Nourishing November Visits with Family: Part 2

Wednesday 11/24-Saturday 11/27: Chicago

Despite some unexpected early morning news about a family health concern, Mr. E and I set off Wednesday afternoon for our Thanksgiving trip to Chicago. We had been upgraded to First Class for our outbound direct flight so we could both enjoy some adult beverages. Since we grabbed lunch at the airport, we didn't partake of the main meal offerings but did munch on the sides that were offered and also procured two of the "Takeoff" snack boxes to save for later grazing. 

Our flight landed a little early and we easily met up with the car that Mr. E had arranged to take us to our lodging at AC Hotel in downtown Chicago. Before checking in, we made a quick stop at the Trader Joe's around the corner to make sure we had something for dinner and then procured more sustenance a little later at the Jewel Osco a few blocks away. Given the holiday, it was hard to know which stores were truly open regardless of the info provided through Google! 

On Thursday morning, I made good use of the straight and relatively long indoor pool at the hotel to swim laps and followed up with a short Zumba workout and my daily yoga practice in the room while Mr. E slept in. We had received breakfast vouchers for our entire stay from the very friendly and helpful Jason at the front desk the night before, and we very much enjoyed the "European style" buffet, which included hard boiled or scrambled eggs, oatmeal, a variety of meats and cheeses, sweet and savory tarts, fresh fruit, bread and pastries, multiple fruit juices, and very strong coffee thanks to the Nespresso machine.

After breakfast, we headed back to the room to read and relax before setting off to Mr. E's parents' condo in the early afternoon, all the way monitoring other family news and updates. We had a lovely afternoon with his mom and dad, including a rather non-traditional Thanksgiving meal of shrimp cocktail, blanched asparagus, baby tomatoes, and a charcuterie and cheese plate with good bread and crackers. And of course some sparkling wine and pumpkin pie to celebrate the holiday! 

We wrapped up the day by seeing "Eternals" at the AMC Dine-In Cinema around the corner from our hotel and then searched for any open store or restaurant for dinner items. Mr. E ended up at McDonald's while I made do with tuna in a pouch from Walgreen's and some of the remaining items from our airline snack boxes.

Friday was our day for meals with friends. Morning workout for me (no pool this time) and breakfast again at the hotel. We decided to opt for a Lyft to meet up with R & S at their new apartment near Logan Square. After chatting for a bit and seeing the new place, we set off for Cafe Con Leche for lunch. Somewhat limited menu offerings for me, but luckily they were still serving breakfast, so I had the veggie egg sandwich. The Logan Square L stop was just a block away, so we took public trans back to the hotel. Then we had a couple of hours to relax before getting back on the train to head north to Evanston to meet up with M & L for dinner. We enjoyed some time at their townhouse before driving a short distance to Tapas Barcelona, where we shared a number of small plates. M was kind enough to drive us back to our hotel, and we got a good view of the holiday lights as we traversed Lakeshore Drive and parts of Michigan Ave.

On Saturday, we checked out after breakfast and left our bags at the front desk so that we could visit the Driehaus Museum, housed in a beautiful Guilded Age building that was known as the "Marble Palace" when it was built. The interior definitely showed why it earned that nickname! After making a few purchases at the museum gift shop, we reclaimed our bags at the hotel and walked to Mr. E's parents' condo to spend the afternoon with them. Both of us got a chance to utilize the Fitness Center (lap swimming for me!) and then had a late lunch of shrimp spring rolls and tuna nicoise salad thanks to Mr. E's mom.Yum!

We took the train to O'Hare for our return flight, which was delayed by nearly an hour due to issues with weather in Detroit, the origin of the flight. But we lucked out with our seats in the exit row and didn't have anyone in the middle despite what the seat map showed on the United app. And we managed to make up some time in the air so arrived only about 20 minutes late at SMF, where we fetched Odo from the top level of the parking ramp (it had been busy when we left earlier in the week!) and drove home to Calypso's dulcet meows of welcome. Ha!