A few years ago, we started going to Chicago for Thanksgiving and it's become an annual tradition.
Fine by me, because it means Courtney and Bruce do all the cooking... which, on reflection, they would probably do even if we stayed in St Louis, but Courtney even does all the grocery shopping which is a treat.
I usually go up a few days early to see the sights and do a little shopping. This year it was too cold to stay outside downtown for very long (that wind coming off Lake Michigan is brutal), so I ducked into Courtney's office. Even she had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders for warmth. You can't see it very well in the picture, but Courtney still has her Halloween decorations up over her desk (that's a ghost hanging from the ceiling in the upper right corner).
This year I got tickets to see Irving Berlin's White Christmas. I thought it would be a great musical to get us in the Christmas spirit (plus it was about a tenth the price of some of the other Broadway shows). But White Christmas is about the only Christmas song they sing in the entire musical. Most of it was war songs from the 40's.
The musical was in the Cadillac Palace Theater - a really, really ornate venue. It's just around the corner from Courtney's office. We had dinner beforehand at the Randolph Tavern across the street. Google Maps described it as "elevated American pub fare in chill digs." I think "elevated" is a synonym for expensive. I'm too spoiled by the cheap prices at Mia Ranchito.
The sun came out on Wednesday, so I went for a walk in Courtney's neighborhood rather than heading back downtown. Actually I was on a quest to find cinnamon rolls at Ann Sather's in Edgewater (the Ann Sather's next to Courtney's condo closed down). I found this colorful mural on the side of a school building (evidently Chicago is noted for their murals).
But no visit to Chicago would be complete without some home repairs for Bruce. I kept noticing that Courtney's toilet took forever to refill the water tank and on closer inspection I discovered the flapper had practically disintegrated. At least this was an easy fix for once.
