Falling in Love, Again

I know I'm a bit prejudiced having been born here, but I love Chicago. I mean, I love, love, love her.

I'm a lucky girl because I was able to take an overnight 'staycation' with my husband and two oldest boys into the city Wednesday.

We did more in 24 hours in the city than I've probably done in the past 24 years.

Never mind that I'm sure the city center's luster would dull a bit if I were hauling a laptop on my shoulder and catching the 7:42 every morning, as was the case until Luke's first birthday. But this summer I've been able to get to some of the city's greatest neighborhoods on the North and South sides, enabling me to fall in love with her all over again.

We caught the 1 p.m. train out of our pastoral suburb and were in the ol' Thompson Center (called something else now ... I cringe that my children know only the Willis, and not the Sears, Tower) in 30 minutes, most of them spent by my children trying to catch folks showering in the apartment buildings speeding past us.

Within the hour, we were checking into our free hotels.com 5-star hotel (which was perfectly star worthy to Luke, TJ & me but didn't meet the expectations of my travel-weary husband)... then off to inhale some Chicago-style pizza.

On to tourist-friendly Navy Pier. A skyline boat tour. Rides, rides and more rides. Ice cream. Ferris Wheel. (I'd never done that! Had never wanted to do that!) Countless trips to the bathroom for the boys. Do they go this often at home and I just don't realize it?

Then the pinnacle of our day: the fireworks. We'd planted ourselves on a park bench with a perfect view of where they'd take center stage ... We had at least an hour to kill, and it took Kevin almost that long to get back with Happy Meals for the boys. (We didn't understand how they could still be hungry until we realized they didn't overeat at lunch like we did.)

I don't know if it is the city's taxpayers or a tourist tax that pays for them, but these fireworks were the most amazing fireworks I'd ever seen. Granted, I do not like fireworks. But that may have changed.

A tired walk back to the hotel, a few hours sleep, then off to breakfast, Millennium Park and Ohio Street beach before catching the train home, returning us to our Andy and able babysitter by 1 p.m.

Like I said, 24 hours. A lifetime of memories. Getting to see my hometown through the eyes of my boys.

Kiss, kiss, sweet home, Chicago.


















*Please note the Yankees cap is part of Luke's Little League uniform ...