Throwback Thursday Summer Vacation

I would have to say off of the top of my head my favorite summer vacation spot has been Chicago. My sister and her husband lived there while he was in medical school and I got to visit them several times.

One of my favorite visits was in August 2005.  I had finished registration and only had a few weeks left until I started my senior year of high school. I was so excited.  That same day I registered for school I left for Chicago and took my first plane ride ever. How sad is that. 17 and I had never been on a plane.

While I was in Chicago I tried authentic deep dish pizza at Giovanni’s. It is literally some of the best pizza I have ever tasted.

I got to visit the Art Institute of Chicago which featured a variety of artists. Many of which were impressionists, including Degas. I also remember looking over one of the exhibits of “modern art.” I saw this one piece that to this day I still do not understand. It was basically a frame with red fabric stretched over it instead of canvas. And there were about three slits cut into this red fabric. Then, it was hung on a wall. That’s it. I just never got why somebody considered that art because it was something a 4 year old could do at home. Despite this one piece, the whole institute was amazing!

Most importantly on August 19^th 2005 my nephew Tristan was born.  I got to be at the hospital with my mom and my sister when he was born.

The next summer I was able to go back to Chicago right after graduation. I actually found some old journal entries of sorts about this adventure. One of our stops was Six Flags. 

We rode a ton of roller coasters. We rode the new Superman ride which has you positioned so it is like  your really flying. Vertical Velocity was crazy. It and Deja Vu both went  65 miles an hour. Vertical Velocity was so fast and you got back and forth between two towers. Each time you get higher and more vertical. Deja Vu was pretty fun but it was so disorienting. You had no idea if you were upside down or backwards. Iron Wolf tossed your head around a lot. the Viper and Raging Bull were both great and so fun. We were there for about 6-7 hours.

We also got to see Wicked at the Oriental Theatre

Oh my gosh it was excellent. The girl playing Elphaba, the wicked witch of the west, had such an amazing voice. Some theater worker was snooty and curt with me before the show started. I showed her our tickets and asked if she could show us where our seats would be. I just meant point us in the right direction. She said, "I will not be showing you to your seats. I will direct you to an usher who will show you to your seats."  All I really heard was, "No I won't show you where your seats our, it's not my job." Then that same employee yelled at some lady before the show for taking pictures with a camera inside the theater. It was quite funny. She was waving her hands and shouting from a mile away. Wicked was awesome and hilarious and it made me happy. I also got a t-shirt that says I love Oz. with the Wicked symbol on it. Adrienne (my sister) wanted mom to get me the pink shirt that said Popular. Popular is my ringtone right now and Adrienne thinks its goofy.