We had a very nice and relaxing day in Chicago. The weather was perfect. Low 80's. Low humidity. Partyly sunny. Right before we left home Sheri made herself some iced espresso to take along, and she also brought a Clif Bar for me and a Luna bar for her. We finished these by the time we got to the train station.

We got to the train station about an hour early, so we were just going to sit in the car, listen to the radio, and read the paper. However, next to the train station they had a small farmer's market set up, so we walked around that for maybe 20 minutes but did not buy anything. After that we walked to the train station and bought our tickets and waited there for the train.

The amateur weekend train riders are so annoying. They get off the platform and enter Union Station and then just freeze in front of the doors trying to decide which way to go. Meanwhile there are 1,000 (literally) other people stopped behind them waiting for them to make up their mind.

Once we made our way through the human log jam we stopped at a Walgreen's on Adams and got a pack of gum and a travel pack of Kleenex. I have a little bit of a runny nose.

Then Sheri showed me her beloved W Hotel and I dropped the kids off at the pool. It is very nice. Maybe the nicest hotel (lobby) I have ever been in.

Sheri working on her crossword puzzle at the Quincy L stop while waiting for the Brown line.


Then we took the Brown line to the Wellington stop and then walked to the crepe restaurant for our brunch. The food was VERY good and the atmosphere was wonderful. They were seating everyone behind the restaurant on their patio.

The patio of La Creperie as seen from our table.


This is Sheri's buckwheat crepe with cheddar, Swiss, and goat cheese. Mine had mushrooms, onions, and garlic sautéed in olive oil. They also had very good chewy bread on every table to eat while waiting. It was served with real butter and a nice assortment of fancy preserves.




After eating we walked across the street to a four or five story mall. It wasn't on our list, it just looked interesting. They had a nice theater that was only showing good films. They did not have any of the mainstream fluff showing. We spent maybe 20 minutes walking around.

At one of the first little vintage consignment shops we went into we saw this cute sign posted near the front door.


We started hitting all of the stores on our list. Sheri really really liked Hollywood Mirror. My stupid back started hurting so I looked for chairs in every store we stopped in.

After a couple of hours it was time for a little break. We walked into the Clark Diner and then walked right back out because it was hot and stuffy inside, so we crossed the street and split an order of Ann Sather's famous cinnamon rolls. Sheri had a cup of hot coffee and I just drank water.

One of the last stores we stopped in was Uncle Fun. This store sells a lot of stupid useless really fun stuff. Thousands and thousands of plastic figures, toys, cards, and stuff like that. What is the one thing you think I bought there? A slide rule. It was really weird. Just a few days ago I was doing some searches on the Internet for slide rules; where to buy them and how to use them. I was just curious. I turned the corner down one of the isles and there was a display of about ten of them. The best part was it was only $2. It was made by Mead, the paper and office supply company.

At this point we had only a couple more hours until the express train left Union Station. We got on the L back to the Loop. The lady sitting in front of us fell asleep and then fell over into the next seat. We thought her head was going to land in our laps. She didn't wake up though. She stayed like that for at least five minutes. When she finally woke up she was surprised where she was and made an embarrassed sound, like "Oh my!"



We were going to go hang out at Intelligentsia Coffee on Jackson for a while, but they were already closed.

We started walking towards Union Station, and ended up laying in the grassy courtyard on Jackson across the street from the south side of the Sears Tower. It felt good on my back.

We moved on to Union Station after 15 minutes or so and I had a hotdog from Gold Coast Hot Dog, and we split a small order of fries. Then for old times sake Sheri got a small buttered popcorn and I got a small Chicago mix (caramel corn and cheese corn).

I didn't have any caffeine all day and was feeling the start of a headache, so I got a Diet Coke at the news stand for the train ride home. I also got a Discover magazine and Sheri got a Weekly World News.

As soon as we got home I mixed up some Miracle Gro fertilizer for the tomatoes and Sheri set out the sprinklers in the front and back yards.

We both showered, I am making this post, and now we are going to watch The Mother.