Weekend Rambles

When my pal the Norwegian from the North Woods comes for a visit, it's always a cultural whirlwind.

Yesterday:

• Long wander around the Chicago Botanic Garden, including a visit to the Model Railroad Garden (wonderful for kids big and small)
• Shokran, a fabulous Moroccan restaurant in the Old Irving Park neighborhood (If you go, be sure to order the Chicken Bastilla appetizer. Most yummy!)
• The Shadow of a Gunman at the Irish American Heritage Center
• Cocktails at Jimmy's -- a local Greek-owned restaurant

Today:

• Lunch at Jimmy's
• Drive into the city and park in the West Loop
• Walk from West Wacker Drive to East Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue
• Walk down 3 flights of stairs to riverwalk level
• Attempt to take the Architectural Foundation 3 p.m. river tour
• Are informed that the next tickets available are for 9:30 a.m. tomorrow
• Walked back west along the river walk under the Michigan Avenue Bridge
• Stumble across the McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum
• Develop buns of steel and thighs like Tina Turner by climbing to see all six levels of the bridgehouse museum, then climbing back down again
• Cool drinks and fruit plate at O'Brien's Riverwalk Cafe
• Up two flights of stairs to street level
• Back east, cross the bridge north and down two flights of stairs to the Wendella boat dock
• River and lakefront architectural tour
• More buns/thighs workout -- up two flights of stairs, through the middle of the Wrigley Building towards Trump Tower, back down three flights of stairs
• Take the Water Taxi to Chinatown (What a cool way to get there -- and cheap! $4/person to get from Michigan and the river to Chinatown. It would probably be close to $40 by taxi!)
• Dinner at Lao Shanghai (Try the most excellent... everything. There isn't a bad choice on the menu.)
• Red Line train to State & Lake
• Shorter than usual forced march to the parking lot
• Crazy GPS-directed trip home (if there was a long way to be found, it found it)

I love being a tourist in my own back yard-- especially with a good friend who is undaunted by my singular ability to drag him from pillar to post and back again.