Woohoo, Valentine's weekend in Chicago with our Life Group! My mom came over on Thursday, and took care of the kids all weekend. We met Andrea at the church Friday morning and drove up to IKEA in Bolingbrook. Jeremy had never been to IKEA before, and we enjoyed the whole afternoon there, mostly looking around. We bought a few little things, and picked out some shelves for the living room and den for the future.
Our hotel was very nice--the Embassy Suites in Lombard. We checked in and spent some time driving around the 'burbs. I forgot my socks and wanted to shop for a few other things, so we were looking for a Wal-Mart, Meijer, Target, or something. We found Kohl's, and Jeremy bought me some socks and all the other things I was looking for; great sales!
Our whole group convened at Cheesecake Factory for dinner, oh yum! (Minus Todd and Jennifer, who didn't get to come because she was sick. SUCH a huge bummer, and we missed them tons and hated that they had to miss the trip!!!!)
Saturday morning {Valentine's Day} we all enjoyed a great breakfast at the hotel and hopped on their shuttle to the train station in Downer's Grove.
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We were just in time for the train, and took the Metra right into Union Station in the city!
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(us being goofy on the train)
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We're in the city!!!
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We're in the city!!!
(on the bridge over the Chicago River)
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These dudes were rowing right along, enjoying the unusually beautiful weather for mid-February in the (not-so-)Windy City!
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We took the Chicago Trolley/Double Decker Hop On Hop Off Tour, and hopped off at the second stop--Millenium Park.
A ha-ha-funny man we asked to take our picture by Cloud Gate pretended to walk off with my camera, and I was ready to chase him down if he wasn't kidding. He was.
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We walked through the park, then decided to split up. We went with the Keller's and Davis' to The Art Institute of Chicago. We spent most of our time in the Impressionist Galleries, which I absolutely loved. (Jeremy wasn't so thrilled about the museum, though I could have spent a whole week there gawking.)
So awesome to be there among these amazing works of art!
Here, people admiring Gustave Caillabotte's Paris Street, Rainy Day.
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One of my favorite paintings of all, Claude Monet's Water Lily Pond. I wouldn't know enough to properly photograph any kind of art, but just love this. I used to have a cheapy poster of it hanging in my college dorm room. It, like many of the paintings we saw, is one of a series. He painted this series in his own garden.
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The Drinker's, by Vincent Van Gogh, wasn't one I was familiar with, but was very intrigued to see and read about! The four male figures are to represent the different stages of a man's life, and the blue-green tint to their skin is to represent the destruction alcohol brings.
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Others we saw that were particularly intriguing or memorable:
We also spent some time in the American Galleries, admiring:
After a little walk to get some Starbucks, we hopped back on a trolley and learned some more about the city. We heard President Obama was at his home in the city, but didn't go visit him...ha ha ha.
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We hopped off the trolley at Navy Pier, and Lisa, Todd, and I spent our $6 for a 7-minute ride on the big Ferris Wheel above Lake Michigan. It was cold, but really not any colder than it was on the ground.
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The Sears Tower and other skyscrapers--a Ferris Wheel view.
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after our ride
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We had to pose in front of the huge new (Dec. 2008) statue called, "God Bless America," which is obviously based on Grant Wood's American Gothic painting. Some other dude wanted in our picture, apparently.
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I am a geek, I know, but I totally love to check out all the beautiful ornate buildings.
So gorgeous. Don't even know what building this is.
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This is inside part of the filling station under the original Chicago Water Tower Water Works. It now houses the Lookingglass Theatre. We discovered just a bit too late that David Schwimmer (one of the founding members of Lookingglass, and star of my favorite show ever--FRIENDS) was playing in a production of Our Town there this week. Would have loved to have seen it!
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We had lunch at Buca Di Beppo at the Pope's Table, which was hilarious and yummy at the same time. We visited the Hershey Store quickly, and stuffed 6 of us in a cab back to Union Station. We hung out in the lovely hotel that evening, and order in Giordano's pizza--Chicago style, of course, SO good.
This morning, we tried to sleep in a bit, had breakfast at the hotel, then all went up South Barrington for a great service at Willow Creek Community Church. Their former teaching pastor, John Ortberg was the guest speaker. He spoke about how "when the game is over, it all goes back in the box." Very inspiring! It was a beautiful place, and a fantastic experience!
On our way home, we traveled with the Schuneman's and met the Keller's for lunch in Schaumburg at Webber Grill.
What an absolutely enjoyable weekend!
Our hotel was very nice--the Embassy Suites in Lombard. We checked in and spent some time driving around the 'burbs. I forgot my socks and wanted to shop for a few other things, so we were looking for a Wal-Mart, Meijer, Target, or something. We found Kohl's, and Jeremy bought me some socks and all the other things I was looking for; great sales!
Our whole group convened at Cheesecake Factory for dinner, oh yum! (Minus Todd and Jennifer, who didn't get to come because she was sick. SUCH a huge bummer, and we missed them tons and hated that they had to miss the trip!!!!)
Saturday morning {Valentine's Day} we all enjoyed a great breakfast at the hotel and hopped on their shuttle to the train station in Downer's Grove.
We were just in time for the train, and took the Metra right into Union Station in the city!
(us being goofy on the train)
We're in the city!!!
We're in the city!!!
(on the bridge over the Chicago River)
These dudes were rowing right along, enjoying the unusually beautiful weather for mid-February in the (not-so-)Windy City!
We took the Chicago Trolley/Double Decker Hop On Hop Off Tour, and hopped off at the second stop--Millenium Park.
A ha-ha-funny man we asked to take our picture by Cloud Gate pretended to walk off with my camera, and I was ready to chase him down if he wasn't kidding. He was.
We walked through the park, then decided to split up. We went with the Keller's and Davis' to The Art Institute of Chicago. We spent most of our time in the Impressionist Galleries, which I absolutely loved. (Jeremy wasn't so thrilled about the museum, though I could have spent a whole week there gawking.)
So awesome to be there among these amazing works of art!
Here, people admiring Gustave Caillabotte's Paris Street, Rainy Day.
One of my favorite paintings of all, Claude Monet's Water Lily Pond. I wouldn't know enough to properly photograph any kind of art, but just love this. I used to have a cheapy poster of it hanging in my college dorm room. It, like many of the paintings we saw, is one of a series. He painted this series in his own garden.
The Drinker's, by Vincent Van Gogh, wasn't one I was familiar with, but was very intrigued to see and read about! The four male figures are to represent the different stages of a man's life, and the blue-green tint to their skin is to represent the destruction alcohol brings.
Others we saw that were particularly intriguing or memorable:
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/65811
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/80607
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/16584
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/111318 (much of the series was displayed)
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/16600
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/25825
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/27992 !!!!!!!
We also spent some time in the American Galleries, admiring:
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/93798
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/100858
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/111629
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/156600
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/125660
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/59820
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/93811
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/62452
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/117266
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/53501
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/186682
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/56682
- http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/191556
After a little walk to get some Starbucks, we hopped back on a trolley and learned some more about the city. We heard President Obama was at his home in the city, but didn't go visit him...ha ha ha.
We hopped off the trolley at Navy Pier, and Lisa, Todd, and I spent our $6 for a 7-minute ride on the big Ferris Wheel above Lake Michigan. It was cold, but really not any colder than it was on the ground.
The Sears Tower and other skyscrapers--a Ferris Wheel view.
after our ride
We had to pose in front of the huge new (Dec. 2008) statue called, "God Bless America," which is obviously based on Grant Wood's American Gothic painting. Some other dude wanted in our picture, apparently.
I am a geek, I know, but I totally love to check out all the beautiful ornate buildings.
So gorgeous. Don't even know what building this is.
This is inside part of the filling station under the original Chicago Water Tower Water Works. It now houses the Lookingglass Theatre. We discovered just a bit too late that David Schwimmer (one of the founding members of Lookingglass, and star of my favorite show ever--FRIENDS) was playing in a production of Our Town there this week. Would have loved to have seen it!
We had lunch at Buca Di Beppo at the Pope's Table, which was hilarious and yummy at the same time. We visited the Hershey Store quickly, and stuffed 6 of us in a cab back to Union Station. We hung out in the lovely hotel that evening, and order in Giordano's pizza--Chicago style, of course, SO good.
This morning, we tried to sleep in a bit, had breakfast at the hotel, then all went up South Barrington for a great service at Willow Creek Community Church. Their former teaching pastor, John Ortberg was the guest speaker. He spoke about how "when the game is over, it all goes back in the box." Very inspiring! It was a beautiful place, and a fantastic experience!
On our way home, we traveled with the Schuneman's and met the Keller's for lunch in Schaumburg at Webber Grill.
What an absolutely enjoyable weekend!
1 comment:
I have spent a lot of time at that particular train station. Ryan grew up in a little house just on the north side of the tracks there, and his grandma & two aunts live less than a mile away. I biked in every morning during the summer of '02 to catch the train to my job in Riverside.
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