On Wednesday before Christmas 2011 I learned that we were driving to Highland Park for Christmas. We left Dallas on Friday afternoon, spent Friday night in Springfield, MO then traveled on to Highland Park on Christmas Eve. My brother-in-law’s birthday is Christmas Eve.
Highland Park is a nice small town sitting on the shore of Lake Michigan. It’s an old community and I suspect a lot of old money too. Large beautiful homes intertwined with quaint older homes. Rows of neighborhood bars line many of the streets and the train station is walking distance from downtown.
We arrived late afternoon on Saturday and Walgreens was the only store open on Christmas Day so we didn’t do any shopping except tracking down a potato to complete Christmas Dinner. Prime Rib and Duck for Christmas Dinner..interesting combination.
We met many new people and had a great time visiting with and learning about people of whom we had heard but never met.
Monday morning we headed into the city. I had been through both Chicago airports on several occasions but had only visited Waukegan when my son graduated from Great Lakes Naval Station bootcamp. It was a quick trip and we didn’t see much. My husband had never been.
When we left for the train that morning I had no idea what to expect. We didn’t have a map but we were with natives so we put ourselves in their capable hands.
The conductor never appeared on the train coming in so we had a free ride (the Highland Park depot was closed) but we got our return tickets at the station in case we were running late getting back. We arrived around 10:30 and were planning to be back on the train by 2:30. Short trip, how bad could it be?
I thought we were going into the city, look around and head back to train. What else would we do with j
ust 4 hours until we boarded the train back to Highland Park? Without a map, and recreating the trip from a map on the internet, this is my recollection of events.
First stop Millenium Park. We left the station walked on Washington to Wacker; Wacker to Randolph; Randoph to Michigan Ave & Millenium Park. Shortly after we left the train station, my husband says to my sister-in-law, “It’s 11:00.” Then again, “Debbie, it’s 11:00.” He doesn’t have a clue where we’re going or how long it will take to get there but seems to know that it’s getting late. This was my first clue that there was more to the trip and there was a set timeline.
We picked up the pace and arrived at “The Bean” in Millenium Park. I don’t recall the time but I did get the feeling that 
we needed to hurry. We took some pictures and it really is a cool thing to see. We started walking on Michigan Avenue but Debbie decided we should get a cab because we had to be a mile up the road in a short period of time.
Turns out we had a lunch reservation at Ditka’s to celebrate Paul and my birthday. It was a beautiful sunny day and people were beginning to come out in droves and traffic was getting worse.
The food was really good and it felt really good to sit after all of the walking. Lots of sports memorabilia and cool things to see. Restrooms are upstairs and way to the back so you’ll need lots of time to get there. 
Next stop the Hancock Building. The plan was to visit the observatory but we ended up at the Cheesecake Factory getting stuff to go. By this time there were so many people on the streets enjoying the beautiful day and SHOPPING.
We departed choosing to walk back on the Magnificent Mile. There were so many people coming toward us. It was like a sea of people moving slowly toward us. I’m sure the people coming toward us were seeing the same from their 
perspective. It’s hard to stay together in a crowd like this so we decided to turn on Ontario to get out.
Now it was time to hustle back to the train station. I had no idea how far, only that it wasn’t close. I was certainly thankful for my SAS shoes and thick socks which I packed as an afterthought. You don’t often need thick, warm socks in Dallas.
I began the morning with no idea how far we would be walking and could well have been ill prepared. I think someone should have given me a heads up about what to expect. It could have gotten really ugly, really fast. I’m an upbeat, sometimes even Pollyannish person but surprises that make my feet hurt don’t make me a happy camper.
So, consider this a warning if you’re planning a trip to Chicago. Take comfortable shoes and throw fashion out the window!
Winter Is Here!
Why does the pool equipment always wait until the weather turns cold to break? 3 years ago in freezing weather, the valve on the filter began spewing water and had to be replaced. The guy I paid to install it left with a leak under an abundance of silicone. He told me that it was too cold for it to set properly but that he would be back at the end of the week when the temp was above 40 degrees. Never heard from him again. It was a very small leak which later became several small leaks and last weekend, with freezing weather in the forecast, we had to do something. Not to mention we are in a drought situation and in Stage 3 water restrictions.
It has now rained for two days. Yesterday morning we decided that it was time to take drastic actions since several attempts to stop the leak with silicone failed. My husband works highway construction and knows a little about fixing things so our last effort is more permanent in nature. A chemical weld so to speak.
I have a heavy metal umbrella stand that isn’t used much so I moved it to the pool equipment and setup our patio umbrella to keep the area dry. It had been misting all morning and there was a break but we were running out of time. The umbrella did a good job of keeping the rain off and a plastic bag taped over the filter is allowing it to cure properly. It’s been over 24 hours and freezing temps haven’t invaded so tomorrow is D-Day to see if it works. My fingers are crossed and we have at least 2 more days of rain. Probably not enough to remove us from drought status but every drop counts.