The Gaylord Texan and Paradise Springs

Trip number 2 of the whirlwind summer. We stayed the night at the Gaylord Texan for a little staycation. We have been wanting to come for the waterpark for a while now. So that was what this trip was all about.

Two things you should know: teachers can get great rates if you look for the government rate and show your ID, and Marriott Rewards are very "rewarding". If your dates are flexible, you can look ahead and see when hotels have government rates available. You could save $50-100 by doing this. We are also Marriott Rewards members and have earned a lot of points towards free rooms. We also earn free upgrades. On this trip we were upgraded to a suite for the price of a double room. This was very valuable when it came to entrance into the waterpark. A double room gives you 4 wristbands for the waterpark with the option of buying up to 2 more at $35 each. A suite gets you 6 complimentary wristbands. We were able to invite 2 friends to come and play with us. Score!

Paradise Springs Water Park is a nice place to play and lounge by the pool. Rachael and I relaxed by the pool while the boys zip-lined into the pool, rode down the 4-story slide, and floated the lazy river. We were waited on by 2 very friendly servers all day. The food and drinks are pricey, but water is free. :)






SummerFest is going on at The Gaylord right now. The theme is Wizard of Oz. The movie is showing every Friday and Saturday night. We missed the movie by staying on a Thursday night, but the atrium was decorated for the event and we enjoyed walking around and looking at the Wizard of Oz inspired art.

Chicago Day 3

It's National Donut Day! But, surprise! We didn't have donuts for breakfast today. We had Wildberry Pancakes on our radar. So did everyone else in Chicago! It was definitely worth the 45 minute wait.


Signature Berry Bliss Waffle

I know you are getting tired of seeing my food, but doesn't that look amazing? It was so amazing that I forgot to take a picture until after I had eaten several bites.

By this point in the trip we thought we were pretty good at navigating the streets without GPS. We probably would have done a great job if we weren't looking up at all of the buildings as we passed by them. We walked for fifteen minutes past Wildberry Pancakes before we realized it. That is how we found the First United Methodist Church in the middle of downtown. We were in awe of the beautiful gothic cathedral. We went for a quick look and returned at 2:00 for a tour of the Chapel in the Sky.


Notice the windows right below the spire. The top two floors are the chapel, which seats twenty people.


Mrs. Walgreen, the wife of the founder of Walgreen's, donated money to the church to have this chapel built in Mr. Walgreen's memory.
The four floors below the chapel are the private residence of the pastor and his family. What a parsonage! Can you imagine grilling out on this patio?



The rest of the day we roamed downtown and the museum campus, accidentally found the Chicago Public Library, and possibly saw Kenny Chesney outside of the Hard Rock Cafe.











Oh yeah, and we had a real Chicago style hot dog at Portillo's.


And now we are back home and back to reality, for now.

Chicago Day 2

Donuts for breakfast again! This girl is in heaven!! We found another little donut shop just down the street and had a taste of a few different flavors.






Glazed and Infused - Maple Bacon Long John, Grapefruit Glazed, and Cajeta Mexican Fried Ice Cream

We didn't plan on going out to Navy Pier, but we were so close we decided to check it out. It is under construction, and the plans look amazing. There was a small amusement park and a few restaurants open, but the highlight for us was the SeaDog Extreme Thrill Ride. Think of it as a roller coaster on water. It was a great rush! You do get wet on the ride. It is the captain's job to make sure of it, but if you sit at the front you will not get quite as wet as everyone else.






Lunch at Giordano's was next. Of course you have to have some deep dish pizza when you go to Chicago. Giordano's was highly recommended and it lived up to its reputation. We tried both the extra thin crust and the deep dish. We were miserably full for the rest of the afternoon.






Magnificent Mile was up next. Time for a little shopping. Under Armour and H&M were our personal favorites.

If you want a great view of the city, skip the long lines at Willis (Sears) Tower and head to the Signature Lounge on the 96th floor of the John Hancock Center. We got there around 4:30 and it seemed to be perfect timing. We did not even have to wait for a seat. With windows all the way around (including one entire wall of the women's restroom), you can take in views of the city and the lake.






We finished our evening with dinner at Mercadito, recommended to us by the staff at our hotel. It is a very loud, and vibrant place. Mercadito has several variations of guacamole and salsa. I could have made a meal out of appetizers, but we chose two of each and shared the brocheta plate. We were not disappointed.






Our night ended at Howl at the Moon, a piano bar. It was fun, but Pete's in Fort Worth and Austin have them beat.

Chicago

I'm going to start off by saying that I think Brian is going through a midlife crisis. Thankfully he didn't go out and buy a Harley or a Corvette. Instead, he booked 3 major vacations for this summer and a lot of smaller trips in between. I'm not complaining, though, because we all love to travel. I am planning on writing about all of our fun this summer.

I will begin with Chicago. This is a trip for just the two of us. We arrived in Chicago late Tuesday night and learned the train system right away. The orange line is the only train that runs from the airport to downtown. We even learned how to make a transfer to the red line to get to our hotel.



Yesterday might have been the most perfect day ever in the history of Chicago. Beautiful weather! I still can't figure out why everyone else was wearing pants and jackets. We were among a very few in shorts. The sun was shining and the temperature reached about 75 degrees.

We started our day with donuts. I found this little donut shop on Pinterest, and I have been dreaming about a Butterscotch Praline donut for weeks.



Our next stop was Chicago's First Lady river boat architectural tour. FYI, tickets are about $40 each, but I found a half-price deal on Hottix.

The docents on the tour are all volunteers, and they really know their stuff. We learned about the history of the Chicago River and most of the buildings along the river.



Did you know that they reversed the flow of the Chicago River? I didn't know that was even possible, but they did. The water from the River used to flow into Lake Michigan, but it was contaminating the city's drinking water. So they made the south fork of the River deeper and gravity pulled the water south.

We found our lunch spot while we were touring.



Lizzie McNeill's was a very good lunch spot right in the new River walk. Brian said it was the best Reuben sandwich he has ever eaten. We even had a great view of the fountain at the mouth of the river.



The rest of the afternoon we roamed through Millennium Park. You can't come to Chicago without taking a selfie in "the bean".



A few more pictures of Millennium Park.


Buckingham Fountain


Water feature with hologram faces on brick columns.


Like Michigan. It looks like the ocean!


A bridge from one side of the park to the other. You know that gets hot in the summer!

We finished off the evening at The Second City comedy club where we saw Panic on Cloud 9. Very funny! The man across the aisle from us enjoyed it immensely. We could tell from his laughter. I love people watching.



We stopped for a late night bite at Michael Jordan's Steakhouse. We only stopped because of the name. It did not come highly recommended, but it was very good. The restaurant was closed when we got there, but the bar was still serving food. We shared a filet mignon, Caesar salad, and the creamiest mashed potatoes.