Summertime sadness

This past weekend was a travel labor day weekend for myself.  I went up to Chicago for the manfriend buddy's wedding.  We did some touristy stuff but since he used to live there, and I have been there quite a few times it was not a rush, rush, rush, and plans and time set which is way more relaxing and more my style.  Last time I went there was with a group of friends and it was plan, meet here, plan, plan, go, go, goooooo...  I am NOT a fan of the hustle and bustle of a big city regardless, and then if you throw in too much activity, it is hard for me not to get utterly exhausted.

The highlights of this trip, boat tour.  EVERY single time I am in Chicago, I will do a boat something or another, even if just a boat taxi to get from point A to point B.  I love being out on the water and this time, we went with the wedding people and went out on Lake Michigan.  





Best thing I ate: was Lou Malnati's deep dish.  This is the first time I ate at the actual restaurant because usually manfriend gets the take and bakes when he goes and sees his family and brings back.  Well, if was just as delicious and worth the wait.  This was after a full day of playing tourist and working up a hunger.  The waiter laughed when I kept ordering and he was like, "Do you want some take home boxes from the start?"  Oh buddy, you must not know my family because I may not be a large load but I can put away pizza.  Highly recommend and if you can't make it there, get some of the take and bakes when you are in town.  Side note, they will ship it to you, it does cost a pretty penny to ship on ice though.






The new thing from the weekend was the hike that we went on Monday.  NEVER again will I go to a state park on a holiday weekend (the retired teacher visitor center lady made me promise, because the crowds on the holidays are 10x as much as normal) but besides that, Starved Rock was a neat walk.  There are LOADS of trails and things to see, first few stops were overcrowded with the families and outta town visitors where I (who annoy most of my friends with my slowpoke walking speed) was passing folks to just get past the clumps of people.  Once past that, it was very pleasant and quite enjoyable.  Many ups and downs, waterfalls, and my favorite: the erosive rock formations.  We walked about 8 miles (we got there after 3 and wanted to make sure we made it all in the light) but got to climb on some shit and have a day full of outside time which was MOSTLY in the shade!! I think this would be a GREAT walk during the fall time with all the changing of the leaves.  The friendly retiree said to come during winter, January/February because when the river freezes there are 100s of Bald Eagles chilling on the water.