Thursday, November 20, 2008

On the road again...

**DISCLAIMER - I wrote this blog 11-20-2008 and forgot to post it!**

The last two weekends have been tons of fun. We first took a trip to visit Mike's cousins Chris and Emily. Then I took a quick weekend trip to Chicago with a group of girls and I got to visit with Uncle David and Aunt Jane while there. How great is that? Not sure how great that it? Well let me tell you.

We scooted down to Ohio University on Friday night after work. We went to Chris's place and then decided to get a couple of drinks at the bar across the road. Night ended with me asleep in the papasan and Mike & Chris playing beer pong. After a lazy Saturday morning I pushed Chris out of the apartment to take us on a walking tour of campus. We met up with Emily and eventually with Becky who had come to visit as well. Chris took us up to the scariest place I have ever seen, The Ridges. A very creepy place where we went to a terrifying condemned Tuberculosis Ward, where I saw dead people for sure. Extremely scary!!! Saturday night we had a dinner on the run (unintentionally) and then we saw BJ Novak do standup. It was pretty funny. Out for some more drinks and then the night ended with me asleep in the papasan and Mike, Emily, Chris and Becky playing beer pong (a reoccuring theme). Sunday we had a nice breakfast with the whole crew and then we drove up to Columbus for a quick visit with Mike's parents. Very nice to see them if only for a couple of minutes. All in all a very nice weekend!

The next weekend began last Thursday evening actually as I met up with Sarah Sageman, Jeanna, Renee and Sarah Stewart to drive down to Battle Creek to catch the train to Chicago. The train was running late so we entertained ourselves for a bit at Kmart and also picked up some alcoholic beverages at Horrock's for the train ride. The train ended up being at least an hour and a half late, but Jeanna was attracting the local drunkards while we waited at the station. That provided for some entertainment while we waited until the police came to take them away. The train ride was nice, ecspecially with the added buzz from the beer I had. The weekend was really successful. Thursday when we got in at midnight or later we all had a nice reunion in the hotel room and chatted away at each other like little girls at a sleepover.

Friday we semi-slept in, but we were all excited to go do some sightseeing in the city. We split into two groups. One group went on a free Chicago tour that included Millenium Park, several other small parks, the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Lincoln Park Conservatory. It was a lovely tour with a great tour guide, Ray. Thanks Ray! The other group did a bit of walking about and went to Shed's Aquarium, where Sarah Stewart almost got the pee scared out of her! They went to a 4-D movie that was just a little bit too real for Sarah! We rejoined at the hotel and Liz and I went back out for a bit of shopping. I found Filine's Basement and H & M and a couple other stores. My most exciting stop was to the Pastorial Cheese Shop. I tasted about a dozen goat cheeses and made a few choices to take home with me. A delicious soft cheese and at least a 5 year gouda. Yumm! We went out for dinner to a fun Italian place and then went back to the hotel to get ready for the big outing. The big outing was in fact to "Coyote Ugly". Yes, I know what you're thinking. This IS the bar of the movie. It was interesting to say the least! A night filled with dancing, drinking and a few hillarious situations (Crazy ladies from Michigan!). Needless to say fun was had by all.

Saturday I decided to strike out on my own while the girls went to the Miracle Mile and I visited the Field Museum. After a quick visit there I had a curbside pickup by Uncle David and Aunt Jane! What a fun day I had hanging out with them. I got to check out the new apartment, I had a "Chicago Hot Dog" for lunch and we went to see Riverside. It was a super fun day and I am already plotting a return to visit them in the spring with Mike and Felipe in tow!

Pictures of our adventures below.

OU & Chicago 2008

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