Blogs from Illinois, United States, North America - page 2

Downtown Chicago may surprise you as much as it did us as it is an architectural wonder on one of our five Great Lakes. The confluence of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River ensures this world class city as an important cargo route. These waterways are surrounded by modern skyscrapers, well planned boardwalks and parks which lend this city to be extremely attractive and walkable. The public transportation makes it easy to visit from many of the suburbs. Nearby Union Station has amazing architecture, excellent signage as well several shops, restaurants, and vending machines. Chicago is known as “The Windy City” and many think it is due to the wicked cold winds coming off Lake Michigan…. There are some summer days that feel cold, but winter can be unbearable with the changing microclimates. In reality --it ... read more

For about the past six months, we’ve been living and working in Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois, just 35 miles west of Chicago. When most people think of Chicago, they think of the United States' fourth largest city with about 3 million inhabitants. Toss in the total number of people that live in the suburbs and that total swells to about 10 million. We are going to save all that for the next blog and spend our time here describing some of the unique and cool things we did outside of this area. We’ve managed to do a lot of exploring and certainly do not want to provide a blow-by-blow of every weekend, but did want to talk about some of the highlights. If you are in the area visiting and venture away from ... read more

We enjoyed a stay in the Rockford area. The highlight of the stay here was spending time with our daughter Amanda and her husband Aiden. We checked out Activation Games. What a fun experience playing through many of the rooms of mental and physical team games. Then to Lazy Dog for a delicious lunch. So fun to spend time with them! We toured our first Frank Lloyd Wright house, the Laurent House. The Laurent House is the only building designed by Architect Frand Lloyd Wrigth for a person with a disability. The single-story Usonian home is a rare mid-century design featuring a solar hemicycle footprint and is considered one of the most well-preserved Wright homes in existence. Our docent, Larry, was very knowledgeable and seemed to enjoy sharing information about the house and the Laurents. Next ... read more

Hier, je suis allée à un show de Broadway in Chicago. Car oui, il y a une telle chose! Je suis allée voir MJ The Musical. Ça raconte l'histoire de Michael Jackson, depuis son enfance avec les Jackson 5, jusqu'au début de la tournée Dangerous. La salle était pleine en ce magnifique samedi après-midi. Ce weekend d'août, c'est LE gros weekend, car dès le prochain, les gens seront dans le début du retour à l'école des petits. Donc autant samedi que dimanche, il y a plein d'activités. Une parade (93è édition), le Duck Derby sur la rivière (des milliers de ti-canards jaunes qui font la course pour une bonne cause), et des tantes d'artisans partout. Aujourd'hui dimanche, c'était le "Sundays on State". Une partie de la rue est piétonne, avec de la bouffes, des produits locaux, ... read more

We're driving to Ohio for the weekend for a family reunion. From Des Moines, our destination in Ohio is about an 11 hour drive. My parents and brother's family started out going westward into Illinois but then cut down southward. We went a different route. We decided to start the drive on Thursday and stop in the Chicago area to see my aunt and uncle (on the other side of the family, so they aren't attending the reunion). We met them for pizza at Palermo's on 95th. I love seeing them. We grew up very close with them, as their two kids are roughly the same age as my siblings and me. After dinner, I took the family to Haunted Trails. Haunted Trails is where we went for mini golf when I was a kid. Our ... read more