We left for Chicago on August 26 and spent a week visiting with Tommy’s maternal side of the family. Josie got to meet several great aunts and uncles, her Bak Gong (great-grandfather) and spend some time with Uncle Johnny, Aunt Jen and Brooklyn, too.
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Our first day in town we went bowling with Dad’s cousins, Grace, Carmen and Sandy.
That night we had dinner at one of Bak Gong’s favorite places in China town. Josie got passed around the table almost as much as the family style food.
(Josie w/ Uncle Tony, Aunt Virginia, and mom’s chopsticks)
For desert we went to The Original Rainbow Cones and shared a HUGE ice cream (Josie ate most of it)
The next day we visited Navy Pier…
and walked around down town visiting the parks and fountains.
The next morning we said good-bye to Aunt Ivey and her family and Aunt Virginia as they headed back to Canada. Then we headed back to China Town for dim-sum at super popular place we ended up having to wait for over an hour to get in to!
Josie tried her first Chicken Foot and generally made her Chinese side of the family very happy by being willing to try pretty much everything that was put in front of her.
The next day Uncle Johnny, Aunt Jen and Brooklyn flew in, and we spent more time down town doing some sight seeing. We visiting Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) and had lots of fun playing in the glass boxes that hang out over the streets of Chicago several 100 stories in the air.
Mom’s and dad’s were a little nervous; little girls didn’t seem to notice the height.
We had dinner at the Italian Village – a fun place Tommy and I had eaten at on our “honeymoon” trip on our last visit to Chicago in 2008
We topped a long day off by visiting the Bingham Fountain. I wanted to see the “Light Show” that all the visitors brochures were talking about. As we neared the park, the show was ending, so I made everyone kill 45 minutes so we could see it…it wasn’t worth the wait. But we had fun anyway!
The next morning we were off to the Lincoln Park Zoo – I wish we had scheduled more time – it was huge (and free!). But, we had two tired little girls and a couple of Dad’s trying to be good sports, but tiring quickly of the heat and crowds…
To reward Dads for being such good sports we left the Zoo and headed to Big Al’s.
A little history: when Tommy goes on vacation, his goal is to taste and try as many different foods as possible. He spends hours planning at home by watching the Food Network and reading web sites about local cuisine and the “must try” spots of the area we will be in.
Hence, our trip to Big Al’s.
On our last trip to Chicago I made Tommy walk for about 8 hours (literally) to try Mr. Beef’s.
A little more history: when I go on vacation, my goal is to get the “feel” of the place. I like to do this by just being there – walking, wandering, looking, experiencing.
So, last time, Tommy had heard about Mr. Beef’s and Big Al’s. They are said to be the two best places in all of Chicago for Italian Beef sandwiches. We tried Mr. Beef’s last time around and really liked it (could have had something to do with the fact that we had walked for 8 hours and were starving) so we thought we would try Big Al’s this trip.
Maybe we should have walked longer at Lincoln Park because Big Al’s didn’t hold up to our memory of Mr. Beef.
However, the battle in Chicago traffic was still worth it thanks to Uncle Johnny discovering Mario’s Italian Lemonade stand across the street from Big Al’s.
We tried 3 Italian Ice flavors – watermelon, cantaloupe, and lemon.
They were delicious!
That evening Tommy and I headed into the theatre district with Uncle Sam, Uncle Bob and Jen to see “Billy Elliot.”
The next day it was more meandering through the city and trying food we had heard about.
Josie went through a brief vegetarian phase, while uncle Johnny ate enough meet in one deep dish slice to feed a small, carnivorous nation for a week.
We stopped to let the girls play in a fountain and wandered back up to the Bean in Centennial Park.
We found a hot dog stand outside the Shedd Aquarium, because you can’t visit the Windy City without eating a Garden Dog straight off a street vendor’s cart.
Josie wasn’t terribly interested in the exhibits at the aquarium. She was far more interested in the people examining the exhibits.
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