Florida Part 2 - Palm Beach☀️

As I write this blog post it is snowing big flakes right outside my window, so I’m thankful to be transporting myself back to the fabulous beach and warmth and fun my friends and I had just a few weeks ago. I’ve spent a good amount of time on the east coast of Florida, but never in Palm Beach. My friend Julie was already in Orlando with me and when Cheryl joined us we headed down for a week at the beach. Just a little less than a two and a half hour drive from Orlando. Does the beach ever get old? Nope!

We stayed at the Marriott Ocean Pointe - a beautiful resort right on the beach. Quite large - it has 5 buildings most configured as villas with kitchens, living/dining rooms, bedrooms and balconies. Lots of nice amenities with multiple pools, mini golf, grilling areas, family games and entertainment.

Upon arrival while waiting for our villa to be ready lunch was the first order of business. Right at the pool - why not! Pretty sure I had fish tacos but I was too hungry to get a picture.

We spent lots of time on the beach. A long walk every morning sometimes starting with sunrise. Is there a better way to start the day? That question is for everyone but Julie😂 Sunset is more her thing - no judgement Julie! You always contribute in so many ways to the fun!

Palm Beach and the surrounding waterfront area is very fancy. It is described often as glitzy and I would say that is an apt description. I don’t think it’s a stretch to call it the east coast Hollywood. Even has a street of upscale boutiques on Worth Ave that looks very much like Rodeo Drive. We didn’t really spend anytime there other than a scenic drive to see it, and catch a glimpse of the amazing Breakers Hotel. Next time I will make it a point to at least have a drink there as the inside must be spectacular.

We ate some delicious food. There was no lack of restaurants to choose from but we gravitated to places where we could sit outside by the water. Jupiter is the next town north and has a cool area on the marina with the Jupiter Lighthouse to make it even more picturesque.

U-Tiki was a favorite. Wonderful cocktails, appetizers and fresh seafood. The entrees have a choice of side and the U-Tiki potatoes are direct from heaven. I don’t think I want to know what’s in them but can confirm they are fantastic. Not a bite was left behind.

We also ate at the restaurant right next door called Jetty’s. We went early and they had an early bird special that was an incredible deal. Not sure if they offer it at the busier time of year but worth checking out. I had the crab cake and coconut shrimp special. Delicious!

Since it was still my birthday week and brunch is my absolute favorite thing to do on a weekend, the ladies agreed to join me at RH in West Palm Beach. RH as in Restoration Hardware. They have I believe in 5 of their stores across the country these fabulous gorgeous amazing restaurants. The food is delicious but you would have a difficult time finding a prettier place to enjoy a meal. I’ve been to the one here in Chicago and hope to visit the other locations someday to compare. I am not a big bacon eater but theirs is something very special.

After brunch we walked across the street to a beautiful shopping area and courtyard called Rosemary Square. Lots of great stores, restaurants, bars and places to people watch in a very Florida motif.

If you heard rumor of a 700 ton sand Christmas tree would you insist on seeing it? Of course! So one morning we headed down to Centennial Square in West Palm to see it for ourselves. Totally worth it! Especially since we were able to get delicious croissants at Loïc and see fun murals along the way.

Not just one huge sand Christmas tree but 4 more amazing sand creations. Sandiland!

This blog post would not be complete with out a shout out to our love of the pool noodle. I’ll take the heat here for being the wet blanket initially. Pool noodles were not around when my kids were young - so I had no appreciation of their immense worth when enjoying hours in a pool. When purchasing them was suggested by Julie I was a naysayer. At $5 each I thought it was an unnecessary expense. I hang my head in shame. When Cheryl arrived and joined Julie’s team for a big thumbs up for purchasing the noodles I relented, and will admit to being fully on Team Noodle now. We left them at the pool to pay it forward for hours of enjoyment for the next lucky group.

We had such a great time. Lots of laughs and the entire season one of School of Chocolate on Netflix. Thanks Julie and Cheryl for being such great friends and travel buddies. It wouldn’t have been nearly as great without you both. One last sunset and we all headed home. Thanks for coming along. The best is yet to be🤗

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Universal Orlando

If you’re not at least a tiny fan of Harry Potter this might be a good blog post to skip. Or read on and maybe you will be inspired to read the books or watch the movies and see for yourself why so many people - children and adults, are captivated by the series.

Did you know one of the slowest times of the year to travel is after Thanksgiving and up until about December 19th when travel picks up for Christmas? It is so I decided it might be the perfect time to fulfill my daughter’s dream to spend a few days being totally immersed in her favorite books of all time. When Tom heard about our plans for family fun he decided it sounded too good to miss - we were thrilled to have him join us. Time to dust off my carryon and pull out my packing light list. While not as long as many of my trips to Europe - I was going to be gone a total of 16 days so the list was a big help. It’s one of my most popular posts so if you’re interested check the archive and click on August 8, 2018.

I love my Away carryon and just before Covid shut the world down in March of 2020 I had purchased the Away large backpack on their 1st ever Half Price sale. I finally got to use it! That was it for 16 days. I love traveling light.

We stayed at a beautiful Marriott resort in Orlando called The Grande Vista. It was a huge resort and had lovely facilities. There were multiple pools, tennis and pickle ball courts, a golf course, restaurants, a spa and fitness center. The weather was incredible the entire time we were there so when we weren’t at the parks we were able to enjoy the pools and outside spaces.

A couple of quick things I did before jumping into the tips and pics about maximizing your Harry Potter experience. Would it be a vacation if I didn’t go to at least one museum? Probably not so I did manage to find one that seemed worthy of a few hours. My kids were working remotely during the day so I made a visit to the Orlando Art Museum by myself.

It’s not a huge museum but they had some interesting things. Quite a large collection of Old Masters including a few Rubens. There was a beautiful Chihuly glass sculpture and a Nick Cave Soundsuit. The exhibit that was my favorite was from the artist Louis Dewis (1872-1946) - an artist I was unfamiliar with but who was inspired by the Impressionists. I didn’t count them but my best guess is there were at least 20 pieces, very nice! I spent about an hour and a half in total.

There was kind of a cool neighborhood market close to the museum called the East End Market that I made a stop to see. It housed a variety of vendors and shops. I had a nice cup of coffee and a delicious vegan biscuit.

That’s going to pretty much be it on this post as far as food pictures. I did quite a bit of research on restaurants prior to heading to Orlando, but the majority of cool unique highly rated spots are in areas that are a pretty significant drive from where the resorts are located close to Universal and the Disney Parks. There are lots of nice chain restaurants around the resorts - so plenty of places to eat without driving 40 or 50 minutes each way but they are there if you want to drive. A nice website to check out is timeout.com. They have info for lots of cities but they do a great job on Orlando.

So let’s hop on our brooms (mine is the Nimbus 2000) and begin our flight into Universal Studios. First just a couple of the basics. Universal has two parks that are joined by a walkway full of restaurants and bars. There are two places where the Harry Potter books take place - London and Diagon Alley, and Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. So London and Diagon Alley are located in Universal Studios, and Hogwarts and Hogsmeade are located in Universal Islands of Adventure. The only way to visit both is to buy a ticket that includes both parks. That is also the only way to ride the Hogwarts Express which is a train that the Wizards take to get between the two areas. Yes it’s more expensive to buy the ticket for both parks, but you’re already spending a lot of money to be there so go for the whole experience! More about buying tickets later. If you’ve been to the Universal Parks before or just aren’t interested in any of the Harry Potter stuff all the other rides, shows and experiences are still all there and your tickets get you into everything. The detail and authenticity of creating this Harry Potter experience is incredible. It’s as if they just moved the movie set to Florida and added great rides.

This is a picture of Islands of Adventure and I love it because you see the contrast with Hogwarts in the background and the Velocicoaster right in front. The Velocicoaster is the newest roller coaster at the park and it’s wild! It has a 155 foot tall drop and 4 inversions. It goes 70 miles an hour. Tom and Keeley basically tricked me into going on it, but I’m not mad because now I can forever brag that I did it and survived! Once was enough for me but they did it another couple of times and waited to ride in the first car. They love roller coasters so it was great that they could go together! Yes in the picture bottom right the car stays upside down for what feels like a long time. Then is does it three more times. Those are the parts where my eyes are closed😱

The first thing I recommend doing when you arrive is head straight to get your magic wand. The main shop to buy one at is Ollivanders Wand Shop. There are other places to buy them in both parks but Ollivanders is the only place you can watch how the wand selects the wizard. They pick one person in the group to participate but it’s still really fun to watch the process. There are 40 different wands to choose from each named after a character from the books. Different colors, shapes etc. They really are magic. At various places throughout the parks you can use them and make magic happen! Well that’s if you know the correct spell. If you forget you can just look on the ground and follow the directions. A map of all the magic spots are included in your wand box. Keeley got Professor McGonagall’s wand, Tom has Albus Dumbledore’s and I went for Hermione Granger. I feel like a kindred spirit with Hermione’s quest for knowledge and extreme annoying behavior (sometimes). Here are pics waiting outside the wand store, picking our wands and Keeley getting ready to do some magic!

Next we headed to Gringotts Wizarding Bank. It’s actually a really cool ride where you take a car down into the vaults just like they did in the movie. There are plenty of animated Goblins working the counters as you walk to get in line for the ride. And if you’re patient and stand outside of the bank you get to see the dragon on top breathe fire!

It was so fun to be there in December and see everything decorated for the holidays. Snow on all the roofs and lots of wreaths, garland and lights.

We had tickets for both parks and took the Hogwarts Express both ways. The rides are different depending on which direction you go. We got to enter through King’s Cross Station and hop on at platform 9 and 3/4. And remember you can only ride the train if you have tickets for both parks.

Who wants butter beer? You have to try it! Comes three ways. Regular, frozen and hot. We shared the regular and the frozen. Both delicious. They only come in one size and that’s large so you might want to consider sharing it. To me it tasted like root beer with butterscotch on top. It’s pretty sweet but good. The phone booth is available for conversations with the Minister of Magic and you can make a quick stop to see the Night Bus😊 Keeley wanted to do it all!

We had one great meal in the parks the two days we were there. So I need to give a shout-out to making a RESERVATION in advance (even just a day or two) for Mythos which is located in Islands of Adventure. For the past 10 years it has won the award for best food of all amusement parks in the country. The food was great! Cost wise it wasn’t more expensive than the fairly bad food we had the day before from a stand in the park where we couldn’t find a place to even sit down and eat it. It’s a Mediterranean restaurant which we all loved and really delicious. We were ready to sit for a bit so ordered drinks waiting for our food. Keeley had a beer and Tom ordered a specialty drink called Potion of the Gods. We all tried it and it was good but burst out laughing when it was delivered in a glass as big as Keeley’s head!

Hogwarts with my favorite Wizards!

I did quite a bit of research in advance before we arrived, and I’m happy to share my tips. Keeley and I were so fortunate because Tom had visited the parks in May of 2021 so he was our personal guide. Since he’s not currently available for hire I’ll do my best.

1 - Download the Universal APP. Absolutely essential! You will use it constantly to check ride wait times, make ride reservations, check restaurant menus, make meal reservations etc. Everything you need to know or want to know is on the APP.

2 - Don’t bring much in with you. A small crossbody or Fanny pack or pockets that zip or button works great. You can’t take ANYTHING on any of the rides - especially not a phone so you will be putting all your belongings in a pretty tiny locker outside of every ride so it needs to fit.

3 - Make sure you know what time each park opens and closes. The APP will tell you this. It’s not the same everyday and can change abruptly. Get there at least a half hour or more before the park opens. They have a huge parking garage but it’s at least a mile and most likely 2 from where you will enter the park. The lines to get into parking can be quite long and slightly slow. We got there early and had time to buy coffee and donuts while we waited for the park to open. A perfect way to start a vacation day for me! Getting there early is one of the best times to head right for the ride you can’t wait to go on and could be a 2 hour wait in just a few hours. REMEMBER WHERE YOU PARKED. Take a picture on your phone of the location. The lots and floors are labeled by Super Hero😊

4 - Buy your park tickets in advance. You will pay full price and waste time if you plan to buy your tickets when you arrive at the park. If you are staying at a resort call them in advance and ask them what price the tickets are from them. Usually they are able to get discounted tickets. Another source you should check is www.undercovertourist.com. It is a legitimate website and they sell tickets to Universal and Disney at a discount. Know in advance what you are looking for as far as how many days you want to visit the parks. The more days you will be there the cheaper each day will cost. The tickets we got were buy 2 days and get a third day free. Even the two day ticket was cheaper than a 2 day ticket bought at the park. If you only have one day that’s fine but two days will allow you to really take in just about everything.

5 - The park offers free Wi-Fi so use it if you have limited data with your cellphone plan.

There are way too many rides for me to go through each one - but do not miss Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. It’s the newest ride in the Harry Potter area of the park, and the technology is mind blowing. It is a roller coaster but it doesn’t go high so even if you’re not a coaster fan it is not to be missed. We rode it a couple of times and it was as fun the third time as the first. Ever wanted to play quidditch? Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey will help you check that off your list. The rides are really great even if you don’t know a thing about Harry Potter, and there are lots of other attractions in both parks from the many other Universal movies. There are shows and parades and lots of characters milling about so to say never a dull moment is an understatement.

We had a fabulous time and will talk about it for years. Another special thing that happened on this trip was my birthday! I can’t remember the last time I got to spend my birthday with both of my amazing children! They took me out for a great birthday celebration and meal - but just getting to be with them was the best gift of all💕

That was the end of Florida for my kids but not for me! I was then off for another week at the beach so check back soon for an update on that.🤗

Hello 2022!

But first a goodbye to 2021. Covid 2.0😳 Nope! Not starting this out on a negative. 2021 was WAY BETTER than 2020. Especially if you got a vaccine! And a booster! If you haven’t I’m asking you nicely to reconsider. For yourself, your loved ones and the world. Now I will move on.

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy Festivas! Whatever you celebrate I celebrate with you. We need more things to celebrate not less. I designate 2022 the YEAR OF HAPPY. More on that later.

Now the highlights of 2021 in my world. I moved back to the Chicago area. My North Star is the simple saying “Do the Next Right Thing.” (Just a little plug for a great and short book called The Next Right Thing by Emily P Freeman) Don’t stress yourself out by planning out the rest of your life. If Covid taught us just one thing it’s that we never know what’s coming right? So after surviving a pretty lonely 2020 I decided that moving closer to family was my next right thing. So here I am - back in the Chicago area. It’s been good. That’s not to say I don’t miss KC and my amazing wonderful friends TONS! Such a great and much loved by me skyline.

Hello Millennium Park! I’m back! Since I haven’t been able to travel I’ve had the pleasure of hosting quite a few friends and being their tour guide in the great city of Chicago. I love taking people on my Frank Lloyd Wright Walking Tour, the Art Institute, the Chicago Architectural Center and Boat Tour, Willis Tower and way too much fantastic food to list. Deep dish pizza anyone?

Keeley and Matt bought their first home! After living in a cute but tiny condo in the city and spending pretty much 24 hours a day in it working remotely, they decided a home was their next right thing. They diligently went house hunting and through perseverance and hard work bought a darling home just a mile from me that has a great yard, deck and really nice spacious interior. This happened in April so they were able to enjoy it all summer which was amazing. I was invited over to join in numerous backyard barbecues and appreciated that immensely.

Tom and Anna got married! Anna has been a part of our family for years, but in October we welcomed her officially. The ceremony took place during peak week in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. It was a joyous outdoor gathering of family and friends and after not being together for such a long time we were happy and thrilled to all be able to celebrate together. Last year at this time they were planning to move to the Chicago area but their journey is taking them in another direction. Instead they are going to remain in North Carolina and I’m thrilled to have a great reason to visit them as often as possible.

I have dipped my toe back into travel, and my next post will be of great interest to anyone that is a fan of Harry Potter. I was accompanied by my favorite wizards on a recent trip to Florida. Check back for details soon.

I read a lot of books in 2021 - 57 to be exact. My reading increased dramatically during Covid but it’s something I will continue doing as I truly love it. As I looked back over the list it was challenging to come up with my top 3, there were so many I enjoyed. So I used the criteria of books that I felt made some kind of impact on my life and the way I look at things. So here they are:

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

• Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad

• The Underground Girls of Kabul by Jenny Nordberg

I haven’t made New Year’s resolutions for years. Instead I like to have a theme or goal for the year. I’m a little ashamed to say I didn’t have one for 2020. I guess maybe it would have been Live or Stay Alive. Not that inspirational really. I was beat down, tired and not in such a great place. My mother always said life is what you make it, you’ll be as happy as you want to be - and I believe that to my very core. So my goal for 2022 is a pretty simple one.

I’m done with negativity, judgement, anger, rudeness and finger pointing. I’m going to do my part in my own little way to send kindness and happiness out into the world. This will be the picture I see first thing every morning. Choosing happiness is hard work and requires determination, focus and persistence- and it’s totally worth it. So I declare 2022 the Year of Happy. And if you’re still reading this then I’m sending out all positive thoughts that you make 2022 a happy year for you too! 🥰

North and South Carolina….it’s been forever since I traveled!

Travel, like most things in life is a skill that with practice we get better at doing. With a few exceptions I haven’t really been anywhere in the past 18 months - so really felt like I was starting over as I prepared to head to North and South Carolina for almost two weeks. And definitely rusty with blogging so bare with me as I prepare to make some sense with this post.

The view everyday from the deck of our AirBNB. It’s peak week for the leaves in the Blue Ridge Mountains!

The purpose of the trip was my son Tom’s wedding to the lovely Anna. They selected the perfect time to get married in the Blue Ridge Mountains where they currently live as it was the peak of the fall colors - and it did not disappoint. The beautiful scenery, the happiness of finally getting to gather with our family and close friends, and the joy of witnessing two people that were destined to be together made for the perfect occasion.

The lovely couple. Anna’s dress was spectacular and perfect on her and for the setting. Tom looked very sharp in his custom tux.

All wedding photos credited to my good friend Cindy who brought her camera and did such a great job of taking pictures. Top right me with my good friends Liz and Cindy. Bottom left me with Keeley and Tom. I couldn’t be prouder of those two💕

The wedding ceremony and reception were just perfect. It rained earlier in the day but cleared in time for the event. The tent was so beautiful with the natural greenery, beautiful flowers and centerpieces. The meal was delicious and there was a huge spread of fantastic desserts. Lots of dancing by everyone - even those we rarely see dance! If everyone had half as much fun as I then they had a great time.

Mother and son dance - a special moment for us💕

I was in the Blue Ridge Mountains for a week so what else did I do? Hike! There are so many great hikes off the parkway it just depends on how much time you have and what your skill level is. We picked hikes that were listed as moderate and that worked well for everyone in our group.

This one was called Rough Ridge. The higher you climb the better the views!

Nuwati Hike - a good group that was undeterred by the pretty challenging scramble up large rocks to get to the top. Worth it!

When Tom and Keeley climbed up on this rock I had to do it too!

The new husband and wife❤️

Linville Falls. An easy hike to see beautiful waterfalls.

Things I didn’t take pictures of that I regret - remember I’m rusty on blogging! No food pictures. Most of our meals the week at the house in the mountains we either cooked or ate at wedding related events. And big thanks to my family that cooked most (all 😋) the meals at the house. We went to an awesome brewery called the Blowing Rock Brewery one afternoon and sat outside with beer, wine and snacks. The town of Blowing Rock looked really great so highly recommend checking that out if you are in the area. We also spent an afternoon in the town of Boone which is the largest town in the area. We had a delicious lunch at a cute cafe called Our Daily Bread and browsed some of the shops. There was also a Meet and Greet pre wedding at a nice brewery in Boone called Booneshine that was very fun.

The mountains were beautiful but I also love the beach, and hadn’t been to one in quite sometime, so our next stop was Hilton Head South Carolina. My excellent traveling companion Julie and I drove about 6 hours from basically the northwest part of North Carolina to the southeast corner of South Carolina. Neither of us had been to Hilton Head and we both really enjoyed it. The beach is very wide and long - perfect for relaxing and taking long walks. It is a barrier island and from what I read the second largest in the country - the largest being Long Island in NY. Lots of resorts, golf courses, restaurants, a large marina, tennis, pickle ball, bike paths everywhere, etc.

We saw quite a few people on paddle boards and kayaking in various bodies of water. I adhered to the signage and stuck to the walking paths, pool and beach🤗

Julie enjoying the beach!

More beach pics! Never gets old!

The marina by our resort morning and night. We did enjoy drinks and watching the fishing boats come back to the marina.

Is it really a vacation for Patti if I don’t eat at least one croissant? Nope! I found a great bakery right by the marina called the Social Bakery.

Sunset. Always the perfect way to end a trip.

That was our trip. Then we spent the next two days in the car driving back. Not nearly as much fun. But it has helped get me over the hump of taking the first step to start traveling again - at least domestically for now. I just booked my first plane flight since the start of Covid so in about a month going to take that step. I am ready. And hopefully will be better at taking food pictures! 🤞🏻Patti Part Two returns!

Chicago! My Kind of Town🤗

Unless this is your 1st time reading my blog you know it’s about my travels. Due to Covid that hasn’t happened in what feels like a very long time, but moving back after almost 30 years to the Chicago area makes me feel like I’m on vacation exploring a new and awesome place. And when one of your best friends and fellow travel companions comes to visit for 5 days it gives you a great motivation to plan a super fun action packed agenda - so here is a recap of most of the things we did, saw and ate. Since Cheryl and I have travelled a number of times together I knew she and I love almost all the same things. We have mirror image energy levels which is so important when picking a travel companion.

My plan was to spend two days in the city, so we took the L (subway) down early the first full day she was here to go to the Chicago Art Institute during the early entry member hours from 10AM to 11AM to get right into the special Monet in Chicago exhibit that I had seen once but knew Cheryl would enjoy. If you haven’t seen it you’re almost too late as it closes Monday June 14th, but the Art Institute is always a great thing to see if you’re in Chicago.

The Monet exhibit was fantastic and there is a new permanent installation of a gorgeous stained glass window called The Hartwell Memorial Window worth seeing, and in just a few days the Obama Portraits will be on display for 8 weeks. Always something great to see.

We picked up sandwiches and took them over to Buckingham Fountain and had a picnic while watching one of the largest fountains in the world built in 1927 to honor Clarence Buckingham by his sister entertain us with a beautiful water show that goes for 20 minutes every hour on the hour.

If the wind is blowing off the lake and it’s a hot day the spray will even cool you off a bit. The fountain was just turned on again after being closed for over a year due to Covid. One of the prettiest places to be in Chicago in my opinion.

A visit to Chicago isn’t complete without a photo op at The Bean. The actual name is Cloud Gate and was created by the Indian-born British artist Sir Anish Kapoor. It is prominently displayed in Millennium Park very close to the spectacular Pritzker Pavilion designed by Frank Gehry.

Due to Covid you still can’t get as close as before, but with Chicago reopening yesterday officially that may have changed.

Pritzker Pavilion where the symphony plays during the summer and various other entertainment opportunities.

It’s always fun to walk up or down Michigan Avenue and check out the city views and Chicago River. Browse in the stores, people watch and get a hot or cold drink at the largest Starbucks in the country. We did them all.

It never gets old!

On our second trip into the city we were further north around Lincoln Park. We had a great brunch which I’ll cover when I get to food, and intended to go to the Lincoln Park Zoo but instead decided to just enjoy the park and walk down the lake since it was a beautiful day. Next time we’ll visit the zoo.

The Nature Boardwalk which surrounds a lot of the Lincoln Park Lagoon. So pretty with the skyline in the background.

The city view from Lincoln Park.

Lots of people enjoying the lake🤗

We spent the better part of another day at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois which was established in 1922 by Joy Sterling Morton, the founder of Morton Salt. I’m a bit ashamed to admit I had never been there, but I know it won’t be my last visit as it’s incredible if you like nature. The place is enormous - over 1700 acres so there’s no way we could see it all. There is a special exhibit there now called Human +Nature from the artist Daniel Popper that is wonderful. It just opened and will be there for a year so put it on your list. They have a lovely cafe with all kinds of great fresh sandwiches, salads etc., so convenient to pick up a selection and take it out for a picnic while you enjoy the beautiful trails and meadows.

Top picture is a cool maze you really can get lost in. Bottom left you can get a sense of the size of the scuptures when you compare Cheryl to the one called Heartwood. They were all huge and amazing.

Cheryl was my first customer (victim) on my Oak Park Walking Tour and she was a trouper. Even though it was quite warm she hung in there for the entire duration and seemed to enjoy it. Or she’s a great actress or was afraid I would not make her coffee in the morning if she complained. Either way I enjoyed showing her all the things I love about Oak Park and the amazing architectural museum all around me.

Now for the food! One of the many things great about this area is the wide assortment of delicious and diverse food choices available - from the latest and greatest to the traditional old ethnic selections - and I enjoy it all. So here is some of the great food we ate that I remembered to take pictures of to share with you all. You’re going to want a snack after this I’m pretty sure!

Hampton Social in the city on Grand. Famous for the Rosé wine and their slogan of Rosé All Day! We had a lovely table on the 2nd level which is outside and in addition to trying the Rosé of the day shared a delicious vegetable salad and fun pizza.

Brunch at the Blue Door Farm Stand in Lincoln Park on Halsted. Felt like being in France and the food was wonderful. Plus look at those sweet blue and white plates💙💙💙A Bloody Mary for Cheryl and Sangria for me. Two amazing egg dishes but I don’t think you can make a bad choice.

For some old school deliciousness you can’t beat Freddy’s Pizza and Grocery in Cicero. So many great choices to either eat outside or bring home. We bought the chicken Marsala, gnocchi with vodka sauce and caprese salad and brought it home to share. Tons of food, all made from scratch and very reasonable. They will probably know me by name soon.

Al’s Grill - a local staple and amazing food. Yes this was just for Cheryl and I. Our eggs came with pancakes AND delicious raisin toast. Needless to say we skipped lunch. And worth mentioning the staff was super friendly and they have a great outside setup too.

Our last night we went to a current favorite of mine - Hemingway’s Bistro. So cute and quaint it makes me feel like I’m in Paris. And the food is excellent. We both had one of the specials which was walleye with fingerling potatoes and asparagus. Also an excellent wine list even by the glass. And just doors away from Hemingway’s birthplace which is now a museum.

Thanks for visiting Cheryl and exploring Chicago with me. I can’t wait for you to return! And hopefully this might give someone reading a few ideas of fun things to see, do and eat when visiting the area😊