I can't stand it any longer. I am heading home this weekend to get some Grand Babies time! Since this was our last weekend in Illinois, Odie and I decided to do the tourist thing Chicago style. We headed out yesterday morning to Navy Pier in Chicago. The weather was really nice with a high of 68 degrees. The lake was awesome, dotted with sail boats of all sizes. There was a hot air balloon that you could ride.
We paid a one time fee of $24.99 to park. The lot was packed up to the 5th floor where we parked. All I could think was $100 every four cars. As the shock of the parking fee was wearing off, we passed small shops, carnival rides, and ran into one of the most beautiful museums I have ever seen. It was a stained glass museum. It consisted of a long hallway of glass that had been rescued over the past fifty years. These were amazing figures of glass built into lighted frames. This alone made the $24.99 worth paying! I have some pictures that I will post to flicker later, but the pictures can not do justice to the breathtaking beauty of these pictures.
We were starving and started checking out the restaurants. We decided to take a two hour brunch cruise on the Mystic Blue cruise ship. It just slowly cruises around the end of the pier, not far from shore; but the view of downtown Chicago is beautiful. The brunch was good, but the desserts were melt in your mouth, weight gaining fabulous! There was a huge chocolate fondue bowl to dip marshmallows, rice crispy treats, cantaloupe, pineapple, and strawberries in. I can't remember the names of the different small cakes, but I ate until I could hardly waddle onto the deck. Odie and I were already counting the days until our cruise next month, but this short cruise just made us more antsy for the next few weeks to pass as quickly as possible.
We watched some of the cutest little ones out on the dance floor making me miss my babies even more. Hopefully next week I will have new stories of the wisdom of my little ones.
LATER
Monday, September 21, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
A Step Back in Time
We left Illinois heading to Indiana early Saturday morning. As we drove several miles into Indiana, it was if we were going back in time. The billboards gave way to two lane roads that we shared with the Amish in their horse drawn buggies or bicycles. House after white house had pristine yards that were immaculate with gardens full of flowers and vegetables.
The Amish children running around in the restaurant and shops were barefooted little girls dressed in beautiful burgundy, pink, or blue dresses with bonnets that were starched and perfectly white or little boys dressed in black slacks and blue shirts with suspenders. All of the children that I saw had beautiful complexions, were slender, and had beautiful smiles. All shops are closed on Sundays. We saw an Amish horse drawn buggy pulling a small boat, a tractor that had an Amish father with his five children riding with him. Amish men working in the field baling hay and plowing the fields using horses.
The B&B that we stayed at outside of Shipawanna, Indiana was across from an Amish Farm. We walked over to the Amish Farm with our Innkeeper to get eggs for our breakfast and to look at quilts that will be up for auction in a couple of weeks. There were quilts dating from the late 1800's to the present. There were well over fifty quilts already hanging for the auction that we looked through. They were all hand quilted and absolutely amazingly beautiful!
We had drinks out on a glass and screen enclosed porch watching a horse chasing a pony and a calf, the birds feeding, and listening to the sound of horses clomping down the road as the sun set. About a quarter of a mile from our B&B was a deer farm. There were several large bucks that made Ralph and Odie drool as they dreamed of getting a prize deer that size. There were a number of silky golden fawns laying out in the plush grass with only their small heads and huge ears visible from the road.
Sunday morning after a wonderful breakfast and hugging our Innkeepers Gail and David goodbye, we headed to a B&B in Urbana, Ohio that some friends of ours own. You could feel the past slipping away as billboards and small towns came back into our vision. Although High Street Manor B&B is in town in Urbana, once you drive through the gates and down the drive, you are once again submerged back into a simpler time. The rooms were named after Carolyn's daughters and granddaughter. There are beautiful Victorian rugs throughout the home with ornate mirrors and old fashioned pictures hanging from a time long gone. We all sat in rocking chairs with tea glasses out on the front porch reminiscing about our youth. Out on the veranda we had a supper of grilled steak, shrimp, black eyed peas, fresh hot bread, garden tomatoes smothered with mozzarella cheese olive oil and basil, baked potatoes, wine, and homemade pies. We worked off the meal with a couple of competitive games of electronic darts down in the 50's retro basement. I finally found a game that Odie liked to play.
Our breakfast was served in the formal dining room with pecan pancakes, egg casserole that melted in your mouth, garden tomatoes, ham, fresh orange juice, and coffee. It is raining outside and difficult to think about leaving. I could easily curl up in a chair and spend the afternoon reading. Unfortunately, we are now winding our way back to reality.
Later
The Amish children running around in the restaurant and shops were barefooted little girls dressed in beautiful burgundy, pink, or blue dresses with bonnets that were starched and perfectly white or little boys dressed in black slacks and blue shirts with suspenders. All of the children that I saw had beautiful complexions, were slender, and had beautiful smiles. All shops are closed on Sundays. We saw an Amish horse drawn buggy pulling a small boat, a tractor that had an Amish father with his five children riding with him. Amish men working in the field baling hay and plowing the fields using horses.
The B&B that we stayed at outside of Shipawanna, Indiana was across from an Amish Farm. We walked over to the Amish Farm with our Innkeeper to get eggs for our breakfast and to look at quilts that will be up for auction in a couple of weeks. There were quilts dating from the late 1800's to the present. There were well over fifty quilts already hanging for the auction that we looked through. They were all hand quilted and absolutely amazingly beautiful!
We had drinks out on a glass and screen enclosed porch watching a horse chasing a pony and a calf, the birds feeding, and listening to the sound of horses clomping down the road as the sun set. About a quarter of a mile from our B&B was a deer farm. There were several large bucks that made Ralph and Odie drool as they dreamed of getting a prize deer that size. There were a number of silky golden fawns laying out in the plush grass with only their small heads and huge ears visible from the road.
Sunday morning after a wonderful breakfast and hugging our Innkeepers Gail and David goodbye, we headed to a B&B in Urbana, Ohio that some friends of ours own. You could feel the past slipping away as billboards and small towns came back into our vision. Although High Street Manor B&B is in town in Urbana, once you drive through the gates and down the drive, you are once again submerged back into a simpler time. The rooms were named after Carolyn's daughters and granddaughter. There are beautiful Victorian rugs throughout the home with ornate mirrors and old fashioned pictures hanging from a time long gone. We all sat in rocking chairs with tea glasses out on the front porch reminiscing about our youth. Out on the veranda we had a supper of grilled steak, shrimp, black eyed peas, fresh hot bread, garden tomatoes smothered with mozzarella cheese olive oil and basil, baked potatoes, wine, and homemade pies. We worked off the meal with a couple of competitive games of electronic darts down in the 50's retro basement. I finally found a game that Odie liked to play.
Our breakfast was served in the formal dining room with pecan pancakes, egg casserole that melted in your mouth, garden tomatoes, ham, fresh orange juice, and coffee. It is raining outside and difficult to think about leaving. I could easily curl up in a chair and spend the afternoon reading. Unfortunately, we are now winding our way back to reality.
Later
Friday, September 4, 2009
Wisconsin
I am into the second week of no grandchildren. while I am enjoying my time with Odie, I am having serious grand baby withdrawals. I have talked to all, but Carissa (she was napping when I called).
Last Sunday we took a road trip to New Glarus, Wisconsin. It is a charming little German town. We ate German food in a beautiful huge Victorian house, walked through quaint shops, indulged in several different cheeses, and visited a brewery. We sampled beers named Totally Nude, Spotted Cow, and Fat Squirrel. The weather was perfect and the drive through Wisconsin was rolling hills covered in corn fields, jersey farms, and horse stables.
We are off on a Labor Day road adventure to an Amish community in Indiana and on to a small bed and breakfast that friends of ours own in Ohio.
LATER
Last Sunday we took a road trip to New Glarus, Wisconsin. It is a charming little German town. We ate German food in a beautiful huge Victorian house, walked through quaint shops, indulged in several different cheeses, and visited a brewery. We sampled beers named Totally Nude, Spotted Cow, and Fat Squirrel. The weather was perfect and the drive through Wisconsin was rolling hills covered in corn fields, jersey farms, and horse stables.
We are off on a Labor Day road adventure to an Amish community in Indiana and on to a small bed and breakfast that friends of ours own in Ohio.
LATER
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