On Wed. May 11th Mom and I had the whole day in Chicago and no plans . The hotel had a huge breakfast buffet and I went downstairs and loaded up stuff to take back to our suite. I’m looking at all the food now and am amazed that I didn’t spill all that and make quite a huge mess.
After enjoying our breakfast we decided to head down to the river at the crack of 12:30. It was kind of warm that day and we headed through an indoor mall in between us and the river, and came out on Michigan Avenue where many beautiful flowers were blooming.
Of course we had to take our pictures with the wings! I don’t seem to have the picture I took of Mom; sorry, Mom.
On the bridge over the river. No sailboats at this point.
Because we’d eaten such a huge breakfast we didn’t have lunch, but instead stopped at an inviting place along the river for some cider which sounded delicious.
We got different kinds but they were both pretty awful. No matter, it was fun to sit there and people-watch. So many people speaking so many different languages. Chicago is only three and a half hours away, and I don’t get there often and forget that it’s so popular all around the world.
I’d like to make all these additions to my boat. A slide! That would be fun. Plus also a top deck, not to mention a nifty cabin.
It was fun to see the bridge going up and lots of sailboats were suddenly sailing past us.
I asked a guy running a kayak stand about the sailboats and he said they were taking them out of storage and putting them in their slips for the summer.
We made it all the way to the end of the river where it turned into Lake MIchigan. It was kind of a long walk considering the heat, and we stopped at a little place and had some delicious gelato. A Red-Winged Blackbird bonked me in the head, then settled down at a nearby table. If you watch all 10 seconds, he squawks at the end.
I thought this little plaque was very interesting; that’s what Chicago looked like in 1779. Wow.
I guess I was too busy eating my gelato to take a picture of it. We walked all the way back along the river, stopping a lot because one of us was doing quite a bit of complaining about the heat.
When we finally made it back up the many many steps to the bridge I pointed out an ancient-looking woman who was attempting to walk down the steps aided by somebody. I remarked to Mom that old lady was probably younger than Mom, who is in really great shape.
We got back to the hotel in time to partake of the free happy hour appetizers and wine. There were so many appetizers including a lovely salad bar and some soup and wine that we didn’t have a real dinner.
And then, Moulin Rouge!
ok then, photos of that imminently,
Mrs. September Hughes.