was able to go in the Achiever's Scrapbooking Store and bought a few things. After that we headed back to Lety and Don's for a cookout and to Oakton Park to watch the fireworks. We we so close to the fireworks we could feel the debris hitting us. I really hope my pictures turn out! We met several more family members and Rich's wife Diane and their daughter Taylor and got to finally meet Christina.
Saturday our last day :( We did not want to leave the Garcia family/Martin family. They made us feel at home from the 1st second we were there. We had fun hanging with the Diffy's and seeing where they went to school, hung out, worked and lived in Chicago. After we packed up the cars we headed back to Lety's one more time for lunch and made another trip to the Jade Dragon for Alicia a tattoo. She was not able to get one on Thursday because she did not have her ID.
This was a great trip filled with wonderful memories, we made new friends and got to know the Diffy's better and developed a stronger relationship. Can't wait till we have the opportunity to visit with them again. Pictures should be posted by Tuesday.
Bibi
Monday morning we headed to the Lincoln park Zoo (which is a free zoo). Then we went to Navy Pier ate lunch at the Billy Goat Tavern (the history behind this dates back to the World Series in Baseball between the Cubs and White Sox), we spent the rest of the day at Navy Pier walking around, shopping, we road this HUGE Farris wheel and dinner at Bubba Gumps (yes the one from Forrest Gump). We headed to Wrigley field for pictures and went to where David went to High School- Lane Tech. HUGE school, like a small college campus!
Tuesday morning we rode the L-Train into downtown and went to the Sears Tower amazing view of the city. Ate lunch at Giordano's unbelievable pizza--better than anything around here! Back on the train and headed to Michigan Ave (Magnificent Mile) did some shopping, went to Tiffany's, Hershey's Store, Disney Store, American Girl for Maddie J., several other stores. Went to the Water Tower, which is the only building left standing during the Chicago Fire. Ate dinner at the U Lucky Dawg ( a true Chicago hot dog)...I did not eat one because my hot dogs have two names Oscar Myer...LOL. Went and played a round of mini golf at the Bunny Hutch and back to Lety and Don's house for a visit and to play Rock Band on the Wii. Tonight we met Anna and Little Alex (Carmen's niece and great nephew)
Wednesday we went to the Shedd Aquarium at lunch outside in the park by the Field Museum (this is where they filmed parts of A Night in the Museum) we then went into the Field Museum and saw "Sue" the most complete dinosaur and many other interesting things. After that back to Lety and Don's for Italian Beef sandwiches and sang Karaoke. We were able to met Alex tonight (Carmen's nephew). We were going to go out on Alex's yacht to watch fireworks but they closed the harbour due to a Lake Tsunami (I forgot what it is called). Rich was also there his daughter, Taylor, his wife and Christina were in Missouri and were coming in Friday.
Thursday we headed out to the Taste of Chicago...WOW! my senses were going crazy with all of the yummy smells. We had ribs, crab claws, calamari, frozen chocolate dipped bananas, chocolate covered strawberries, grilled corn, and a lot more! Buckingham Fountain is right by the Taste and is gorgeous, Millennium Park which has the huge "bubble thing" that has been in video's. Then we headed to Jade Dragon which is a famous tattoo parlor in Chicago...let say 9 walked in 5 came out with a new tat. Then to Lou Malnati's Pizzeria for a true Chicago style deep dish pizza. The crew from Alabama liked Giordano's better and the crew that are originally from Chicago is all about some Lou Malnati's.
Friday breakfast at Jacks Restaurant (not our Jacks) then off to Gurnee Mills for a day of shopping and just taking it easy. I was able to go in the Achiever's Scrapbooking Store and bought a few things. After that we headed back to Lety and Don's for a cookout and to Oakton Park to watch the fireworks. We we so close to the fireworks we could feel the debris hitting us. I really hope my pictures turn out! We met several more family members and Rich's wife Diane and their daughter Taylor and got to finally meet Christina.
Saturday our last day :( We did not want to leave the Garcia family/Martin family. They made us feel at home from the 1st second we were there. We had fun hanging with the Diffy's and seeing where they went to school, hung out, worked and lived in Chicago. After we packed up the cars we headed back to Lety's one more time for lunch and made another trip to the Jade Dragon for Alicia a tattoo. She was not able to get one on Thursday because she did not have her ID.
This was a great trip filled with wonderful memories, we made new friends and got to know the Diffy's better and developed a stronger relationship. Can't wait till we have the opportunity to visit with them again. Pictures should be posted by Tuesday.
Bibi
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