Rain and Samantha's Excellent Adventure: Chi-town, home of the Cubs and giant macaroni.

Samantha: My new step sister Jen and her lovely family welcomed us to Chicago the night of the 8. Though feeling drained from the drive, my little nephews relayed their energy to me via a barrage of toys and stuffed animals. These adorable gentlemen are Ben the 5 year old, David the 8 year old, and Jack the 12 year old. As I settled into the guest room at Jen and Frank’s, the two youngest inquired “where’s your grandma?” to which I replied, “In Oregon.” But apparently I misunderstood, and they corrected me with “No, the grandma who came with you.” In case there is any question, Rain is now my grandma according to my nephews, and I’m okay that. Eventually the boys mellowed out and when to sleep, so we had some time to chat with Jen about our trip and her life in Chicago. The next morning Rain cooked up some eggs, and we talked to Jen a bit over coffee about her new job at a new school and how she had gone in early to resign at her previous school. I gifted the boys straws that gave them mustaches when they sipped from them, they loved it. I spun Ben around in circles for something like 20 minutes and he loved it, and the middle boy, David, took all kinds of silly photos with my thankfully rugged camera. Then they called their mom (in the living room) and Nana (my new step mom in Wells River Vt) with my cell phone. It was a good time. Shortly thereafter, we loaded into the mom-mobile and Jen took us touring to Wrigley Field and then to Navy Pier on Lake Michigan. I had mentioned when we visited Wrigley how much I’ve wanted to see that field since I was little, and then somewhat magically, Frank landed two tickets for seats on the 1st base line for $12 a piece! I couldn’t believe it, I was elated all day. At Navy Pier, I gave piggy back rides to the littlest ones, lots of fun! Navy Pier was neat, all sorts of places to eat, boats to rent, statues, sculptures and mosaics, and a fountain that’s perfect to play in for those hot, hot city days. This day, as we seem to be making a habit of, we brought wet weather with us.
From Navy Pier, we went to Oz park and quickly snapped some photos of the tin man, the scarecrow, and Dorothy and Toto in the rain. After that, Rain and I made use of the unlimited train pass Frank had picked up for us, and zipped to downtown Chicago for some walking around. It was pretty good, a lot fine dining and corporate stuff. We got a little lost on our way back to the train, but received direction from a very friendly and exceedingly helpful homeless gentleman. We gave him $10 in exchange.
Then, it was matter of finding some supper and waiting out the rain delay on the Cubs vs Reds game.
We poked around in a wonderful bookstore next to Strange Cargo in Belmonte, and picked up a copy of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Next we went into a souvenir shop a little ways down the street, and was directed by the lady working there to have dinner at Lucky’s. Lucky’s was featured on Man vs Food for their three sandwich challenge. These sandwiches are stuffed with French fries, so one was a daunting and delicious opponent for me. I won, by the way.
From Lucky’s we crossed the street Wrigley. The game was fantastic. I’d heard a lot of flack from the locals about the Cubs’ less than stellar performance, but Rain and I had a fabulous time. The Reds’ first at bat was a homerun, hilarious. Cubs were behind until about the 7th, then we tied, then scored some runs! And actually managed to hold the lead and win the game! It felt so good to go to a major league game in a stadium as beautiful as Wrigley. I was almost worried that I wouldn’t make it to any division game this summer, so I am pleased and have a warm fuzzy feeling in the baseball part of my brain. Rain really enjoyed the game, and that made it extra awesome for me.
After Wrigley, we bar hopped a bit and landed in a Reggae joint called Exodus II with yummy rum-punch and live music, a really nice surprise. From there we wandered around a little more, found a giant sculpture of a macaroni noodle and beside it, a friendly guy who told us all about where we should have gone in Cleveland (Panini’s for the original Lucky’s sandwich) and where we ought to go in Colorado (Garden of the Gods). He hopped a bus, we called a cab to avoid the down pour, home to bed.
We departed mid morning the next day, with a sweet send off from Jen, Frank, and the boys. It was hard to leave, and I was so grateful I was able to spend time with my new family.