This weekend Matt and I drove to Chicago to see Wicked at the Oriental Theater. The Oriental is such a wonderful theater. While waiting for the play to begin we learned that the Oriental used to be a movie theater. The carvings and artwork were just beautiful. The play Wicked was also great. I loved the stage set up, but GaLinda (with a ga) and Elphaba really stole the show. Erin Mackey the actress who plays Galinda especially. The play tied in a lot of “missing” information. And without giving out too many spoilers there was only one thing I felt was left unsettled and two things I wish were different. That is really good for me, because normally I can find quite a few issues.
The play also had a happy ending for me because I was able to purchase a pin to add to the collection and now I have so many I don’t have room in my jar so I’ll be making something for them this winter while I hibernate.
On Saturday night after the play we stopped off for some good ol’ Chicago Style Pizza at Pizzeria Due, the second restaurant owned by Ike Sewell, the man credited with creating the deep dish pizza. The place was packed so genius me decided we should eat outside so we’d get seated right away. Yeah we and the other five couples realized quickly why you don’t eat outside after dark in September in Chicago. It’s not the windy city for nothing. And yes I understand that’s not why Chicago is called the Windy City; but it should be. (Click here for the real reason Chicago is the windy city) Anyway, back to Pizzeria Due. The pizza was ok. Not the best I’ve had, but it ranked up there. It was fun to eat at a place we had seen highlighted on the History Channels – American Eats.
Sunday before heading home we stopped at the Adler Planetarium. In our previous trip we did the Art Institute of Chicago, Field Museum, Navy Pier, and Shedd Aquarium.We haven’t done the Planetarium yet because we have one locally and I just wasn’t sure if it would be worth it. But I’m glad we went. There were a ton of exhibits, most of which were hands on so we got to be big kids. Our show Black Holes wasn’t that great, or the 3D Milky Way show, but I loved the Atwood Sphere and how to make a crater exhibits. Plus they had an actual meteorite from mars on display which we got to touch. Matt enjoyed the Mars rover display where you get to control its movements. I was also able to stop at the gift shop and add another pin to my ever growing collection. The Adler Planetarium is an over looked stop in Chicago. If you’re in the area make time to stop in and see the Gemini XII, it’s worth the money.
When we go to Chicago we normally stay in the outskirts of town and ride the train in but since we were only going to be there one night and had a play to get to we decided to stay on the Magnificent Mile, boy was that mistake.
We stayed at the Allerton Hotel on the corner of Huron and Michigan Ave. The hotel was very lovely. The décor was amazing. The room was small but we were expecting that since they openly tell guest. Actually the room was bigger than I expected it to be so that is a plus. I would have given our stay five stars hands down if it wasn’t for the incident that happened as we were leaving. We had booked a package deal that included the $45 parking fee, but as we were leaving the attendant tried to charge us for parking. I explained we had purchased the package but when I showed him our bill it wasn’t listed in the details so he insisted we pay for parking again. And stupid me forgot to show the information I printed at home which showed it was a package purchase. So anyway here we are in the streets of Chicago arguing with the parking security over forty-five bucks, but at that point it was the principle of the matter. So finally he gets snippy with us and barks that his manager will deal with us and figure it out later. Like we were some kind of liars trying to jip them out of forty-five dollars. This incident ruined my whole Allerton experience and almost my whole day. I hope he felt like a fool when he figured out we had paid for parking.
I understand Matt and I may look young but it drives me nuts when people treat us like we’re some kind of hooligans or something. Just because we’re young doesn’t mean we’re irresponsible thieves. So needless to say we won’t be returning there.
Overall Chicago was great and Wicked made it all worth it.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Mackinaw City
So Matt and I went back to Mackinaw on the 8th and had wedding shots taken on the Lake Michigan. Lake Huron, and the Mackinac Bridge. I think they turned out really nicely. One day I’ll link to a few anonymous ones for your viewing pleasure.
I’m still waiting to see our professional pictures but if they turn out this nice I’ll be more than happy. And once we get those back I’ll be able to spend hours on hours sorting them and getting them printed and put in books. Can you tell I’m excited? Hey it beats cleaning.
While in Mackinaw City we stayed at the Baymont Inn and Suites. I was really nervous about the quality of the room because we had to get a pet friendly room since we brought the baby with us. And you never know what other pets have done and what ours will do on top of theirs. But to my amazement the room was wonderful. Very clean and spacious with a very large bathroom and you all know how important those are to me. If you need a place to stay with a pet for a decent rate I strongly suggest them for travelers.
My only complaint isn’t with the hotel but with our dog. Since he’s so spoiled at home he wouldn’t let us leave the room because he’d bark too badly so we had to stay in and order pizza. But it was still a wonderful weekend.
I’m still waiting to see our professional pictures but if they turn out this nice I’ll be more than happy. And once we get those back I’ll be able to spend hours on hours sorting them and getting them printed and put in books. Can you tell I’m excited? Hey it beats cleaning.
While in Mackinaw City we stayed at the Baymont Inn and Suites. I was really nervous about the quality of the room because we had to get a pet friendly room since we brought the baby with us. And you never know what other pets have done and what ours will do on top of theirs. But to my amazement the room was wonderful. Very clean and spacious with a very large bathroom and you all know how important those are to me. If you need a place to stay with a pet for a decent rate I strongly suggest them for travelers.
My only complaint isn’t with the hotel but with our dog. Since he’s so spoiled at home he wouldn’t let us leave the room because he’d bark too badly so we had to stay in and order pizza. But it was still a wonderful weekend.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Labor Day
I am about two weeks behind on updates, you will just have to live with it, pretend its like time travel and you get to relive the last two weeks of your life vicariously through me.
So after having our beautiful wedding on Saturday Matthew and I took the long drive to Mackinaw to walk the Mackinac Bridge on Labor day. We have wanted to do this for the last few years but haven’t been able to. So this year regardless of the fact we had a wedding the day before we decided that we were going this year. What I didn’t consider was driving that far after our wedding day with slight hangovers and severe exhaustion.
We stayed at a great little Bed and Breakfast names the Colonial House Inn in St. Ignace. The rooms were very nice, right by the water, and the house was well preserved. The bathroom was huge which is always a nice feature. I highly recommend it to anyone staying in the area that is looking for a nice relaxing evening. We really enjoyed sitting on the balcony and watching the water.
Sunday evening we walked around St.Ignace and of course bought some fudge and fresh water taffy. Also a pair of walking shoes since of course I forgot to pack mine and I couldn’t walk the bridge in sandals. We ate at a really nice dinner, the Ma and Pa kind, my favorite.
On Monday we woke up early, I grabbed some muffins and we headed out to walk the bridge. There is still a debate on how long the actual walk is so I’ll just say more than five miles. I think everyone can agree on that. We did our bridge walk in about an hour and a half, one of our best distance times. I think it was the adrenaline of being on the bridge in that large crowd. We walked on the grating and Matt was finally able to get over his gephyrophobia. He did great. After walking the bridge from St. Ignace to Mackinaw city we went to get in line to ride a bus back over and get to our car, since we stayed in St.Ignace. Five and a half hours later we finally boarded our bus. Everyone in line said it is normally a ten to twenty minute wait. So apparently someone really dropped the ball this year or they didn’t expect such a large turn out. They usually stop walkers from crossing the bridge at 11am but at 2pm when we finally made it back there were people just starting the walk. I’m not sure how long they continued to let people walk, but the Bridge Authority said everyone who wanted to walk would have the chance. At one point I heard that 85,000 people had crossed the bridge, but later we can only confirm 57,000, from the official website. Still a record.
On the way home we stopped in at the good ol’ Sea Shell City for the required Mackinaw purchases. We even had a happier ending when we returned home and heard the football scores. It was a wonderful ending to a wonderful wedding weekend.
So after having our beautiful wedding on Saturday Matthew and I took the long drive to Mackinaw to walk the Mackinac Bridge on Labor day. We have wanted to do this for the last few years but haven’t been able to. So this year regardless of the fact we had a wedding the day before we decided that we were going this year. What I didn’t consider was driving that far after our wedding day with slight hangovers and severe exhaustion.
We stayed at a great little Bed and Breakfast names the Colonial House Inn in St. Ignace. The rooms were very nice, right by the water, and the house was well preserved. The bathroom was huge which is always a nice feature. I highly recommend it to anyone staying in the area that is looking for a nice relaxing evening. We really enjoyed sitting on the balcony and watching the water.
Sunday evening we walked around St.Ignace and of course bought some fudge and fresh water taffy. Also a pair of walking shoes since of course I forgot to pack mine and I couldn’t walk the bridge in sandals. We ate at a really nice dinner, the Ma and Pa kind, my favorite.
On Monday we woke up early, I grabbed some muffins and we headed out to walk the bridge. There is still a debate on how long the actual walk is so I’ll just say more than five miles. I think everyone can agree on that. We did our bridge walk in about an hour and a half, one of our best distance times. I think it was the adrenaline of being on the bridge in that large crowd. We walked on the grating and Matt was finally able to get over his gephyrophobia. He did great. After walking the bridge from St. Ignace to Mackinaw city we went to get in line to ride a bus back over and get to our car, since we stayed in St.Ignace. Five and a half hours later we finally boarded our bus. Everyone in line said it is normally a ten to twenty minute wait. So apparently someone really dropped the ball this year or they didn’t expect such a large turn out. They usually stop walkers from crossing the bridge at 11am but at 2pm when we finally made it back there were people just starting the walk. I’m not sure how long they continued to let people walk, but the Bridge Authority said everyone who wanted to walk would have the chance. At one point I heard that 85,000 people had crossed the bridge, but later we can only confirm 57,000, from the official website. Still a record.
On the way home we stopped in at the good ol’ Sea Shell City for the required Mackinaw purchases. We even had a happier ending when we returned home and heard the football scores. It was a wonderful ending to a wonderful wedding weekend.
I am about two weeks behind on updates, you will just have to live with it, pretend its like time travel and you get to relive the last two weeks of your life vicariously through me.
So after having our beautiful wedding on Saturday Matthew and I took the long drive to Mackinaw to walk the Mackinac Bridge on Labor day. We have wanted to do this for the last few years but haven’t been able to. So this year regardless of the fact we had a wedding the day before we decided that we were going this year. What I didn’t consider was driving that far after our wedding day with slight hangovers and severe exhaustion.
We stayed at a great little Bed and Breakfast names the Colonial House Inn in St. Ignace. The rooms were very nice, right by the water, and the house was well preserved. The bathroom was huge which is always a nice feature. I highly recommend it to anyone staying in the area that is looking for a nice relaxing evening. We really enjoyed sitting on the balcony and watching the water.
Sunday evening we walked around St.Ignace and of course bought some fudge and fresh water taffy. Also a pair of walking shoes since of course I forgot to pack mine and I couldn’t walk the bridge in sandals. We ate at a really nice dinner, the Ma and Pa kind, my favorite.
On Monday we woke up early, I grabbed some muffins and we headed out to walk the bridge. There is still a debate on how long the actual walk is so I’ll just say more than five miles. I think everyone can agree on that. We did our bridge walk in about an hour and a half, one of our best distance times. I think it was the adrenaline of being on the bridge in that large crowd. We walked on the grating and Matt was finally able to get over his gephyrophobia. He did great. After walking the bridge from St. Ignace to Mackinaw city we went to get in line to ride a bus back over and get to our car, since we stayed in St.Ignace. Five and a half hours later we finally boarded our bus. Everyone in line said it is normally a ten to twenty minute wait. So apparently someone really dropped the ball this year or they didn’t expect such a large turn out. They usually stop walkers from crossing the bridge at 11am but at 2pm when we finally made it back there were people just starting the walk. I’m not sure how long they continued to let people walk, but the Bridge Authority said everyone who wanted to walk would have the chance. At one point I heard that 85,000 people had crossed the bridge, but later we can only confirm 57,000, from the official website. Still a record.
On the way home we stopped in at the good ol’ Sea Shell City for the required Mackinaw purchases. We even had a happier ending when we returned home and heard the football scores. It was a wonderful ending to a wonderful wedding weekend.
So after having our beautiful wedding on Saturday Matthew and I took the long drive to Mackinaw to walk the Mackinac Bridge on Labor day. We have wanted to do this for the last few years but haven’t been able to. So this year regardless of the fact we had a wedding the day before we decided that we were going this year. What I didn’t consider was driving that far after our wedding day with slight hangovers and severe exhaustion.
We stayed at a great little Bed and Breakfast names the Colonial House Inn in St. Ignace. The rooms were very nice, right by the water, and the house was well preserved. The bathroom was huge which is always a nice feature. I highly recommend it to anyone staying in the area that is looking for a nice relaxing evening. We really enjoyed sitting on the balcony and watching the water.
Sunday evening we walked around St.Ignace and of course bought some fudge and fresh water taffy. Also a pair of walking shoes since of course I forgot to pack mine and I couldn’t walk the bridge in sandals. We ate at a really nice dinner, the Ma and Pa kind, my favorite.
On Monday we woke up early, I grabbed some muffins and we headed out to walk the bridge. There is still a debate on how long the actual walk is so I’ll just say more than five miles. I think everyone can agree on that. We did our bridge walk in about an hour and a half, one of our best distance times. I think it was the adrenaline of being on the bridge in that large crowd. We walked on the grating and Matt was finally able to get over his gephyrophobia. He did great. After walking the bridge from St. Ignace to Mackinaw city we went to get in line to ride a bus back over and get to our car, since we stayed in St.Ignace. Five and a half hours later we finally boarded our bus. Everyone in line said it is normally a ten to twenty minute wait. So apparently someone really dropped the ball this year or they didn’t expect such a large turn out. They usually stop walkers from crossing the bridge at 11am but at 2pm when we finally made it back there were people just starting the walk. I’m not sure how long they continued to let people walk, but the Bridge Authority said everyone who wanted to walk would have the chance. At one point I heard that 85,000 people had crossed the bridge, but later we can only confirm 57,000, from the official website. Still a record.
On the way home we stopped in at the good ol’ Sea Shell City for the required Mackinaw purchases. We even had a happier ending when we returned home and heard the football scores. It was a wonderful ending to a wonderful wedding weekend.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Read this
I'm going to be gone for the weekend so ponder this to keep entertained.
It's a great article about reading on Gilded Pages. Afterwards make sure to pick up a book. I'll be trading in the lap top for one this weekend
It's a great article about reading on Gilded Pages. Afterwards make sure to pick up a book. I'll be trading in the lap top for one this weekend
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
I'm Married!
It's official
I'm married!
and maybe now life will return to normal and I can blog on a regular basis again.... oh wait I still can't see my living room floor. It might be a while
Play around with this to keep you busy
I'm married!
and maybe now life will return to normal and I can blog on a regular basis again.... oh wait I still can't see my living room floor. It might be a while
Play around with this to keep you busy
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