I Love Chicago

Most of the time I like my quiet, little place in the country, but it is nice to be able to get out and see other places on occasion. Thanks to work, I've been able to do a lot more of that in recent years and this week it's Chicago.

Since it's 3:30 am and I can't sleep I thought I would post some of the fun things we've done. I'll do conference things later.

I've been lucky enough to be downtown for both trips I've made to Chicago, so the first thing I always do is walk on the Lakefront Trail. The first day we walked the trail down to Bilboa and then across to the loop. We were looking at the menu of a pizza place, when someone walked by and said "If you want pizza, Lou Malnati's is better." Since I haven't had both I can't say which was better, but "The Lou" was great.

Next stop was Loopy Yarn to pet yarn. I picked up a skein of Lorna's Laces, Shepherd Sock off the sale rack. It was the Pioneer colorway, which is blues and browns. Enough for a scarf or maybe a pair of anklet socks. They had a great selection and friendly staff.

Since Thursday night is their free night, we walked back down to the Art Institute after the conference reception at the Afterwords bookstore and a stop at the world's largest Jazz Store. The last time we went Edward Hopper's Nighthawks was on loan, but this time we got to see it. The rest of the time we spent in the Thorne Miniature Gallery. Amazing details in these tiny rooms completely furnished in period style.

Today, well I guess it's really yesterday, I started off the day with a walk to Ohio Beach to walk along the shore and pick up some interesting glass, shells and rocks. There is something about standing on the shore with your eyes closed listening to the waves coming in that makes everything drain out of you.

At lunch we took the Blue Line out to Division and ate at a really great Polish restaurant, Podhalanka. The owner made recommendations and fed us very well. Fresh, homemade fruit juice, cabbage soup (zupy), potato pancakes, pierogies, stuffed cabbage and bread. The soup itself would have been a meal. Fantastic recommendation from Laura.

The next stop was another yarn shop to pet more yarn at Nina's, just a couple blocks from the L. I didn't buy anything this time, but I loved all the samples and displays. It's nice to actually be able to feel and see the yarns you read about on Ravelry.

Last stop for the night was Atlas Galleries on Michigan for the opening night reception for the French artist Jaline Pol. Her work is bold, bright flowers with vivid colors and great texture created with a palette knife.

No wonder I can't sleep. My brain is on overload from trying to cram to much into a two day trip. This doesn't even include conference sessions.