Midwest trip 2016

Day  1

Mike and Sarah play giant Jenga while we
wait for a table at Simple in Lake Geneva

After years  of driving from NJ to the midwest, we decided to break with tradition this year and fly out.  So, we left home at about 12:15 to catch a 2:35 flight from Newark to Chicago O’hare airport.  Sarah had arranged a flight from Boston to O’hare, arriving about an hour before we did.  Although our flight was completely full, we had no issues and arrived early at about 3:45 local time.  We met with Sarah, got our rental car, and were on the road heading to Lyons, Wi, by about 4:30.  Due to fairly heavy traffic in northwest Illinois, it took about an hour and a half to reach Lyons.  We headed straight for George and Normandie’s place, visited with them for a while, and then headed out to dinner together.  We went to the pub near the movie theater in Lake Geneva, and it was very good - we all started with a giant pretzel with cheese sauce and honey mustard, and being quite hungry, we devoured it.  Entrees were good, and we all skipped dessert, and headed out.  We agreed to meet at their house at 11 the next morning.  Finally, we headed to the Americ Inn in Burlington, where we had reservations in a big two room  suite.  The hotel is nice, and I am sitting at breakfast the next morning, typing and waiting for the rest of the family to wake up.  I have showered and eaten breakfast already.

Day 2

The plans for today include a trip to a spa for mani/petti’s for Sarah, Liz, and  Normandie, and  to visit the shops of Lake Geneva for Mike and  Dave.  First, we are  heading  to lunch  at Simple, always  a favorite  thing  to do.  Later, although not firm, is to  possibly see a movie - we were  thinking Ghostbusters, George and Normandie were  thinking The Secret  Life of Pets.  And finally, there has been  talk of  a birthday pie for Liz from the Lake Geneva Pie Company, also a favorite.  More to follow as the day and  week progress.

Later that day...we had a very good brunch at Simple, Lake Geneva’s top restaurant on Yelp/Trip Advisor.  I had the lamb kefta eggs benedict (poached eggs, greek meatballs, grilled zucchini, avocado and bacon on  an english muffin).  Mike had blueberry pancakes and a smoked ham and cheese omlette with the signature potatoes.  Liz had a harvest vegetable frittata, and Sarah had sweet potato mixed veggie, tofu hash with eggs over easy on top, and pancakes on the side.  Yum!  Afterwards, Liz and Sarah headed off with George and Normandie, first to drop George off to get his car from the hospital from the cardioversion the day before, and then onto the salon for the manis/pettis.  Meanwhile, Mike and I drove into downtown Lake Geneva, walked around the shopping district and bought sunglasses for Mike to give to Sarah for her upcoming birthday.  Next, we went back to the hotel and went swimming.  After a while, Liz and sarah returned, and we all met at Fred’s Burgers.  Burgers were good, fries were not, and the best part was watching a major storm roll  in while we ate.  Finally, we went back to George and Normandie’s and watched Bill Maher’s recap of the Republican Nation  Convention and then some of the convention itself.  Donald Trump was inaugurated - which was just weird.

Day 3.

The day started much like day 2 - I was up first, showered, and headed down to breakfast while the others slept in...but not that much.  Sarah joined me first, then Liz soon after.  We finally decided to head up and wake Mike, only  to get to the room and find him in the shower.  Once we were ready, we headed out to Lake Geneva, parked and walked around the lakefront by the library.  I downloaded and started up Pokemon Go with Sarah and Mike’s help.  We also enjoyed listening to the Hamilton soundtrack  in the car.  We met George and Norm at Culver’s for lunch,then drove nearly an hour to a theater to see “The Secret Lives of Pets”.  Nice theater, not so good a movie.  Back to the hotel for the resting, then heading to the  Charcoal Grill & Rotisserie in Burlington for dinner.  I  am happy to be going there, because I have wanted to go there for a couple of visits now.  I will  write more about that later.

We have noticed that George and  Normandie are moving slower,  and resting more, and as a result, not spending as much time with us as in the past.  So, we are a bit more bored, being here in the middle of nowhere.  But, with Sarah with us, and listening to Hamilton, it is still a good vacation and we are having fun.  We are all looking forward to the Indiana part of the trip and seeing Edith and Fred.  We  are looking at a dinner with Edith, Fred, Mom & Dad, and  Steve & Nancy, maybe at Cafe Borgia on Tuesday, seeing the Chinese Terracotta warriors at the Field Museum on Monday, and dinner with Mark and David in Chicago on Sunday evening.  Heading down to Munster/Schererville tomorrow after brunch with George and Normandie.

More later…..

  

Yikes - it is now the last day of the trip and we are killing an hour before leaving for the airport to go home.  We have said all of our good byes to everyone out here, just a last good bye to Sarah, as she flies out on a different flight from a different terminal, so we will say our goodbyes on the rental car shuttle.  Anyway, things progressed like this….

Day 4

We checked out of the Americ Inn in Burlington, and went to a nice brunch at George and Normandie’s.  Biscuits and gravy,  toast, scrambled eggs and bacon.  It was good.  We said our goodbyes and headed to NWI.  A two hour drive thru the city of Chicago, all went well, and we were at my parent's house by about 2:15 pm.  Mike was going to go swimming in the pool  until on straining the pool, he found a large dead frog.  That  was the end of swimming in their pool.  In general, my parents looked like they were just barely managing to maintain the basics of everyday life.  They managed to feed themselves, get to the grocery store, and the few doctors they need to see.  They seem to be  able to barely walk, and dad was out of breath walking from the kitchen to the family room.  Mom can’t seem to remember much of anything, convinced the day we arrived was a Sunday, when it was actually Saturday.  She also asked multiple times for me to see the Merrill Lynch account and if she gave me a birthday present.  Over and over.

We visited with them and went out for Chinese at their favorite Chinese restaurant.  I made a joke about  more almond cookies,  stupid me, which my mom turned into a thing of getting a dozen cookies for us…..oy…   Then onto the hotel, the Holiday Inn Express in Schererville, where we have stayed many times.  

Day 5

After a brief and uneventful time with my parents, we headed into  the city to spend a couple of hours at the  Chicago  Art Institute, which was wonderful, and on to a restaurant in greektown to meet with David and Mark.  The restaurant, Pegasus, was good; after dinner, we walked up Halsted to find an ice cream shop, and ended up getting caught in a massive rain storm.  The drive back to the hotel was full of lightening, which was really cool.  After we got back, we spend  some with Edith and Fred to end the evening.

Day 6

We got an earlier start and went straight to Edith and Fred's, then headed into Chicago for a third day in a row, this time to the Field Museum and a special exhibit of the Chinese Terracotta warriors that were found  in China in the 1970’s.  It was a wonderful exhibit, and we learned a lot.  We also spent a lot of time in a large exhibit of native american cultures prior to the european settlement of north america.  It was good.  The other big learning from this day was that we parked in the soldier's field underground, which only cost $22 and was easy to get to and stress free.  We drove back  to Schererville, had a nice but late, lunch at Culver's, then spent a few hours at my parents house, where I got my mom’s computer working again by emptying her trash can.  Went out to a crappy TGI Fridays, just the four of us, for dinner, then watched the Democratic National Convention, which was good - especially Cory Booker and Michelle Obama.

Day 7

Last full day - with the big event being a lunch at Cafe Borgia with mom & dad, Edith & Fred, Steve & Nancy, and our family (myself, Liz, Sarah, and Mike).  Before the lunch, we went to my parent’s house, where the kids walked the dog for the 4th or 5th time of the trip.  Steve and Nancy showed up, and that was fun, talking with them.  Dinner at Cafe Borgia was so nice (my idea, btw) that they booked a luncheon for Christmas already.  I do not think we will  be able to go, since it is before Christmas when Liz and Mike are still in school.

All in all, it was a good trip, but not a great trip, and certainly not our best.  I do not like staying in Burlington, it is a little too country for me.  I much prefer staying in Lake Geneva.  We missed out on the pie company and the Lake Geneva theater; but possibly the single best part of the trip was walking along the lakeshore and playing Pokemon Go with Mike and Sarah.  It gets harder to see and cope with my parents every year, as they are struggling, yet so very defensive about everything.  I suggested hiring a dog groomer to come to the house and give the dog a bath (as he really stunk) and even that was somehow something that they, or she was threatened by and did not want to do.  We did go do some grocery shopping for them at their nearby Aldi in Lansing.  It was much nicer than the Aldi’s I go to here in New Jersey, and it was good be able to help some some.  And finally, it was very nice to fly - much nicer to leave the northwest Indiana area and  be home just 6 or so hours later.  Much less draining than driving.  Additionally, everyone has gotten so much better at packing light and not needing to check any luggage.  We all managed a full week of vacation with just a backpack and a duffle bag.