Day 6. Chicago. We had been planning this day for months. My Mom grew up here so she was looking forward to showing her children the wonders of the city. We were going to go to museums and eat delicious food. Well, best laid plans, right? Here's how the long anticipated day played out.
We woke up to a broken lap top. Seeing as it was my mom's new one, she was none too pleased. We put a hold on out day's plans, and went to get it looked at. Broken with a capital B, which also stands for bummer, busted, and big trouble. For many reasons, we needed to stay connected on this trip, so mom got a sweet Samsung tablet. So much better than a lap top, in my opinion. After a quick lunch, we set off in search of fine works of art. What we ended up searching for was a parking spot. Because we have a cargo carrier on the roof of my SUV, we aren't able to park in a covered lot. I know this because we've tried. It didn't turn out well. After a considerable time driving around, we decided it would be best to head back and just take cab. By now the kids were amped up so we took them to the Field Museum. I've been to several natural history museums and this one is the best by far. The taxidermy was absolutely amazing and the Native American and Egypt exhibits were quite impressive. For having such a rough start to our day, this definitely made up for it... well, until we were planning on leaving. We all stood outside, with about 10 other people, waiting at the cab stand. And we waited, and waited. And waited. Babies were exhausted, crying, screaming and rolling on the ground. Mother was beyond pissed, sitting stoic on the steps of the magnificent Field Museum. Cora and I, walking around wringing our hands, cursing the great city of Chicago. In other words, a hot fucking mess. After several failed attempts contacting the cab companies, we decided it would be best to walk down to Michigan Ave and try our luck there. An hour and a half after we left the museum, we were riding in a cab through rush hour traffic. Clearly our driver had driven for NASCAR. He was weaving through half an inch of traffic, oblivious to the screams emitting from the back seat. The big girls were laughing like it was some Disneyland ride while us mothers gripped the babies with white knuckles, our eyes wide and teary from not blinking. Death Cabbie finally pulled up to the retirement home we were staying at and we all flew out like witches on broom sticks.
We woke up to a broken lap top. Seeing as it was my mom's new one, she was none too pleased. We put a hold on out day's plans, and went to get it looked at. Broken with a capital B, which also stands for bummer, busted, and big trouble. For many reasons, we needed to stay connected on this trip, so mom got a sweet Samsung tablet. So much better than a lap top, in my opinion. After a quick lunch, we set off in search of fine works of art. What we ended up searching for was a parking spot. Because we have a cargo carrier on the roof of my SUV, we aren't able to park in a covered lot. I know this because we've tried. It didn't turn out well. After a considerable time driving around, we decided it would be best to head back and just take cab. By now the kids were amped up so we took them to the Field Museum. I've been to several natural history museums and this one is the best by far. The taxidermy was absolutely amazing and the Native American and Egypt exhibits were quite impressive. For having such a rough start to our day, this definitely made up for it... well, until we were planning on leaving. We all stood outside, with about 10 other people, waiting at the cab stand. And we waited, and waited. And waited. Babies were exhausted, crying, screaming and rolling on the ground. Mother was beyond pissed, sitting stoic on the steps of the magnificent Field Museum. Cora and I, walking around wringing our hands, cursing the great city of Chicago. In other words, a hot fucking mess. After several failed attempts contacting the cab companies, we decided it would be best to walk down to Michigan Ave and try our luck there. An hour and a half after we left the museum, we were riding in a cab through rush hour traffic. Clearly our driver had driven for NASCAR. He was weaving through half an inch of traffic, oblivious to the screams emitting from the back seat. The big girls were laughing like it was some Disneyland ride while us mothers gripped the babies with white knuckles, our eyes wide and teary from not blinking. Death Cabbie finally pulled up to the retirement home we were staying at and we all flew out like witches on broom sticks.
You may have noticed I mentioned a retirement home. My wonderful Great Aunt Jeanie lives there and offered to put us up in the guest suites. So for two nights we stayed in an old folk home. Only this was like no old folks home I'd ever seen before. It was a high rise beside a lake with views to kill for. Amenities such as a library, a bank, a hair salon, a dining hall and a dessert lounge. Posh.
We were supposed to meet Aunt Jeanie for dinner in the dining hall at 6 sharp, but you can guess we didn't make it. At 6:45, Auntie met at the door, dolled up and ready to eat. We just wanted to fall into bed. But we didn't. And boy, we we glad we didn't. Dinner was delicious, the company was wonderful and best of all, the perks of dinning in a retirement home is that Allen cuts your meat into bite size pieces. Dessert and coffee in the lounge. After dessert she too the two toddlers on rides on her walker all around her building, multiple time. The kids were in heaven, laughing their asses off as was my Aunt Jeanie. By this point we were all beyond exhausted so we made our was up to floor 27, called it a night and slept like babies.
Photos of my moms grandfather Clarke Crandall (Aunt Jeanies father) performing card tricks.
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