Not So- Solo Travel

In March, Ezra, Patrick and I went to Chicago for a family B'nai Mitvah.  It was not long after Rich had passed but I was sick of myself and thought a change of scenery would do me good.  Also, I was looking forward to seeing family.  Ezra & Patrick had originally wanted to drive up on their own so that they could do their own thing and I could do mine.  Spoiler alert, that's not how it worked out.  The night before we were to leave, we had another snow storm and they got nervous about driving in the snow/city.  So, we got a late start and car pooled.

First order of business was the SMART Museum at U of Chicago.  The website said they had a featured artist but I didn't expect he would be the only artist in the WHOLE museum.  Yes, art is subjective, but let me just say, it wasn't to my liking... these little statues were the most interesting thing there...

The architecture on campus was so beautiful!  We wandered around for awhile imagining we were at Hogwarts.  We ducked into the Renaissance Society and watched the DUMBEST student movie ever made... in my opinion.  They had me sitting in a bean bag to watch it... very surreal.  I did conquer my fear of stairs to go to the top floor, only to run into the elevator entrance when I got to the top.  Mind you, it was 20 degrees out, so at least I was in a warm building being confused to tears.

Saturday was Venice's B'nai Mitzah.  They go to a beautiful synagogue that is across the street from Obama's house.  A personal highlight for me was to bypass the presidential barricade to get to the parking lot.  My rebellions are small but they exist.   I only had a small break down before attending my first family event without Rich.  He hated Chicago and would have been a total pain in the butt the whole time but he still should have been there to annoy me.

This was my first Jewish ceremony and was a little surprised by the length.  Something they have in common with Catholics, apparently.  Venice did a fantastic job and so did their parents.  Gib is my oldest sister's son but we're basically the same age.  We try to keep in touch as much as possible but Covid has really put a damper on our visits and it seems like the kids are growing up in the blink of an eye.

Obama's house.  He was not in residence at the time.  Imagine how annoying it is to live next door to the former president.  People gawking, just trying to have a pizza delivered would be complicated.  Ugh!

After the luncheon, we high tailed it to the Art Institute via the bus.  It's worth mentioning this was the same weekend as the St. Patrick's Day parade.  We had the honor of sharing the very full bus with people that were ready to party!

I LOVE art museums.  LOVE.  I love the atmosphere, the smell, the subdued noise levels, the humidity control.  I love all of it.

If you've never been to the Art Institute, their top floor is dedicated to the Impressionists, which is totally my jam!

We only had an hour & half before closing, so we FLEW through the exabits.

Downstairs, they have the COOLEST exhibit of miniatures.  We could have spent the whole time admiring just that.

Seriously, these are amazing!

These are little boxes, maybe 18"x18" at most.

The detail to scale is mind blowing!  I could really use some of that skill in my work.

They also had a William Morris exhibit.  We snuck in there in the last 5 minutes of the day.

Beauty in the home for the masses.

Patrick was less impressed with the art than Ezra and I were but he tolerated us well.

On Sunday, we decided to swing by the Museum of Science and Industry before heading home.  We were finally in Patrick's arena on this one.

I was so surprised by all the miniatures to be found in Chicago.  You could do a whole weekend just looking at tiny things.

What can I say, even at the science museum, I was only interested in the art.

I mean, a Fairy House decorated with real jewels!

So, it wasn't the solo travel I had originally planned on but maybe it was better for me not to be alone.  Ezra still lives with me and it's been great having them around.  It would be really easy for me to become a crazy hermit lady that doesn't speak to humans regularly.  I'm imagining the Penguin coming out of the sewers in Batman Returns.  I'll just waddle out of the dark corner, stains all over my clothes, food falling out of my open mouth, yelling at people to get off my lawn...it's not too much of a stretch of the imagination...

Any who!  Chicago hasn't seen the last of me.  I just bought tickets to see Duran Duran this August!  My BFF cousin Denise and I are going to live out our teenage dreams to see the boys live!  We went to Power Station in the 80s but never got to see the Fab Five.  My inner 15 year old is peeing herself right now!