We Take Ourselves With Us

No one does museums like the Kress-Davis family.  We show up when they open and leave as they're kicking folks out the door!  Are there special exhibits?  We'll see them all.  Can we participate in something?  Sign us up?  Are there games to play, movies to see, lots of stairs to walk?  Sign us up! We saw   Animals Inside Out , a magic Fairy Castle , a crazy huge IMAX movie about the Last Reef (which made us feel horrible about wearing sunscreen while snorkling), the real U505 German Sub, chicks being hatched, and tornadoes and tsunamis being formed.  We made our own toys, danced in slow motion, ran in fast motion, simulated earthquakes and landslides, visualized our DNA, and trained to be submariners, and charted international airline routes.  In short, we spent about 7 hours at MSI-Chicago and still missed stuff.  Here are some highlights: We love museums!!!!

Saturday morning, we set out in search of breakfast with our trusty Urban Spoon app.  (Sidebar: how did we ever vacation without this thing? We've found such great places with it from Kohala to NYC and everywhere in between.)  A place called Meli Cafe looked good, so we marched up the street.  We're staying basically in Greektown--irony alert, that's the one cuisine we're not especially keen on--so our trip took us past about 9000 Greek places on a fairly deserted walk, until we came upon a sunny looking spot that seemed pretty full.  Why?  Because it's breakfast heaven, that's why. Meli has a juice menu that's separate from the breakfast menu and dishes built around stuff like cocoa crepes stuffed with Nutella or cocoa waffles covered with strawberries and bananas and specials built around guanciale  (so, so good!).  The plates are as big as your head and come with perfectly seasoned breakfast potatoes.  The coffee is rich, dark, and endless.  Wow!

We met up with friends Alyson, Whitey, and their daughter Meredith at Ed Debevic's for dinner.  Alyson grew up in Chicago and loved Ed's when she was little, so we headed there for Meredith's early 7th birthday celebration. The diner's gimmick is that all the waitstaff sass you, and you're expected to give it right back.  For kids, this is like a license to upend all rules of civilization. Of course, it took ours about 2 seconds to go full Lord of the Flies.  It took Meredith a bit longer, but her booth mates eased her into it.  And soon, our waiter Haystack--presumably not his given name--was rueing the day he picked up our table, and Meredith was screaming "I love this restaurant!" at the top of her lungs.  Good times! Then, we found an awesome futuristic park along the river and the kids ran themselves silly until it rained--powered by gigantic milkshakes, chocolate cokes, green rivers and their moment of glory smashing the state (with a side of fries).

The walk to Brookfield from the train station goes through a cute residential neighborhood and past a high school.  We all agreed it would be crazy awesome to have a zoo right behind your school! At the zoo, we were greeted by an amazing peacock, that strolled around casually. We were drawn to Brookfield by the promise that we could walk among dinosaurs.  And, they delivered!  I've clearly been out of the dino-game for too long as I missed the memo informing us that a lot of them were covered in downy, fur-like feathers.  Including the velociraptor--which made it even creepier! And, the kids found the sweet spot at the Stingray tank that let them pet a couple dozen of the balletic creatures. Cool! We caught a dolphin show in which 3 of the 5 performing females were pregnant and all trainers were women--Lean In, sistahs!  Drank ICEEs out of dumbbells (don't ask). And rode the zoo tram a couple times around the park when it

So, the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. That's hockey, right?  This led to an official citywide party that began at about 6 am on Friday and drew about 2 million (no joke!). So, with Ned ensconced in his library meetings, the kids and I decided to flee to the Brookfield Zoo.  (Trust me, living for 20+ years in an SEC college town takes the shine right off drunken celebrations of athletic victories.).  Although they've taken almost every other form of modern conveyance, the kids have never taken a train. Subway, metrorail, monorail, tram, bus, car, plane, boat, ship, kayak, ferry, horse, scooter, WEDway people mover--yes! Good ol' train, no.  With this, we set off for Union Station to catch the Burlington Northern to Brookfield. It was--natch--colored red for the Blackhawks :) Although he routinely braves the NYC Subway, DC Metro and Miami roadways in full-on rush hour without batting an eye, Penn was a bit freaked out by the idea of the train.  We sat on the top on

We immediately hit the Art Institute--open late on Thursday.  It was the opening day of the Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity exhibit--huge impressionist portraits paired with the insanely gorgeous dresses that inspired them--no photos allowed, sadly. We walked the galleries til they closed. Then, we ended the day with a late dinner at Wishbone , eating more Southern food 'cause we're in Chicago. Hoppin' John, fried green tomatoes, red beans and rice, mac and cheese, pecan pie.  Awesome!! Us on way to Art Institute: The Lions in their Blackhawks helmets, ready for tomorrow's ticker tape parade! They kinda looked like riot gear to me. Art!  Penn saw the Doctor Who Van Gogh episode come to life.   Harper practiced her pose. Penn compared Uruk-Hai armor to the real deal. Millennium Park Me Harper ponders Dinner with catapult!