Final Chicago Weekend - June 2023

Stadium Chef Dinner at Wrigley

We spent our final weekend as residents of Chicago prepping the house for closing and enjoying some of the local food and activities.  The movers had packed up everything on Friday so we also spent our final weekend in the house sleeping on a blow up mattress.  We joked how funny that seemed living in a 4K square foot house with nothing but a blow up mattress!

Last few nights in our empty home

Friday evening, we did a bar/food crawl in our neighborhood.  We first had drinks at Violet Hour, a hip cocktail bar near the metro.  We shared an appetizer and each got a cocktail.  We then went to Big Star to share tacos and a few appetizers - the food was very tasty.  And of course, we ended the evening with a beer at Lottie's!

Dinner at Big Star

Drinks at Lottie's

On Saturday, we did some cleaning up in the house and then rented bikes to ride to the lake.  We rode all the way south to the end of the lake trail and then rode north.  We stopped for lunch and drinks at The Shore Club where we sat outside - the food was not the best but the people watching was fun.  This place gets very busy in the summer with all the beach goers!  Since we had a few drinks, we opted not to ride the bikes back so we Ubered home instead.  Back at the house, we took a nap and then drank some wine on the front porch out of red solo cups before meeting with Kara and Ansley at Amaru for dinner - our favorite restaurant in the neighborhood.  Dinner was yummy as always and it was great to see them one last time!

Biking along the lake

Lunch at Shore Club

Dinner at Amaru with Kare and Ansley

On Sunday, we finished up what was left to clean the house and walked the 606 - our local trail.  We then got pedicures and napped before heading to Wrigley Field for the Stadium Chef Series that is similar to Outstanding in the Field.  Before dinner, we had cocktails and passed appetizers in one of the club rooms.  Then we were allowed on the field to walk around and take pictures before we sat down for dinner.  It was a multi-course dinner served family style on a very long table on the field - each dish was prepared by a different local celebrity chef.  Very cool experience and what a great way to spend our final evening in Chicago.

Walking the 606

Chef Dinner at Wrigley

On Monday, we got up early, packed up the car, kissed the walls (a tradition we have each time we leave one of our homes), and then drove the 14 hours to our new home in TX!!

Bye Chicago - it was great!

Mothers Day Weekend - May 2023

We invited Keith's family to Chicago for Mother's Day.  We had done a Mother's Day weekend in 2016 before we had moved to Chicago.  Margaret could make it, but sadly Graham had to hold down the fort at Nosa so we were one short!

Botanic Garden

The family arrived on the Thursday night.  It was a pretty tight turnaround: Keith arrived back from Spain the previous night, and Shawna was in Louisiana until Wednesday night as well.  The house had been on the market the weekend before, but were were lucky to already be under contract so there were no people traipsing through the house while the family was there!  Jena, Dick, and Margaret Ubered to the house, where we had champagne waiting.  We celebrated the house sale on the patio before having a wine and cheese dinner in the dining room.

We decided to get some culture on Friday - motivated by the point that it was going to rain most of the day.  So after breakfast, we went to the Art Institute.  Margaret navigated the museum.  Fortunately, the whole Dodds family has roughly the same attention span to art, so we could speed through each of the exhibits without anyone getting crabby.  The next stop was the Starbucks Roastery on Michigan Avenue.  Shawna met us here to help us empty our wallet for the most expensive coffee we could find.  We then walked the next 10 minutes to the Hancock Tower to have a drink - though once we arrived, Keith came to the realization that they did not open until 5pm.  Ugh!  So we Ubered home to relax.  Keith served everyone gin drinks before we went to dinner at North Pond - a Michelin restaurant.  Dinner was excellent.

Art Institute

North Pond

Saturday morning Keith, Shawna, and Margaret walked/ran the 606 to burn off a few of the calories gained the day before. We had some cheese for lunch before going downtown for the "Open Your Eyes: Chicago's Underground Pedway & Other Secrets of the Loop with Inside Chicago Walking Tours."  The dude was excellent and we saw some places we had not been before.  After getting ready for dinner at the house, Keith served round two of gin cocktails before we went to dinner at Indienne - an Indian/French fusion restaurant.  It was excellent.

Walking Tour

Sunday we duplicated the 606 walk/run from the day before before driving north to the Botanic Gardens where we had been with Jean and Dick previously.  While it was a tad cool, many flowers were in bloom and it was gorgeous.  Keith then had to take Margaret to the airport for her flight home before we went to dinner at Pompette - the restaurant just up Damen from our house.  

Botanic Gardens

On Monday, Keith took his parents to the airport for their 7:30am flight - then came home to get the house fully cleaned up for the inspection!  It was a great weekend.

St Pat's Weekend in Chicago with John and JoAnna - March 2023

It had been 14 years since we last celebrated St Pat's in Chicago so we decided to make another go at it!  John and JoAnna arrived Thursday morning - we both had to work that day while they relaxed.  John and JoAnna went over to Lottie's around 1pm to watch the Duke game and Shawna joined them for a bit of it.  That evening, we had dinner at The Gage with John's friend Jeff, and then went to see the show Wait Wait Don't Tell Me which was a live taping on the NPR radio show.  The show was quite entertaining!  

Lottie's

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me

On Friday, Shawna worked a half day and then the three of us went for a walk along the 606 and then up to Lonesome Rose for lunch.  The food was quite tasty.  On our walk back, we stopped and had a beer at Pilot Project Brewery - which has a large, modern tasting room.  By this time, we texted Keith who was done with his work and so he met us for a beer or two at the Map Room and then we stopped at Lottie's for one beer. We then ordered pizza from Pequod's and proceeded to watch the Duke game (they won) and tried to stay up to watch the UVA game (they also won) but we were too tired!

Map Room

Lonesome Rose

Lottie's

Saturday was the big day - we headed downtown around 8:30 to see the 10am dying of the river.  We finally found a decent spot but had to stand in the cold for an hour before they started.  We didn't stay to watch very long once they started the process as we then walked over to Fado Irish Pub to celebrate!  We had to wait in line for about 30 minutes before we were able to get in.  Once in, we found a spot at the bar and hung out there for a few hours, drinking beer and nibbling on bar food.  It was entertaining talking to some of the other people who were there.  We then went back home, stopping at Lottie's for one more beer - and to do a little dancing - and then took a nap!  That evening, Shawna made leftover gumbo and we watched the Duke / UVA final ACC game - Duke won!!  

Fado's

On Sunday, Shawna made pancakes for breakfast and then we relaxed until we had to drive John and JoAnna to the airport.  Another fun weekend in the books!