Chicago!

*Cue the soft bells, swelling strings, and percussion from the opening of Sufjan Stevens' song Chicago*

Headed out on Sunday morning from Bristol for what I knew was a full day of driving ahead of me. Was mostly just foggy (sometimes intensely so), with brief periods of torrential rain. Stopped at a random diner in Cleveland that seemed "local" - the men seemed appropriately grizzled, and the waitress was a woman in her 40s who kept calling me honey and babe while offering to refill my "pop" (how very Midwestern). As an aside, the bits of Cleveland that I saw reminded me of Syracuse, visually.

Before getting to Chicago, I took a Hoosier suggestion and made a slightly spontaneous stop at Indiana Dunes State Park, since it was pretty close off the highway. Glad I did, as it basically felt like I was at the beach, waves and all.

In Chicago, stayed with my cousin Wendy and her family (husband Jim and two kids). After barely ever seeing Wendy while growing up, this is the 4th time I've seen her in the past couple years, including staying with her family when I came to Chicago for a wedding a couple years back. 

On Monday, mostly hung out with longtime family friend Thomas (whose parents I'd stopped to see on Saturday afternoon). We caught up for a while, went to the Chicago Art Institute like real cultured adults (he had a membership), and wandered around a bit. Monday night was also Wendy's daughter birthday, so they kindly let me crash that, which was fun. 

On Tuesday, did some solo exploring and then caught up with Grace, my JVC housemate from Syracuse. Had last seen her when I came out for her wedding in 2017, so it was fun to catch up in person (especially over good Mexican food). 

Ran to the lakefront a couple times

Had to try a "real Chicago hot dog". 

Dinner spot with Grace