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Monday, March 15, 2021

And Just Like That... We're Empty Nesters

I always thought "Empty Nesters" were old people! Of course, growing up, the only people who I knew were Empty Nesters were, well, old people. And, of course, this guy: 

So, how in the world can two parents in their 40s be Empty Nesters?
 
Two weeks ago, our only kiddo flew the coop, left the nest, hit the road, moved away. If you missed that grand adventure, look here for all the links. 

I think that Hubby and I taking time to adventure had a huge part in helping us get used to it. We were sad when The Kiddo said she was leaving, and the sadness got worse as the goodbyes got closer. But her needing assistance with her move gave us something to focus on, rather than just time to dwell on losing her in our daily lives. 
 
And when we finally got her moved into her new apartment, we were able to see where she was going to live, and who she was going to live with, and what her new town looked like, and it was a relief. I felt like she was going off into some unknown great, wide somewhere... until I saw her somewhere. It grounded me and gave my mind somewhere to focus. Does that make sense?
 
I would have felt at peace with that knowledge, if we'd chosen to fly home, or drive directly home. Knowing my baby (yes, my 23-year-old baby) was safe in her new surroundings would have been enough for me. But our extra eight-day adventure helped to put a period at the end of a sentence. Returning the moving truck was the end of one part of our lives. And starting a long road trip in a new vehicle, going to places we'd never been, was the beginning of a new part. A more adventurous part. A part where I didn't have to be Mom - I could be Me. And he could be He, instead of Dad. And more importantly, we could be We, two people who loved and married each other oh so many years ago, back before we were known as Mom and Dad. We were Husband and Wife again, and it was time to turn a page.  

It's definitely going to take some getting used to. As parents, we all base our lives around our children; their needs, their wants, their dreams. Big things like spending money, and little things like what to cook for dinner... parents always make these decisions based on their children. This part hasn't really kicked in yet (we've only been home a few days as I write this). But I can feel her absence in the house. It's quieter. It's a little emptier. The cat is heartbroken... she stares at the door, and then at us, wondering where The Kiddo has gone. She sleeps in her room at night, curled up in the bedclothes, because they still smell like her. I don't have the heart to wash them yet!

And me? Well, I'm proud. I miss her terribly, but I'm so happy she is off on her own and doing what she wants to do with her life. I won't say that I miss running her to and from work, or dealing with a cranky-pants kid, or the weird smells that came from her room (seriously, why are kids so smelly?), but I miss her smile, and her laugh, and the energy that she brought to the space. 

So, a melancholy ending to our grand Wisconsin Adventure series, perhaps, but it's a true and heartfelt one. As a 44-year old mother of one, I am now a 44-year old mother of one Adult Child who lives Somewhere Else. And I'm okay with that. 

Bring on more adventures!

Post-Trip Thoughts on our (first?) Multi-State Road Trip

First off, if you've missed any parts of our multi-state Florida to Wisconsin (and back) road trip, you can get caught up here:

Day 1 - Florida to Alabama
Day 2 - Alabama to Illinois
Day 3 - Illinois to Wisconsin
Day 4 - Wisconsin
Day 5 - Wisconsin to Ohio
Day 6 - Ohio to Pennsylvania
Day 7 - Pennsylvania to Virginia
Day 8 - Virginia to Georgia
Day 9 - Georgia to Home

(Also, full disclaimer: I'm typing this a month or so after we finished this trip because I wanted time to really absorb what we did and enjoy that post-trip high!)

So... how do I feel about road tripping?

I think I love it. Just based on this trip alone, 9 outta 10 stars. It was great to hit the road, see different places, eat different food, be nomadic, and be together

But me being me, let's do a Pro and Con List!

Pros                                                                                          
A Change from The Ordinary
We don't normally do a lot of unordinary things in our "every day" life. I like to go to races nearby, so I'll have a day where I wander around a local city (such as Jacksonville, about 90 minutes away), but rarely take a weekend away. When we do, it's because we've attached it to something, such as a wedding or a longer race. Because of Covid, we haven't been to Disney since January 2020, which has taken away our "excuse" to get away for a weekend. 

Seeing New Places
I honestly can't think of the last time we went somewhere new. Living in Florida means that we aren't surrounded by other states; we have to drive through the same towns to get to new places. Also, North Florida and South Georgia are geographically similar, so even going to Savannah never really felt like I was going "somewhere different."  Honestly, I have to sit and think hard about the last new place we went, and I think it was a cruise to the Bahamas, way back in 2002 or so! 

New Experiences
Besides the biggest new experience of driving through multiple states, we went to Niagara Falls! We saw 40% of the Great Lakes! If we'd gotten the chance, we were going to go snow tubing! I mean, how awesome is that?

New Food
While we didn't try nearly as many local joints as I'd hoped, it was fun to even try regional fast food, too. We went to Buc-ee's for the first time (and second time). We tried a place called Jack's. We devoured milkshakes from Cook-Out. And all the yummy pastries from O&H Bakery? Oh, yeah, I love this part of road-tripping!

New Stores
I love convenience stores, that's no surprise. I feel like you learn a lot about a region or neighborhood by their gas stations and convenience stores. We went to KwikTrips, QuikTrips, Sheetz, Friendships, Enmarkets, and so many more! We went to Scray Cheese, Tennessean Truck Stop, Boyer's Candy, and the amazing Mars Cheese Castle

Cons                                                                                         
Driving at Night is Boring
Being from Florida, we get a lot of sunshine. Our average sunset is anytime between 5:30pm and 8:15pm. So imagine my surprise when, as we started getting more north, the sun began to set earlier! Once we were up past Illinois, it seemed like dusk started around 3:30 or 4 o'clock. It was distracting, and I found myself getting sleepier much earlier - which is a very bad thing when driving! Also, because we couldn't see anything, there was nothing to look at. It was just miles and miles of dark highways and bright exits. The trip from Chicago to Port Clinton was the worst, because we drove until midnight. 

Didn't Plan Stops/Activities Very Well
As I've said a few times in the blog entries, I had this grand idea that we'd just mosey on down the road and stop at any ol' place that looked interesting. But... except for a few places, we never did! Sure, we stopped for ice cream at the Tennesseean Truck Stop, and we found that birding trail, but I was envisioning fun roadside stands, like "Cousin Cooter's Old Time Store" and we never got stuff like that... maybe I romanticized it a little too much. Also, because of the windy road situation, we skipped a lot of the backroad travel anyway, which greatly reduced the opportunity to find Cousin Cooter. If - when - we do other road trips, I need to plan better and FIND these places before we go driving willy-nilly down the road. 

Didn't Stay Long Enough in Big Cities 
This one made me feel really stupid. Going into this, we didn't really plan on wanting to tour Chicago, but multiple things ended up on my "Wanna See" list (like the Chicago Theater sign, Cloud Gate, Route 66 sign, etc), and we never had the time (or the opportunity, see next item) to do it. We were able to see Cloud Gate, and I am thankful we got that in, but between traffic and poor planning, we had hardly any time in Chicago. Hubby and I both agreed that we need to do Chicago again - in the spring, when there's no cooties, and we can devote a good few days to seeing it right

Didn't Try Enough Local Food
Hubby and I are both picky eaters, not very adventurous. Couple that with also being frugal, and we more often than not stick to familiar places like McDonald's and Wendy's. It's hard for us to see "Bob's Bigtown Burgers" on the side of the road and say, yeah! let's go there for lunch! How do I know I'll like the food? Is it affordable? Do they have something he can eat? I was overwhelmed in the planning of this trip, because of the sheer number of miles we were covering, and I didn't do much research into what local places would work for us, and so we fell into familiar. I think Jack's was the only unfamiliar place we ate at, and that was safe because I knew they served chicken fingers (I saw some guy talk about Jack's on the internet...). 

Doing This During a Pandemic
If this had been a normal vacation road trip, we probably wouldn't have chosen to do it when half of the country was still locked down because of cooties. But we didn't have that much of a choice. We needed to drive, so we took advantage of the situation. Chicago was a ghost town (made for great Bean photos, though), many places were closed. In many places, it was also still "winter" and things were closed for the season and wouldn't reopen until Memorial Day (typical "summer" season for Northern states, apparently). Most places were indifferent about masks, but many (Chicago, New York, Pennsylvania) were militant about it. Every single hotel we stayed at either had no breakfast or limited, prepackaged breakfasts. Every hotel pool was closed. All of these things were off-putting and slightly unwelcoming. Hopefully if - when - we do this again, many of these closures and restrictions will be a thing of the past!


So, knowing what I know now, would I do this again?

Yup. 100% would do it again! When can we go!?!?


                             Visual Map of Where We Went                               










How Do Photogs Get Those Shots? - Wisconsin Road Trip Day 8

Enjoying our stay in Roanoke, we went to bed early last night so we could be up by 8:30am today. We had zero plans again, though we learned yesterday that it didn't really work as well as we'd thought...

I picked up some hotel breakfast as we headed out (bagels, muffins, etc) and tucked them away for snacking, then got some gas and more McDonald's sausage biscuits. 

We headed down the road and soon saw a sign for the New River Trail State Park; well, of course we had to go check it out!

Or.... not.

Once we'd turned off the main highway, we ended up turning left onto Dora Highway, instead of continuing down to Xaloy Way, where we could park. 

I think our hike was better (and parking was free)
We drove a few miles before realizing that we were in the wrong place, but found a small parking area, so we decided to get out anyway and check out the tiny creek nearby. It was lined with a gravel path, which was nice. We walked about half a mile to a small bridge that crossed the creek, all the while taking some photos, before returning back to the car. 

Peak Creek
Never saw any trout though
So pretty, but cloudy
Hey, Photographer, how do you get them cool photos?
Results
Change your perspective for better shots
Can't forget to get another rock!
Back on the road, we didn't do much more exploring, except to explore lunch options. We stopped in Elkin, NC and picked up a magnet (of course), as well as lunch. I wasn't feeling more McDonald's so I literally mobile-ordered Chick-fil-A while waiting in line for Hubby's order at McDs!  Once he got his, I got mine, and we were back on the road. 

Welcome to North Carolina (...eventually...)
In South Carolina, he wasn't a fan of the roads, as they were travelling through the Blue Ridge Mountains. Sadly, he couldn't enjoy the beauty that was right out the window! I attempted, and failed, to capture some photos while I drove.

Welcome to South Carolina (...eventually...)
The photos don't do it justice - the Blue Ridge Mountains are so pretty!
As anyone who drives along interstates and highways knows, there's always an abundance of "sexy" store billboards. I jokingly told him that if he told me to exit, I'd buy whatever he wanted. 

So we did. 

...and Often!
We stopped at Lion's Den Superstore in Bowman, and I was surprised at how... non-skeevy it was. I've been to adult stores before; many feel skeevy. I was expecting one on the side of an interstate to be extra-skeevy, but it wasn't. There were about 5 other people there (plus staff), 4 of whom were couples. It was very well organized. "Regular" lingerie was in one area, whereas "Fantasy" or "BDSM" lingerie was in another. All the toys were sorted by type. There was a good variety and supply of lubes, lotions, and potions, and even a small table for those disgusting incense sticks. We wandered for about an hour (mostly because I was making fun of so many of the items, because, wow...), but we ended up with a few items, most of which I'll not share with you, but I will share that I got a fun pair of socks that I can't wait to wear to work beneath my Business Outfit pants and Business Appropriate shoes:

Yeah I would
Anyway, it was a fun adventure that I know will pay off for me later. 

It did. 
Both of us were still somewhat full from lunch, but Hubby had been seeing signs for some place called Cook-Out that touted 30 flavors of milkshakes, so we had to go check it out! The menu is immense, and we kind of just stared at it for a few minutes in awe. 

I would like... one of everything please!
Hubby went with a Peanut Butter Fudge shake that tasted just like a No Way Jose from Disney World. I chose a Mint Chip shake that was a dead ringer for Andes Candies. Oh, and together, they were only six bucks! 

16 ounces, thicker than concrete!
There is no way you can actually suck these things through a straw, so we happily shoveled them into our faces with spoons until we were about to burst. He got through about half of his, and I was almost there. Since we were close to the hotel, we figured we'd bring them with us; by the time we checked in, they'd be actual shake consistency. 

As we drove south toward the state line, I had about a third of a tank of gas; I wanted to push into to Georgia before stopping so I could fill up and pick up a magnet at the same time. 

This was stupid. 

The "Get Gas, Dumbass!" light came on about 25 miles from the state line, but I pushed it and won. We stopped at an EnMarket for gas and then headed to our hotel in midtown Savannah.

You'll notice something here...

I didn't buy a magnet. 

And why not? 

Because... duh... we'll still be here tomorrow! I played a stupid game, but at least I didn't win a stupid prize. 

Anyway, the hotel was tucked away on some weird side street that was hard to find, and check-in was way more "we're a high class hotel" than was warranted. We were told that our room was in the North Wing and we had to go in a separate entrance. After we parked and got into the North Wing, the elevator was broken, and we had to haul our stuff up two flights of stairs to the third floor. We called down to the desk to alert them that the elevator was broken, and I was told that they'd give me a $20 credit for the hassle, but it's been three months and no credit. 

The room was nice, small but clean, and laid out weirdly with a funky loveseat/ottoman set-up that took up a lot of space in the room. Luckily, thanks to our earlier stop, we were able to put it to good use. 

Yes, yes it is.
Goodnight to our last night on the road; tomorrow, we finally make it home!

So Glad to Be Home - Wisconsin Road Trip Day 9

After a very... rambunctious... night last night, both he and I slept in until 10! Once awake, I treated myself to a bath, though the promised "deep soaking bathtub" was supremely underwhelming. Afterwards, I woke Hubby up and we checked out at 11:30, making our way to Oglethorpe Mall. We picked up fudge (and impulsively, a bag of Cotton Candy) from Savannah Sweets (they used to have an additional location on River Street, but not for quite a while now). 

Once fudge was acquired, we discussed if there was anything else we wanted to do (I'd originally planned to do lunch at The Lady & Sons and explore Hilton Head Island), but at this point, we decided to change course and head south. 

Back in Florida! I feel like I haven't seen sunshine in weeks
We went to my favorite dive, Safe Harbor Seafood, in Mayport (north of Jacksonville). We weren't super-hungry, so we split a basket with chicken fingers and shrimp, which was just enough food for the two of us. 

They expanded! Now the fish market is across the street
Full of Mayport shrimp, we headed south to the brand-new Buc-ee's at World Golf Village, outside St. Augustine. We picked up all sorts of junk food to round out the other eighty pounds of junk food we accumulated over these past 9 days. 


From there, we made our way home. We unpacked the SUV and put everything away and then... finally... we were home. It felt great to sit on the comfy couch and curl up with the comfy throw and just... be

I Need Magnets! - Wisconsin Road Trip Day 7

After a harrowing drive from New York last night, and a restless night, I let Hubby sleep in until around 10am. 

Once awake, I left him to get ready, and I headed back to New York, to Sassy's Truck Stop, to hopefully find a NY magnet. While I didn't get an actual magnet, I was able to pick up both a New York and Pennsylvania keychain that could be turned into magnets once I got home. It felt like cheating, but when all is said and done, I'm okay with it now. 

On my way back to New York
Snowmobile Crossing Sign... huh
Welcome to Pennsylvania
Back at the hotel we packed up the car and headed toward Roanoke, Virginia. The plan for the day was to avoid "windy backroads" as much as possible, and to get back on the interstate. Unfortunately, for the first few hours, we ended up on US-219 again; luckily it wasn't too bad for him, especially since it was daylight and he could see the curves. 

Take me home, country roads
Interesting Fact from Garmin – highest elevation reached on this trip was 2,289f above sea level, while driving through Allegheny National Forest (recorded at 12:30pm)
Still some snow on the ground
Snow runoff in a nearby creek (look to the left)
A few hours into the drive, we came across a Sheetz. I'd been wanting to check out a Sheetz, since they are considered the biggest competition to Wawa, which is my beloved convenience store. 

Upon first experience, it came across as a 2nd-rate Wawa. It was small (compared to a large store) and awkwardly laid out. Their ordering area was tiny and felt cramped. I decided to try the $5 App Sampler with Chicken Bitez, Totz, Cheese Curds, as well as some French fries. We also picked up sodas, some Lofthouse Cookies (in a 2-pack? I see you!), a bag of Slim Jim Inferno Fries, and a tube of Sheetz Hot & Spicy nuts (OMG, they were so good!). 

This makes my Fat Girl heart so happy!
But talking about good... Fried. Cheese. Is. AMAZING. I'm a little ashamed that we never got some Fried Cheese Curds while in Wisconsin, but at least I've tried it, and OMG, I love it! The Chicken Bitez were nothing fancy, but the Totz were nice and crispy. The overuse of "Z" in place of "S" is obnoxious, but whatever. 

It's all so ... brown! Chicken, Tots, and Cheese
A few hours later, we saw a billboard for Boyer Candy Outlet and Factory. Neither Hubby nor I had any idea what Boyer Candy made, but we thought it would be a fun side adventure to check out a candy factory! We went to Altoona and found this tiny little place... Okay, so Boyer makes Mallo Cups! I've never had a Mallo Cup. All I knew is that it was similar to a Reese's Cup, but made with marshmallow instead of peanut butter. 

This way!
Five. Pounds. of. Marshmallow.
We couldn't tour the factory, and the Outlet store was smaller than my living room! There was lots of Mallo Cups, as well as Clark Cups, and Smoothie Cups. If we wanted, we could have even bought a bucket full of marshmallow filling! We picked up a 6-pack of each type of candy so we could try them when we got home. 

After leaving Altoona, we headed into, and then out of, Maryland, within 3 minutes, and then into West Virginia. Because it was such a quick drive, we didn't have anywhere to get magnets. We ended up at a Liberty gas station in West Virginia, and I was able to pick up West Virginia, Virginia, and a slice of Godfather's Pizza. 

Welcome to Maryland... Now Leaving Maryland
Welcome to West Virginia
From there, took I-81 to Roanoke and checked in to our hotel for the night. 

But why is Virginia for lovers

Everyone is so Nice in Wisconsin! - Wisconsin Road Trip Day 5

Still relaxed from my jacuzzi tub evening the night before, we checked out around 9am, and in hindsight, we should have left a lot earlier... the day got away from us big-time today! We filled up the gas tank and got yet another Sausage Biscuit from McDonalds before making our way south to Racine.  I had the Garmin set up to take us to Windy Point lighthouse and then a local bakery, but, as we drove along, we missed the turn for the lighthouse, so we just continued on to the bakery. O&H Bakery came highly recommended from my boss, who lived in Chicago many (many) years ago, and I'm a sucker for a pastry!

Bakery Cases Full of Tasty Treats
We had a lot of fun talking with the employees about the differences in pastries (what makes a Bismark a Bismark? What is a Pershing donut?) and about what a Kringle even is! We also chatted with some locals - one of whom was originally from Sebring, FL, about 3 hours south of where I live. As we were making our decisions on what to purchase, one of those locals tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a package; he'd purchased two of the most popular pastries for us! How sweet! He got us a Bavarian Cream Bismarck and a Cheese-Filled Glazed Triangle. On top of that, we also purchased a Cinnamon Roll Kringle and a plush Viking (named Ohlaf). 

Photo Courtesy of O&H Bakery Website
We took our treasures to go, and found a local beach and tried our goodies. First up, the Bavarian Cream was a heavy boy, full of thick cream (stop giggling) that was more like a true pastry cream than a vanilla pudding (which most places use these days, because it's cheaper). Hubby really liked it and after a bite or two, I let him finish up the whole thing. 

Custard Filled Donut - Fudge Topped
Next was the Cheese Triangle. The employees told us it was a yeast dough filled with a sweet cheese filling made with local Wisconsin cheese. I was expecting something along the lines of cheese danish flavors, or cheesecake flavors, but this was a little more tangy than that, kind of a greek yogurt taste/feel in the mouth. I was a little bummed about that, because if the filling had been sweeter, this would have been a grand slam... The glaze was light and sweet, the dough was springy and yeasty and chewy, but the filling was just a little off for me... I ended up eating as much of the unfilled part as I could, but skipped the filling area. 

Cheese-Filled Glazed Triangle donut
And the kringle itself? Light, flaky, super-tasty, but I don't think it's my thing... I liken the dough more to a baklava-style, with very thin sheets folded on itself over and over. I prefer yeasty over flaky, I guess! But the flavor was on point. I would just have preferred more chewiness, like a donut. 

It's very...flat. I prefer fluffy pastries. 
Once we wiped down with some wet wipes (we were all sticky from the donuts), we hopped out and explored the shoreline. We tried to get as close as possible to the lake, taking silly photos, and one rogue wave came up and attacked our feet. Luckily, I'd Scotchguarded our shoes before we left; unlucky for Hubby, it doesn't work on mesh sneakers! I also picked up a few rocks (which apparently is my thing for this trip). 


Lake Michigan Selfie!
So different from yesterday 
No wet shoes for me!
We then backtracked an went back to the actual stop, the Windy Point Lighthouse, and I'm happy we came back. It was really pretty!

Wind Point Lighthouse
Out past the lighthouse was a lot of huge boulders leading down to the shorefront, and then some smaller rocks (yep, took some more). 

This would make a great desktop background
Hmmm, I wonder if coating these in poly would keep them this pretty?
I'm gonna have to find out!
Hubby and I walked around exploring, mostly him, really, because I was taking buttloads of pictures.  

I took a bunch like this; it was my favorite, with the sunshine
Boulders & Waves
Accidental Renaissance™
From the corner of my eye, I saw him climb back up toward the lighthouse, so after I took a few more photos, I started to follow him, not really paying attention to my footing, and bam! My foot slid out from under me and I fell forward on my elbows on a ginormous boulder. I heard my camera hit the rock and when I looked down, all I saw were pieces!

Now how will I find a view?
I laid there for a minute, assessing my physical damage, then started laughing. Hubby turned around and saw me face-down on a rock and the oh fuck, she hurt herself look on his face made my heart just melt... I could see the fear and concern openly on his face that I just wanted to give him a big hug! I told him I was fine, and pulled myself back up. My elbows hurt, but nothing was broken or bleeding, and it turned out that, after a full systems check, the only thing broken with my camera is that the lip of the viewfinder popped off, and I could snap it right back on. Oh, and of course, once Hubby knew I was fine, he made fun of me the rest of the trip!

Nothing hurt but my pride, we got back on the road and headed south to Chicago. I realized, far too late, that we'd not picked up a Wisconsin magnet, at about the time we crossed into Illinois. 

Welcome to Illinois (ugh)
So we turned around!

Welcome to Wisconsin (yay)
Back in Wisconsin, we popped into Mars Cheese Castle, and wow... what a place!

The photo doesn't do it justice
It's this huge store, and yes, shaped like a castle, full of All Things Wisconsin. Cheese, of course, but also meats, baked goods, jams, jellies, honey, candy, wine, souvenirs... even a café (closed that day, sadly, because of The Cooties). But my favorite room was the one dedicated to local sodas! 

There was a creepy mouse-eating-cheese statue...
We ended up picking up five bottles of soda, and two magnets, one of which was a bottle opener, in case we wanted to try any of the drinks before we got home. (ETA: We ended up trying all of the sodas when we got home <<I'll insert the link here later>>, but I can tell you that Point Premium and Sprecher Maple Root Beer were my two favorites, by a wide margin)

Sprecher Root Beer
Sprecher Maple Root Beer
Sprecher Ginger Ale
Dang! That's Good Butterscotch Root Beer
Point Premium Root Beer
Once we left Wisconsin (again), and crossed into Illinois, we started seeing signs for something called an oasis. At first I thought it was just a rest area, but it was more like if a Florida Turnpike Plaza had a baby with a Mall Food Court. 

You can see how it spans the entire interstate/toll road
There is an entrance on each side, similar to the FL Turnpike ones, but these actually crossed over the entire interstate below it! You could stand in the middle and watch the traffic go by, which was really cool. 

Inside, there are counters along the glass walls, so you watch traffic
Inside were a lot of food choices, like Dunkin', Panda Express, Auntie Anne's, a popcorn place, a shawarma place, McDonald's, Sbarro's, and much more! There were vending machines, ATMs, bathrooms, crane games, and even a Best Buy vending machine for tech needs! Outside was a 7-Eleven for gas, too. Interesting to find out that the oases were paid for with a $95 million investment provided by Wilton Partners of LA, and ExxonMobil, in exchange for a 25-year lease (and has been the focal point of alleged political corruption). There is no cost to Illinois taxpayers! 

We took advantage of the food court idea, and I picked up an overpriced slice of pizza from Sbarro, and Hubby picked up a Shamrock Oreo McFlurry. 

Remember when I said that the day got away from us? Yeah... We didn't get to North Chicago until 3pm. And got stuck in rush-hour traffic. 

I see it... way over there!
Our very first El sighting!
It took us almost an hour to get from the outskirts into downtown (I guess it's downtown?)  We were aiming for the Daley Plaza area. 

Following the Garmin (badly), we had to deal with crazy 4pm downtown traffic, and I could not for the life of me figure out where to go to access parking. It turned out that their parking garages were underground! Certain streets are called "Upper" or "Lower" depending on whether or not they were ground level, or underground. I just couldn't wrap my head around that! Oh, and people drive like crazy people down there, at least for my taste. 

So, once we finally found parking garages, none of them were open! Every one we drove by had their roll-up doors shut! I couldn't understand why all of these places were closed, except to think that maybe they were full. We found an empty area to turn around in, and as we sat there, we saw a car pull up to a closed parking garage, and the door opened for them. Hmm, maybe they had a card key or something. But then it happened again. We quickly realized that garages kept their doors closed down here, and you had to drive up to open the door. At least, that's the assumption we went with. 

Mystery solved, we found a place to park in the Millennium Garage at Randolph & Columbus, close to Daley Plaza. 

The Official "Hey, Where'd We Park?" Photo
Letting Hubby lead the way, we took the stairs up one level into a vestibule where the Pay Kiosks were, but when we walked out, we were still underground! I told him that we needed to take the elevator to the top level (which I assumed would be "ground level," but he didn't think so. There were switchback stairs nearby, so we climbed those up to ground level instead. 

Those stairs on the right
There was SO MUCH that was closed off, thanks to Mayor Beetlejuice Lightfoot. Most of the entrances from Columbus were locked with a chain, so we ended up doing what everyone else did - we just hopped a metal gate!

Up in Millennium Park, we made the mistake of looking for a bathroom. We walked down one side of Pritzker pavilion, then the other, only to be told that the only bathrooms available were fucking porta-potties. No thank you. 

However, let me say this... Because of The Cooties, and Beetlejuice locking down her city, there were no crowds in the park, and I was able to get amazingly unpopulated photos around Cloud Gate (a.k.a. The Bean). It was surrounded by metal fencing all the way around, so I couldn't get really close, but that kept other people away too. The only thing that would have made it better is if the sun wash shining, but I still got some amazing photos. 

Can you find us?
I mean... it's a hard photo to get, and I got it!
After the late start, and The Cooties, and the weather, we decided to just get out of town... We'd love to come back for a proper vacation of a few days, so we can really see the whole place!

Pritzker Pavilion
Traffic getting out of town, as you can imagine, was horrendous, on Lakeshore Drive. We detoured off Lakeshore because of an incoming fire truck, which worked out in our favor. Unfortunately, we still had to cross over the Chicago Skyway, which freaked Hubby out (he hates bridges!)

Outside of Chicago, we started our very long drive to Ohio. As warned by my boss, it was fuckin' WIMDY!


We stopped in Indiana and picked up snacks (and a magnet) at an interstate 7-Eleven. We had to drive through the entire top of Indiana, corner to corner!

At one point, during the planning of this trip, I saw how close we came to the Ohio/Michigan state line, and wanted to detour to add another state to our total, but as we left Chicago, I told Hubby that we were just going to skip it and drive straight to the hotel. I'm so bummed now, looking back, that we didn't do it! I mean, come on... look at the map! It would have only added 20 minutes to the total trip, and we could have gotten another magnet! 

Tourist Regret... it's a thing
But, alas, we didn't stop. And I think it was a detriment, because the drive was very dark, quiet, and boring. Sunset comes a lot earlier up here, so any time after 5pm, I assumed it was past bedtime! In Ohio, we picked up another magnet at another interstate 7-Eleven. 

Because we were so late, it was too dark to appreciate the drive to Port Clinton, a little peninsula sticking into Lake Erie. Which sucked, because it was one of the main reasons I booked the place! I wanted to get some sunset photos over the lake, but no luck. We checked in and had barely unpacked before I fell into a sleep coma! 

The Housekeeper left this awesome note in our room!