Drive and drive then drive some more…
A few people have asked me how our long weekend was with our friends (Gina, Steve and Luca) from New York. The first thing I say is that we had a blast. Then, how much we did and how tired I am. And then I go on to tell them everything that we did and it really doesn’t sound like that much… so why am I so tired?
OH. Because it takes FOREVER to get anywhere from our house. And being in the car for so long makes me tired!
Okay, obviously it does not take f-o-r-e-v-e-r, but it takes 25 minutes to get to the highway from our house, over an hour to get to the city, 45+ minutes to get to Kenosha… you get the idea. While we are surrounded by wonderful places to see and amazing things to do, it takes awhile to get there. And sadly, Steven and I have realized this and how annoying it must be to our guests, so we purposefully planned our daily activities to be “near” each other (in the sense that they were all in the same area, or in a straight line of travel, rather than going back and forth all over the Chicagoland area). I guess we still didn’t get it right. Sorry to our guests for all of our car time!
Long story short: I love where I live, but damn, it takes a long time to get to some of our favorites places.
Do you feel like some of your favorites places to take guests are far from your home?
So, what are our favorite places? Well, we started with food, of course. Huge burritos… for lunch and breakfast.
We visited our favorite ice cream stand. I love their slushies.
Gina and Steven are a bit more high class with their flurries.
We took them to our favorite bakery.
And also to check out the lake in Kenosha, WI:
and Evanston (that view was the closest we got to Chicago):
It was their first time in Wisconsin! So we had to take some dorky pictures:
We also went to the Mars Cheese Castle. I think we all agreed that there were way too many people there.
Also, there was mandatory Luca and Data squeezing.
And there was also general chilling time (playing games, watching movies/TV, teasing each other), which makes me wonder why I feel so exhausted! Maybe from having too much fun?
We were bummed dropping our guests off at the airport, but comforted by the fact that we will be invading their home for a visit in less than four weeks!
Themocracy
Um yes, I’m pretty far away from everything too. It blows to try to get downtown. Wow Mars cheese castle. I pass by often but have never ventured in. Where’s that great bakery? Wait, I don’t even wanna know.
Deerfield’s! Please tell me you’ve been there?
At least you can take comfort in the fact that there are things to do near your house. My in-laws live in the middle-of-nowhere Wisconsin (think that sums up 99% of the state) and it takes 45 minutes to get anywhere. When we were up visiting this summer we’d have 4 adults and a 5 year old crammed in a car (pregnant in a packed car = no good).
Entertaining takes so much out of me – even if we just stay at the house. Its like I have to make sure that the guests are having fun all the time!
I live outside of the city too but not quite as far away as you. There is plenty to do within a short drive of my house (I live about 2 minutes from a major highway) but if my guests want to see the city then it is always an exhausting day. We either have to drive and find parking or take the metro but it always seems to take forever to get where we want to go. Then there is always a lot of walking. I rarely go into the city unless I’m working. I will be making an exception for this on marathon Sunday!!!! It’s going to be a long day for sure.
I feel that way about the city too. And guilty that people come out here and think we are close to Chicago. Nah… it takes a good hour and a half. You’re so tired when you get home! It’s usually worth it, but deters me from going down there on the weekends too.
That sounds like a lot of fun! Those burritos are HUGE. We have a place here in Seattle that boasts of baby-sized burritos. As in they have a burrito laid next to an actual baby in a photo and they are the same size. I have never ordered one because it’s basically 4 meals.
You must order one. They are amazing. 🙂
Even though we’re only 10 miles from downtown Chicago it’s still a production to get there. I don’t think people realize just how spread out the city and surrounding areas are!
Still, I’m sure your guests had a great time! The benefit to hanging with good friends is that they want to be with you whether you’re actually at the destination or just getting there.
I have the same exact problem. It’s frustrating actually, when people come through Chicago on business and ask to meet for lunch. Um, I wish it were that simple!
Love all the pics – so excited for your NY adventure 🙂
Looks like so much fun. I am obviously in the same boat with you on living so far from things but luckily(?)I don’t end up with a lot of free time to do things so I don’t miss it too much.
I haven’t been to the new mars cheese castle but it looks much nicer than the old one! Looks like you had a great time even if you did feel like you were in the car too much.
Looks like a great time! I love having guests over!
We’re pretty far in the burbs and everyone and everything else tends to be pretty central or in the burbs on the opposite side of the city! Ah well. There still are some great places in our neighborhood!
What is this Cheese Castle? Sounds amazing! What a fun time you had. Boise is WAYYY small compared to where you are I’m sure…everything is pretty easy to get to. But I’m sure it will be a whole new story when I get to Georgia! 🙂
The Cheese Castle is a touristy place in WI that sells cheese, beer, candy, crackers, bread… and all sorts of stuff. It’s like a little specialty shop. Kind of fun but very crowded!
Love the pics!! Plus burritos the size of a baby’s head are awesome.
I live an hour from Chicago and prefer to take the train but that’s a pain too. I realized when getting my stuff from the expo last weekend that either people turned into asshole drivers or I’m just not out very much. lol
It looks like you guys had a great time!! Love those huge burritos!
I didn’t mind driving around, I just felt bad for our driver! We had a blast hanging out with you guys, as always! You guys are great hosts and we had some pretty fun car conversations!
It looks like y’all had a great time!!! I can’t wait to see more pictures!!!
=^..^=