Thursday was the traveling day - took our sweet time to enjoy the drive and scenery...
Lush greenery...
Mighty Mississippi...
Wisconsin Dells...
Oddest casino name I have ever seen...
Molly's "kids" were waiting for us... Gracie in her pink dress
Sweet Topher...
Spent the evening visiting and "helping" Molly decide which bottles of liquor to pack up for the move...sampling quite a few!! She has a friend who works in a glass shop and makes appie platters/bowls out of liquor bottles...
Molly used this one to hold spoons and forks at breakfast...
We all slept a little late on Friday... Molly's husband, Larry, works for Gold Class Cinemas. He has been in Dallas for a few months helping get the new cinema location opened. I HAD to go to one of these theatres to see if they were as luxurious as they are made out to be! We went to the Gold Class Cinema at The Arboretum of South Barrington to watch....
This theatre is unbelievable - click on the link and take the video tour. Once you make your reservation you are assigned a seat! We arrived about 30 minutes before the movie - after checking in they take you into a lounge to wait, take a drink or food order for you. We all tried the "Tartini" listed above on the specialty drink menu and relaxed until the movie...Really difficult to do in this lounge!
Huge bar and cappachino machines...
Julie relaxing before the movie - we could even request a blanket and pillow. The entire experience was first class all the way and would highly recommend going to one if there is a theatre in your area.
Later that night we went to a local bar in the neighborhood to watch the Blackhawks game - even though they lost that night they did end up winning the Stanley Cup! Katie's friend, Lynzee, had gone to the movie with us earlier. The two of them ended up having a great time..stayed longer than the three of us and ended up walking back to Molly's. But we received a phone call and they weren't sure if they were going the right way, so Jules went out with a flashlight to try and meet up with them. I was standing outside and even I could hear them when they spotted the flashlight!!
Saturday we spent some of the day shopping - went to my first Sur La Table store!! Literally spent way over an hour in that store...so much to see. Then by sheer luck the Coldwater Creek store was having a 50% off everything in the store sale.
In the evening Julie had never been to Navy Pier so we took the train and went downtown. The weather was not cooperating with us and ended up pouring down rain - they closed the pier and the Ferris wheel so Jules never got the chance to enjoy it. We had dinner that night at "Bubba Gumps"...fun, fun place to eat. (even if Jules spilled my entire drink all over the table)
This sign was on each table - the first side meant everything was OK..or flip it over to tell them you needed something... too cute! We all had fish entrees, mine was tilapia; Katie & Lynzee had bourbon bass; Molly , shrimp and THEN Jules (who doesn't care for fish) had Southern Fried chicken breasts.
My drink with a "lighted glass".. giving the glass to my friend Sue for her grand kids to enjoy and fight over!!
Sunday morning we went out for a nice leisurely brunch... no photos of that..my sisters think I'm weird enough as it is taking photos of their dishes before they can eat! Go figure.. but I had one of their specials, Crab cakes Bearnaise! Then it was time to leave and head the 7+ hours to go home! I have been to Chicago a number of times and have seen all the "hot spots", this trip was so enjoyable, slow-paced and was just what the Dr. ordered...Relaxation! Even though Jules and Katie were ready to throw "Richard" (My Tom-Tom) out the window a few times we all had a good time and will have to go visit Molly in Dallas the next time!
Topher sticking his tounge out at Julie - he really wanted to come home with ME!!!!
