More Chicago

After our naps (yes, we all fell asleep), we were ready for more fun. We checked out and drove to our next stop, the Field Museum. This is where things got rough. We managed to pick the worst possible activity because right next door to the Field Museum was the soccer stadium where Manchester United was about to play. Ahh! Traffic was awful, everything was redirected and parking rates were bumped up. We paid 30 bucks to park for a couple hours! This did not make my frugal husband happy but we balanced it out but eating cheaply for lunch. What’s more Chicago than hot dogs right?

I wasn’t too sure about the toppings involved with a Chicago-style hot dog. I mean, pickles on a hot dog? But I really liked it. And I’m not a hot dog fan so that is saying something. Perhaps that is how I need to fix them all the time.

We spent a couple hours at the Field Museum but frankly, I was underwhelmed. Maybe we’re just spoiled by all the other awesome museums we’ve been to (like these in DC and these in London).

We were staying farther out of the city the second night because another major part of our trip was IKEA! We are planning a kitchen remodel in the future and wanted to take a look at the cabinets and meet with a kitchen designer. We were planning on doing that the next morning but took some time in the evening to look around, eat Swedish meatballs and do just a smidge of shopping.

We called it an early evening and since IKEA doesn’t open till 10, we had a leisurely morning too. That isn’t normally our style but it was nice. And it gave us time to eat breakfast. The hotel we were staying at was really busy that weekend, apparently there was a traveling team of basketball players, a group going to the Jimmy Buffet concert and a Jehovah’s witnesses convention. It took us about an hour to get our breakfast, find seats and eat – but at least there was some interesting people watching moments while we waited!

After our IKEA designing adventure, we headed home. Lucy did amazing on this drive but alas, the fates were against us. Even though we only had to stop once because she was fussy, traffic and construction meant that our trip still took us almost 2 hours over what it should have. Sheesh!

We’ve tagged along on business trips with Craig and visited family multiple times so I kinda consider myself a baby travel pro by now but this was our first real family vacation with Lucy in tow. We obviously slowed down our pace when planning our itinerary but travel is something we love and I’m glad to know that even with a little one, it is still something we can fit into our lifestyle.