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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Chicago plans


So I'm finalizing our vacation plans. My daughter is heading out in a couple of weeks, she'll spend some time with her uncle and aunt and grandmother on her Dad's side, then my parents will pick her up and a few days later I'll fly out. Then on Aug. 5 we are heading down to Chicago for a week. Oh what to do, what to do? :-)

When I was there in December I went to the Willis Tower and that's about it. I was only there 48 hours and had to work too. Oh and I got to see the giant stainless steel jelly bean or whatever it's supposed to be. My old boss was in Chicago last month, so he gave me his guide book. We'll definitely hit some of the major museums and my friend who recently lost her son in that tragic car surfing incident, works at the Brookfield Zoo, and she's going to give us a behind the scenes tour. I'm really excited about that.


Oh and what else did I shell out big bucks on? Tickets for a concert. Sigh. It's Lollapalooza while we are there, and on Saturday the headliner is Eminem. Ugh. I don't care for Eminem as a rule, but my daughter thinks he's the greatest thing since sliced bread sooooo ... for $90 each there better be some other good bands too. LOL And it better not rain, or be 200 degrees in the shade. This is the line-up. I don't really know any of them, but some people have said there are some decent ones, so that will be our Saturday.
I hadn't booked a hotel yet, I was trying to stave off using Hotwire because you have to pay when you book, today my other friend offered to let us stay at her place. She lives outside of downtown a bit, but she said she's close to the train station and lives near my zoo friend too, who invited us over for dinner, so there is a nice saving of $1500 which is great since that will almost pay for our NYC trip in October. Well, close. I'm so glad I didn't pay for that hotel because Hotwire room is non-refundable.  I don't feel so bad about the $180 for concert tickets now.

With my family we aren't going to do much. We are having a family BBQ for my Grandmother's 88th birthday which is a few days before I arrive. It's also the local rodeo and my daughter will attend some of that I suppose and may hook up with a friend with horses who rides at the rodeo. Otherwise, just visit some family and hang out I suppose. The week will fly by I'm sure.

So. Any vacation plans out there? Have you finished already? Anticipating? Going without a summer vacation this year? Share your plans.

17 comments:

Chris said...

No big summer vacation plans - I'm using days to do things like help my brother and SIL move, etc.

Oh! If you get a chance to see Atmosphere at Lollapalooza, I recommend them - yeah, it's hip hop, but it's not the usual. And they're from Minneapolis. :)

I'd love to see Bright Eyes. And I LOVE the Mountain Goats. The Cars? LOL!

Tam said...

Wow. You are a nice sister. LOL

We are only going on the Saturday. Weekend passes were sold out and I didn't really want to burn two days there. I plan on spending the whole day on Saturday to get our money's worth. :-) So we'll wander around and try and see as many as we can and I suppose stake out a spot for the big show.

Chris said...

Well, my brother's helped me through a lot of moves. A LOT. I owe him.

They had to be out of their house June 29 and can't move in to the new one until July 22, so they're staying with my SIL's parents (who are cool, and have actually moved to their cabin on Lake of the Woods for the month). So first we had to move everything into storage for three weeks, then get to move it into the new house. A stack of boxes fell on me in the storage unit (my body possibly saved $1000 of porcelain, go me) and knocked me back onto some poles that bruised and cut my back. Possibly I will be wrapped in bubble wrap for the next stage of the move...

Tam said...

Ack! What a pain having to be "homeless" for that short time. They should have gotten one of those "Pods". You put it in the container and then they just store the container until they deliver it to your new house. Two less loading/unloading trips. No clue the cost though. And go you, putting your body on the line for china. (I might have just let it go. LOL)

Chris said...

LOL! I didn't really have a choice about saving the china, I was just in the right/wrong place at the wrong/right time!

At this point, I'm not going to ask why they didn't get a POD. But yeah, that sounds way easier.

Josephine Myles said...

Hope you have a great time in Chicago!

I'd love to be able to afford a holiday this summer, but it isn't gonna happen. We have already had a short break by the sea in June, though, so I can't complain too loudly. I'm planning on day trips on the train to the seaside and Bristol Zoo, though. I also foresee plenty of lazy afternoons at some local river swimming spots, and wandering along the canal near Bath ;)

Tam said...

Your's sounds like a lovely vacation Jo, and probably much cheaper. :-)

So you can tell me, is the sea REALLY warm enough to swim in? We were watching Skins last night and they ran into the sea and I told my daughter it would be far too cold and the boys would suffere shrinkage. But maybe I'm just a wimp.

Average Reader said...

Tam, that Chicago trip sounds very exciting! I still remember your Willis Tower photo from last year.

(BTW, I love your hottie of the day, the nude laundry guy. He has an almost surly look on his face like, "What are YOU looking at!")

Tam said...

We'll see if I can coax my daughter out into the glass box Val. She's even more freaked out about stuff like that than I am. :-)

He's just upset because I made him wash my unmentionables. ;-)

Josephine Myles said...

Yes, of course you can swim in the sea! I'm a bit hardcore, though. I grew up near an unheated outdoor pool which I'd swim in at 65 degrees.

The sea round Britain is warmed by the Gulf Stream, so it's a bit milder than you'd expect at this latitude.

Tam said...

Unheated pool? I just shrivelled up into a ball. Maybe it depends where then. Last year we were at Cape Cod and the water so was cold it hurt, went over off Long Island and it was gorgeously warm. Well, relatively speaking. Yes, yes, I am a wimp. Give me a hot tub.

K. Z. Snow said...

I hope our heat waves are over by the time you go, Tam. 'Cause Chicago at 98 degrees F. with a dew point in the 70s and a heat index of 110? Not so much fun.

Bet you'll have a great time, though. So much to see!

Tam said...

I know KZ, I know. But what can you do. We have to take summer vacation and I figure if I walked the whole mall in DC in that heat (I could feel the sweat running down my back - gross) I'll survive Chicago. Not much choice really. :-)

I didn't get to see much last time so we are looking forward to the museums and aquarium and all the fun things.

Michelle M. said...

What a great mom you are! I was a little worried about how out of touch I was with the band line-up, but ended up hearing of about 4 of them. Phew - I'm not a total square yet.

I'm sure you'll find lots of fun things to do in Chicago - can't wait to hear about them.

word veri: spilk - what you don't cry over.

Tam said...

Wow, lots of good word veris these days. :-)

I like to think I'm "hip to the jive" but I hadn't heard of too many of them either. Oh well, I'll learn something new. I'm looking forward to some of the museums and the zoo in Chicago.

orannia said...

I hope you have a wonderful time. No summer plans - have to survive winter first *grin* Sorry, couldn't resist :) I always seem to crash over holidays - haven't been away for a holiday since...since I lived in the UK and went to Greece, and that was YEARS ago! YIKES!

Tam said...

You need to plan yourself a proper holiday Orannia. In summer then. LOL I'm afraid the idea of "wasting" my vacation time from work just hanging out at home and doing the stuff I do anyway makes me twitchy. :-)