To Chicago

Nathan, George and I had to be up at O dark 30 to get to the airport for our 7 am flight. We are flying to Chicago on our way to Ohio for our annual Singer/Walker family reunion. We had arranged to meet up with Linda and Aaron for the weekend before  Then Jamie and Pam decided to join us.  So, we are having a small Donaldson reunion.  Luckily, the traffic was not bad.  We got to the airport in plenty of time.  Rebecca took the car home.  I always find that when I know I have to get up early I do not sleep well because I am afraid that I won't wake up on time.  I tossed and turned from 2 am on. 

Sunrise on our way to the airport.

Portland airport.

I bought a breakfast sandwich in the airport and had brought my lunch with me for the flight, so I had plenty to eat.  The flight was pretty uneventful.  There were a couple of times when the pilot was more forceful about recommending that people stay in their seats when the fasten seatbelt light was on.  No one listens.  

Nathan took this.

Jamie and Pam had gotten in a little before we got in so they were waiting for us.  We headed to the Blue Line train. 

I had bought the 3 day Ventra train pass for my phone.  It took me a bit to figure it out.  George came back to help me go through the gate and then he couldn't go through.  It said that he had just gone through.  So we had to sneak him through.  But now I know now to do it.  

Pam took this on the L

We were finally getting close to our stop.  We got off at Damen. It was 2 blocks away from our hotel, The Robey.  

The tall skinny building is our hotel, The Robey.

The elevator doors.  It is an old building which has had some renovations.  Some of their renovations are a little strange.  Like the beds in our room, whoever is next to the wall has to climb over the other person or in the other bed they have to climb over the bed frame. 

The other weird thing is that when we got off of the elevator it said that 4006 was to the right but really it was to the left.  Oh well.  Otherwise, it is kind of a cool place.  Lots of character.

We didn't hang around long, soon we headed over to Linda and Aaron's place. They live about 2 blocks away.  Which is why we picked this hotel.

Neighborhood street.

Their building.  They have the apartment on the bottom floor.

Aaron's sax. He also had a guitar.  

Aaron with Sonata.  Sonata is a cute mutt that they fostered for awhile and then adopted. She is about 4 years old. When they got her she was skin and bones with almost no fur.  She is pretty healthy now.

We went to a dog friendly place down the street to have a beverage.  

My Radler was very refreshing.

We then headed back to Linda and Aaron's place to regroup.  We had a 6:30 pm dinner reservation.

Sonata's foot is not really on backwards.  It is just that she was moving at the time. 

Wicker Park neighborhood.

What to do until dinner time??

When we headed out for dinner it was time for Sonata to go into the crate to sleep. Sonata  likes jazz.  They put on some jazz music and she goes straight to bed.  

We walked to Amaru for dinner.  It was a Pan-Latin American and Caribbean tapas place.  Delicious.  We ordered a bunch of plates to share.  We ended out with more than enough food.  

Nathan's pina colada

Some of our dishes.  

Some street art.

After dinner we went back to the hotel to the Up Room for cocktails.  It is a rooftop bar.  Very cool.  When we got there there was a waiting list.  Aaron put in his phone number and we went to Barnes and Noble to pass some time.  The Barnes and Noble is in an old bank building.  I was telling everyone that they had some books in the old vault.  But I guess it is no longer open to the public.  I had been in the area in 2022. Some things looked very familiar.  I showed Linda and Aaron my blog of the day we were here. They knew most of the restaurants we had gone to on our food tour.

Aaron got the notification that our table was ready so we headed back to the Up Room to have drinks while we watched the sunset and the lights of the city come on.  

The top of the Robey.

Jamie's drink was the prettiest.

By this time we were all ready to call it an evening.  It was a full day.  Linda and Aaron have a lot planned for us for tomorrow.