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Published: September 10th 2014
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Cody here, Folks! We're on the road and fairly vested in our trip at this point. After a couple days, we've stopped by Cleveland, and made it to Chicago, IL! To help stay awake and keep us moving we've been doing 5-10 minute workouts at rest stops. Chicago is our second stop, so lets back up a little. Monday, Sept. 8th was spent in Cleveland with Jane and Glenn. Jane is a previous boss of Carrie's and continued friend, and Glenn is her soon to be husband! They were both great hosts and truly took time out of their day to help us enjoy Cleveland. First, we toured Cleveland. The city has really placed a tremendous effort in revitalizing their image. It was clean, easy to navigate, and full of what seemed to be great restaurants & breweries. Jane and Glenn planned on taking us to The Great Lakes Brewery, but we soon found out it was closed on Sundays. We headed over Shooter's, a restaurant on the water with a 70-80's diner mixed with a modern American bar feel. We grabbed a quick bite
and a Great Lakes beer in tribute to our missed opportunity.
Afterwards, we checked out a place called Nano Brewery. It was a microbrewery that served several other local and regional beers. We relaxed and spent the afternoon getting to know each-other/catching up. For dinner, Jane and Glenn had prepped to grill out in their backyard. We chowed down on burgers, bratwurst, sausage, and fresh mozzarella. Then, we finished the first day of our adventure with a full moon overhead, a campfire, marshmallows, and sharing stories and laughs in good company. After breakfast (homemade baked pancakes!!), and a quick, but beautiful, morning bike ride in Cuyahoga Valley National Park and visit to Brandywine falls, Carrie and I left our friends and headed to Chicago. At this point it seems like a theme of super hosts. Less than an hour after arriving at the Veith's house in Chicago, we were already being served potato skin appetizers, Cabernet, and prepping for a pork chop dinner. For those of you who don't know, my buddy Evan Veith is a chef. He and his family always have
great meals when we visit. We usually get to help make them. This time we had pork chops with reduced balsamic vinegar and peaches, fresh salad, asparagus, and peach cobbler. Picture included!
We got up the next day (Tues, Sept. 9th) and played tennis to get some exercise in (because 10 minute pit stop workouts at gas stations aren't enough). A large portion of our experiences so far seem to include food. While catching up with Evan, we ordered the staple of every Chicago tourists' menu: Deep dish pizza. I think the large pizza weighed a little more than a whale calf..or little under 8 Lbs. We didn't have too much time to explore, but we only wanted to check out the few things we missed while visiting last November. Evan and family all had things to do on Tuesday, so we used that time to go to the the city and visit the Skydeck in Willis Tower and Buckingham Fountain. Willis Tower is the tallest building in the western hemisphere, and the views are amazing. Buckingham Fountain is a massive fountain near the lake that has a nighttime light show as well as having a good perspective of
By the Slice..
This slice weighs a little over 3/4 of a pound. Meaning the 8 slices that make a whole pie weigh in over 7 lbs. the city skyline.
All in all, our time in Chicago has included lots of laughs and creating more memories with a great friend and extremely welcoming family. Later today, after breakfast as a local joint, Carrie and I will start our 14 hour trek to Mt. Rushmore! Cheers to wrapping up time with old friends and pressing onward to new adventures on the next leg of our journey.
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