Falling, Yes I am Falling and she keeps calling me back again

You know those weekends that are just so great that you wish they never ended.  Well this weekend was one of them.  It all started out on Friday when my sister flew into O'Hare from Wyoming on her way to a wedding up in Wisconsin.  I have not seen my sister since January for my dads 60th birthday so it was great to get to see her.  Her friend Dana (my pseudo sister) also joined us for lunch.  We went to this little Thai place called Golden Elephant and then went and hung out at McDonald's while we waited for their ride to take them to the wedding.  It was the first time I have just hung out in Rosemont which was a weird concept but it wasn't really about where we hung out it was with whom I was hanging out that mattered.

After that I returned to the city and went downtown to meet up with my friend Kathryn who came into town to visit with her friend Kristin.  Showed them around a little bit and grabbed a drink on a patio at a bar in the loop and just caught up and watched people walking by.  I met Kathryn back at MSU during Izzone Campout but have not seen her since I graduated college.  It was really great to get together and catch up; almost felt like it was only a couple weeks ago that I had last seen her.  We continued the evening after drinks to one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago.  We went to Twist up in Wrigley and one of Kathryn's other friends who lives in Chicago came to meet up with us for dinner.  I have been going to this place even before I lived in Chicago and I have shared this with lots of people.  I was kinda bummed to have to go home when we finished dinner, which is when the restaurant asked us nicely to leave because they were trying to close.  Not the first nor the last time that will happen to me at Twist.

Yoga in the Park

Kathryn, Myself, and Kristin at the beach

 I ended my Friday night a bit early so that I could get my 7 mile run in before it got hot out on Saturday.  Brittani and I grabbed our yoga mats and ran down to Millennium Park to do yoga and pilates after our run.  The sun kicked my ass but it was a great work out and its so nice to work out in the park.  The run was rough as well as the pilates (first time doing this) but I am glad I did it.  I was finished with my morning workout by 10am and had the whole day left to have fun.  I gathered my things and met back up with Kathryn and Kristin and continued to show them around Chicago a little bit more.  We went to Oak Street Beach first.  I had never been to this beach but it was quite nice though a little more crowded then I am used to and it also had a european feel to it.  I have always know there is a park right next to this beach but I have never explored that until now.  After we were done at the beach we wandered around Olive Park.  I think we saw 5 or 6 weddings all out there getting photos taken.  We felt a tad out of place because we know we were in the background but there wasn't really anywhere else for us to go and after all it is a public park so whatever.

Oak Street Beach

Living in Chicago I try avoid touristy areas but I must say this time didn't annoy me like I was afraid it would have.  We walked over to Navy Pier and purchased tickets for the Architecture Boat Tour and then wandered around weaving our way though people.  Kristin pointed out a Mexican restaurant I never even knew existed so we went up there and tried that.  We split the nachos and a pitcher of margaretta and enjoyed the afternoon overlooking the city while we waited for the tour to begin.  When it was time to go find our tour boat I felt like a tourist as much as the real tourist.  I was lost by the directions the guy gave us and I had no idea there were more docks outside of the gated area of Navy Pier. 

Wrigley and Tribune Tower

Marina City

Once we found the boat dock and boarded we started out on our architectural tour.  Everyone has told me this is a must do activity and since I have lived here over two and half years and never done this I left it was time.  I know a good amount about the history and architecture of Chicago so I wasn't sure if I would really learn much but to my surprise I did learn a few new things.   I personally think I could have given a better a tour even with out those few things I learned.  I did not know it was the railways that started the paying for airspace above the ground here in Chicago and that the building that stands on the site of Fort Dearborn was one of the winners of a design contest.  I was disappointed in the fact that there was no mention of the uniqueness of the bridge houses.  There are 30 some draw bridges in Chicago and each one has a bridge house that is built differently than any other on the river.  Overall the tour was really good and enjoyable and it was just a great day to be out of the water.

Architecture Tour

We took a little break for a while before we all met back up to go grab hot dogs and watch the fireworks at Navy Pier.  We found my go to vendor on the pier with the cheap drafts and we wandered down to the end where we found a spot to sit and watch the fireworks.  I forget how many great things Chicago offers that are free!  The firework show was pretty nice and had music playing in the background.  I can not recall if the fireworks went to the music, I assume so, but I'm not really sure.  After the fireworks were finished we headed back to their hotel and then out to Kate's place in Wicker Park and joined her for some wine of her rooftop.

Me, Kristin, and Kathryn after the fireworks

We would have been just fine staying at Kate's house drinking some wine but we decided it was a better idea to do shots and head over to Nick's Beergarden at 2am.  Once we were there what else are you going to drink but the $5 shot and a beer deal!  So after 2 of those and not even finishing the second beer I was a pretty happy kid.  The night was filled with dancing, singing along to songs, and hanging out with everyone.  Eventually we pulled our selves away from the bar to Jimmy Johns for some late night food before hopping on the blue line back to Kathryn and Kristin's hotel.  I hope everyone else on the blue line was drunk cause I am sure we were a little obnoxious judging from the pictures.  After I grabbed my stuff from their room and said good bye I headed home.  I got off the train at Belmont and I had a shadow.  Yup you know its a successful night when the sun is rising and you are just walking in to your house at 5:10 in the morning.

Me, Kristin, and Kathryn on the blueline home

Promontory Point

My body hates me and will not let me sleep past 10:30 ever so I got up and just said screw it.  I called up my friend Bri and went down to Hyde Park to visit her for the day.  I have never been to Hyde Park other then the Museum of Science and Industry so this was a first for me.  I really love exploring the city of Chicago and all that it offers.  I was very impressed with Hyde Park and its appearance.  There were lots of really nice parks and some unique looking shops and lots of friendly people.  There was a festival going on so we wandered through that for a bit before heading over to the beach.  I was most impressed by the beach that isn't really a beach.  It is on Promontory Point and its not really a beach at all.  It looks to be some sort of remains of a pier that is half submerged which makes for great access to the lake.  There were just so many laided back chill people down there enjoying the 90 degree day playing in the water.  Since this isn't a real beach there were lots of dogs around playing too.  I wish I could bring my dog down there he would have loved it.  This is a great place to grab a tube and just float around all afternoon or if you want to actually swim in water that is over your head where life guards are not yelling at you.

After my weekend and afternoon in Hyde Park I was pretty tired but my friend Rachel called me up and asked if I wanted to listen to the Paul McCartney concert from her rooftop so i went up and joined.  We got to listen to the first 5 or 6 songs before some creeper came up.  He was filming us and then asking my friend what unit she lived in and just all around a little sketchy so we ended our viewing and went inside.  I left shortly after and rode my bike home and went right under Wrigley Field.  While I was biking past Paul McCartney was playing "I've Just Seen A Face" which is probably my favorite Beatles song and now it has been stuck in my head and I just keep singing "falling, yes I am falling, and she keeps calling me back again."  It was just one of those weekend I wish would never have ended but since it did end I hope that real soon I can have another weekend as awesome as this one was!  Thanks everyone who was involved it was really great!