an Ikea virgin no more

Aaron and I made it back safe and sound from Chicago Sunday night. We had a blast! We left Saturday morning and on the way through Indiana we stopped to get some fireworks. (All good fireworks are banned in Michigan.) Aaron got one big boomer and I bought multi-colored sparklers. I haven’t seen colored sparklers in years so I got a nice big pack of them. Then we were off to the city…..

We parked my jeep near Grant Park and ended up walking all the way down the Magnificent Mile and back again. Let me tell you, it was way more than a mile. Try 7.6 miles round trip. Anyway, it was a nice little shopping stroll and a great way for Aaron to soak up the city. (He’d never been there before. This was my eighth visit.) We tried a real Chicago style hot dog which was delish. They put pickles and tomatoes on them. Yum!

Eventually we made our way back to the car, regrouped, and headed to the Blues Festival. We probably saw about 17 bands at four different stages. By about 8pm we were wiped out and decided to make our way to our hotel in Schaumburg and grab a bite to eat. Due to the fact there was a 2 hour wait at the Cheesecake Factory and we had eaten at one before, we decided to try the Todai Seafood Buffet nearby. How interesting! It was a Japanese seafood buffet with lots of sushi, seaweed and iced green tea. Aaron wasn’t a big fan.

The next morning we headed to the Ikea store. What an experience. Of course we were there for the last day of their Spring Sale so it was a complete madhouse. I bought a few piddly things because it’s really hard to buy for a house you don’t have. I’m definitely glad I went. Before we headed out of town we stopped by Pizzeria Uno for some authentic Chicago style pizza. Mmm, Mmm Good!!

Things I learned while I was in Chicago-
1.) H&M stores are not all they are cracked up to be.
2.) Grant Park was created after the Great Fire of 1871. A lot of the debris was pushed into Lake Michigan, creating the fill for what is now the actual park.
3.) There are theories that the Great Fire of 1871 was not started by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow. Many scientists believe it was a comet that hit the Great Lakes region and started fires throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan on the same night.
4.) The city of Chicago has a professional soccer team called, get this- the Chicago Fire. I think that is hilarious! I guess you have to be a history geek to fully appreciate the humor in that one.