I love this bean

Chris and I just returned from a mini vacation in Chicago. It was a trip to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday and a great excuse to visit Moe and Eric. We had an absolute blast!

We arrived on Friday afternoon and went to Bandera's on Michigan Avenue for a late lunch with Moe. Chris and I head there every time we are in Chicago because it reminds us of our first date at Fairway Grill. The Macho Salad is the bomb. After that, we headed to H&M and Chris had to see the Garmin store. The premiere of the iPhone meant that the streets were clogged with crazy Apple heads.

After the Lanes checked in at The Tremont, we headed back to Moe's place to change and then head back out for dinner. We treated the Lanes to a late dinner at Mia Francesca's. After that, back to Moe's until midnight when we headed out to meet Mak and Mark.

We were up for some culture on Saturday and went to the Science and Industry Museum and The Field Museum for the Darwin Exhibit. That afternoon we headed to Millennium Park to see the giant silver bean. I really need to find out who the artist is because I LOVE THIS BEAN! It so simple, but people are absolutely mesmerized by it as you can see in the pictures.


This picture is the reflection of Chris and me in the "bean".

The bean is a popular wedding picture destination. I just looked up the real name of the bean and it's called Cloud Gate by British artist Anish Kapoor. It's 110 tons of stainless steel plates that are completely seamless. The sculpture measures 33 x 66 feet. It really is amazing and a must see in Chicago.
Just down the steps from the bean, we heard screams from excited children. There were two facing buildings that showed video of faces for a period of 5 to 7 minutes, when all of the sudden the faces would close their eyes, pucker their lips and spit water onto the screaming kiddos below. I sat there and watched it forever.

Moe met up with us and we headed to a little bar in the park. More drinks! It was an absolutely perfect day with bright sun and a cool breeze off the lake. Now this is vacation! Eric finished his paper and met us at the bar. Then we were off for another late night dinner with Eric and Moe at Socca.

We met up with Kara and Pat at a bar after dinner, but Moe and I were so full that we headed home while the boys headed to an Irish bar where Chris flexed his Guinness muscle by showing up everyone in the bar with his extraordinary skills to open his throat and chug pints in mere seconds. So charming.

Sunday started off with Moe's famous Bloody Mary brunch at their place in Wrigleyville. It was so yummy. Then we walked to the game just a few short blocks away. It was KU Alumni game day and there were Jayhawk fans everywhere. Chris chatted it up with some random behinds us about KU's obvious trip to the Rose Bowl in 2008. Ha.

It was my first trip to Wrigley and I can't imagine a better place to watch baseball. This is the atmosphere that every baseball team should have the luxury of playing in. It certainly blows Kaufman out of the water. It was another beautiful day and the fans were loving it!

After a victorious game and a fabulous rendition of Go Cubs Go sung aloud by all of the fans as they filed out of the stadium, we headed to Murphy's Bleachers right across the street. (By the way, I've already downloaded the song and played it a number of times).

Some of the folks had a bit more to drink than us if you can even believe that. This dude was escorted out of the bar and hung onto the pole for a solid 10 minutes before mustering some brain cells together to remember who he was and where he was supposed to be. I was as mesmerized by him as I was the spitting fountains at the park. Oh, he was spitting too, but nobody would want to hang out at the bottom of whatever was coming out of his mouth. Not sure who was more drunk, this guy or the guy that went to the port-a-pottie and came out with a giant grin of relief but was wearing more of what he went in to the port-a-pottie to release than what he actually left behind in the john, if you get my drift.

Eric went on a covert operation to capture the finest mullet that Chicago has ever seen. He had one fine 'stache to boot.

The crazy Jayhawk/Cubs fans at Murphy's Bleachers...aka me and Moe.

That's all she wrote folks...