chicago again

after dodging the hurricane on the panhandle of florida, i flew back up north to chicago...chicago has been my home all summer, as that's where i've gone in between visits...
last year i got to go to ireland with some folks for a wedding trip...before the trip i knew only the married couple...(and i'd only met the groom once, for a weekend)...after the trip we all got along pretty well...the bride and groom decided to organize a reunion weekend of sorts while i was in chicago...one of the traveling couples lives in indiana, they came to chicago and stayed with kelley and jon for the weekend...(i moved to the office for those two nights)...the only person who wasn't able to come for the weekend was jon's mom, as she doesn't live anywhere close...the other three travelers all live in chicago, like kelley and jon...

the first night was dinner at portillos, the chicago chain...i think i've mentioned it in previous post(s)...the place is always busy, but worth it...as i have said in earlier posts, i don't like to spend money in american chain restaurants, but i consider this one 'local'...
the next day we all drove to a rennaisance faire, just over the border, in wisconsin...i'd never attended one of these faires, though i'd always been curious...not overly curious, but it was a good event for all of us to attend together...and when someone told me about giant turkey legs i'd be able to eat, i was all for the outing...eric and magan brought their little girl, which was fun, since she hadn't been with us in ireland...she's 5, so it was perfectly appropriate for her to dress as a princess to come to this faire...(on a side note, lots of adults wore costumes of various kinds to this faire)

since summer is also known as road construction season in much of the country, this was applicable to the area in which we were driving as well...we had to go an exit further up the highway, then turn around and come back, as the exit we wanted was being worked on...fortunately, this wasn't a big deal...we drove in three cars, and all three had GPS systems, and people who know how to drive...
we entered the faire, and tried to figure out where to go, what to do, etc...the whole area was set up like a really really old village...places selling stuff, (with proprietors in epoch appropriate clothing,) and food (giant turkey leg anyone? !!!!!!) and performers of various kinds...we saw a man with whips who also breathed a bit of fire, and a falconer...(is that the right name?)

unfortunately, as we were watching the guy with the falcons, it started to rain...really really really hard...not fun, not fun at all...i hate rain, a lot...everyone ran to find cover, but there wasn't much to be found...yuck...for a few minutes i hid in a store, i've forgotten what it sold...eventually, everyone in the group decided to make a run for it...through the pouring rain...if there had been any indication it was going to let up, i think we would've waited a bit longer, but that didn't happen...by the time everyone got to the cars, we were all soaked...not fun...
after we all got back to kelley's house, dinner prep started...the menu had been decided ahead of time, so it didn't take much thought...plus, we had yummy chocolate and other lollies to snack on while waiting...(not surprisingly, i did most of the snacking)...after food, agame of UNO started...this doesn't sound particularly exciting, but this was a way the group spent several nights in Ireland, so it seemed appropriate.  I played a couple rounds, then dropped out and watched...when it comes to board and card games, i'm much more of a watcher...some of the group were drinking, which lead to entertaining conversations...

hours later i went to bed, before anyone else went to bed...i'm not good at late nights anymore...(was i ever a late night kind of girl?)
the next morning we said goodbye to anita and chris, they took off to go back to indiana...i'm really glad i got to spend a couple days with them, and with everyone else in the ireland group...