Since my summer
plan was basically two weeks in Mundelein, two weeks in Bloomington,
and two weeks in Mundelein, I knew I'd be going into downtown Chicago
at least once during the second two weeks in Mundelein.
It turned out I
went into the city more than once, which wasn't a surprise. The first
time was to visit my friend Laura, with whom I worked when I lived in
Seoul. She had a beautiful baby girl, and it had been a year since
I'd seen here, so I took the train into the city and she picked me up
at the metro station.
We started with
breakfast at a diner, something I'll always enjoy, whether I'm with
someone or by myself. Baby was quite chatty the entire time :)
Most of the rest of
the day we hung out at her place, just catching up. Laura was still
on maternity leave (being lucky enough to work for an organization
that offers such a 'luxury,') so she had plenty to do around the
house.
When I was younger
I admit I didn't think too much of women who stayed home with babies,
wondering what they did all day long. That impression was so wrong,
as there is ALWAYS something to do when you have a newborn.
After a few hours
Laura's boyfriend came home, so she left the baby with him and we
went for a walk. We ended up at a bakery, which seems to be the norm
for me, whoops. From there she went back to her flat, and I walked to
the nearest metra station.
Then I made a
mistake, I boarded the wrong metra train. I realized it almost
immediately, but that mistake cost me more than two hours, and I
didn't end up getting back to Mundelein until 1900 or so. Whoops. Oh
well.
Another day I took
the train into the city to meet up for lunch with a friend at the
food court in Macy's. There is definitely better food to be had in
the city, but when you're limited to a lunch hour you choose a place
not too far from work. It was a nice catchup, we hadn't seen each
other year in a year.
I was disappointed
by the weather that day, as it was pretty rainy. It's not fun to walk
around downtown Chicago when it is so gloomy and wet.
I ended up
shopping for clothes I don't need.
After shopping I
headed toward Millenium Park. I know locals don't love the place
because it's full of tourists trying to take the perfect photo at the
Bean, but I still love it. The only advantage to the rain is that
there were fewer tourists at the Bean.
From there I
checked out a couple coffee shops, but didn't find anything that
sounded good. It was an easy walk back to Union Station to catch the
metra back to Mundelein, I caught the right train this time :)
The last time into
the city was a half day 'trip' with Kelley and Jon. They drove, and
were able to find parking that didn't cost a fortune.
They'd learned
about an 'oddities market' to see, which was fun to wander around for
a little while. I'm not into skeletons and goth, so I wasn't
interested in most of what was available, but I love people watching
at all times.
After the market I
convinced Kelley and Jon to walk to Bang Bang Pie and Biscuits, a pie
place I'd heard about and Kelley recommended. I'm a sucker for pie. I
couldn't decide what I wanted, so I got two slices. The place is
popular, there was a line out the door for customers.
After getting our
pie to go, we walked to an Asian restaurant called Fat Rice Kelley
had heard about. I didn't love my soup, but her fried rice was really
good. I wouldn't mind returning, as other customers were eating stuff
that looked really good.
Chicago always has
more to see and eat, I know I'll be back.
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