A Quick Trip to Chicago for Mom+Dad
Hey Friend! You know I love to travel with our kids all summer and watch them play all their sports, but you know what I love even more?
A trip with just Joel, my husband. Since you and I are the kind of best friends that develop after having kids, you might not realize that Joel and I have known each other our whole lives and started our marriage on this big adventure, with him going to law school across the country from where we grew up! So in other words, we love seeing new places and traveling together!
The only problem with this interest of ours is a. we have a million kids and b. we do not have a million dollars. Which pretty much means we just have to wait until every few years, he has a work conference that I can tag along with him. That way, we can travel to fun new cities and only have to pay for my plane ticket and meals. I love it!!
Now…let me just say this to you younger best friends out there. I understand what it’s like to not want to leave your little ones—believe me. In fact, there were many years that I just chose not to go with him because I felt like it was too long to be away from our sweet babies. BUT—finally Joel stepped in and said “Enough is enough! They’ll be fine with so-and-so, and we need time together!” And listen, I’m so thankful he did. We all know that making our marriages a priority is the most important thing we can do as parents, but for whatever reason we just leave it at a date night here or there and don’t really want to get away from all the distractions. If you find yourself in this season of parenting, let me just give you some friendly encouragement by saying: take Joel’s advice. He’s lawyer smart and not scared to say the hard things…your husband will be so happy you did!
OK, here’s the scoop on our romantic conference work trip time…
We’re currently in Chicago!! And we’re loving it!! First of all, if you’re like me and feeling like your town has turned into a hot, sticky, cesspool of swamp hellishness, then Chicago might be exactly where you need to go to bring your spirits back to where you left them in the spring. The weather here in June (while I’m writing this) feels like what it was in March back home in South Georgia! It’s 71 degrees outside, and flowers are still blooming because they haven’t been scorched by the blazing heat, like they have back home. Another perk of this weather is that I’m gonna go home skinny, because we can actually walk everywhere and not feel like a fried egg on the sidewalk! It’s AMAZING.
Here’s a list of some free things we’ve found to do in Chicago so far:
Take a walk to the Navy Pier
Watch a free comedy show! Industry Night at The Foxhole: admission is totally free, and you can bring your own refreshments. For more info, click here.
Tour University of Chicago (because our daughter will be a high school senior this fall)
Attend an outdoor concert at Jay Pritzker Pavillion: this was a Beethoven Violin Concerto, part of the Grant Park Music Festival. Check their website to find out where the free admission seats are…the acoustics are still outstanding, and you can bring your own food to have a picnic.
Check out the Chicago Cultural Center.
Visit the Garfield Park Conservatory, one of the largest “and most stunning conservatories in the nation.”
Enjoying the free Beethoven violin concerto in Millennial Park in downtown Chicago
A local artist paints a mural inside the Chicago Cultural Center.
We also got to squeeze in a trip to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs take on the Phillies, which was super fun. Even though we’re not as into baseball as we are some other sports, it was so cool to see such an iconic place! We got some cheap seats on StubHub, and they were still awesome! Going to a Cubs game turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip for me, which shocked me just as much as it probably shocks you. As it turns out, my capacity for sports spectating grows exponentially when the weather is pleasant and no kids are begging for concessions!
Joel and I caught a Cubs game at Wrigley Field!
So what about you? Would you rather go to a big city where there’s lots to do, or just spend time together somewhere out of the way—just the two of you? Or if you’re single, what kind of trip fills your spirit? I was amazed at how energized I felt after a couple days off from parenting…sometimes we need a break!
To read about another trip up north I took this spring (this time with our two oldest girls), check out my post on our Spring Break college tour trip here. We had so much fun driving up the east coast and touring three different top universities…can you guess which ones?
Can’t wait to catch up with you in the bleachers and talk about our next adventures!
