On Wednesday (December 18th), Jeff, Gma, Grumpy, Jonas, and I hopped on a flight to Chicago. Yup...you read that right...one week before Christmas and we were fitting in one final trip. This one had been planned for a few months, but I admit the timing of the event (Megan Distelhorst's officer commissioning and college graduation) wasn't ideal. Let's just say Christmas travel can be a bit crazy! Still, I was so glad we went! It was really fun to see Chicago at Christmastime. We drove through a few neighborhoods with cute stoops adorned with lights and gorgeous gothic churches with glowing Nativities. We also drove down Michigan Avenue where large trees and ornaments decorated the city streets. We even managed to hit the famous Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza the night before we left (more on that later). More than that, however, we got to spend time with the Distelhorst family - making memories and strengthening bonds. By the time we landed in Chicago, it was a little after 6:00 p.m. Katie met Jeff, Gma, and Grumpy at the airport and they headed south to Champaign where they would get to hang out with Megan the following morning. Jonas and I, however, chose to stay a night in Chicago so we could experience a little of the city before joining the rest of the family in Champaign. Once we landed, we grabbed our bags and took off to get our rental car. We were rushing to attend our first event - the Blue Man Group! When we realized we would be in Chicago, we decided to look into any shows or performances we could attend. I was hoping for something a little more Christmasy, but Jonas was pretty excited when you saw the Blue Man Group was performing. His music teacher at school had shown him some videos and he thought it looked like a fun event. He was right! We reached the venue with about a half hour to spare (thankfully!). The production was about 90 minutes long without any intermission, and I'm pretty sure Jonas was on the edge of his seat the entire time! It was a crazy, loud, interactive experience and the perfect way to kick off our trip!
We stayed in downtown Chicago that evening. We even got a room on the 20th floor of the historic building we stayed in. Jonas loved looking out the window at the tops of the other buildings. The next morning (Thursday, December 19th), we did a whirlwind tour of Chicago. We started at the Sky Deck of the Willis Tower. It is on the 103rd floor and gives an aerial view of the city. Not to mention we got to stand on 1.5" of glass over the street! Yikes! We breezed through the displays about the history of Chicago on our way up (we wanted to beat a group of middle schoolers who were behind us in line). The views were amazing and the sky deck was trippy! I felt completely safe, but it was crazy to see the city below my feet.
After the Sky Deck, we walked over to Millennium Park to see "the bean" (aka Cloud Gate). This is such an iconic Chicago fixture. I have only been to Chicago once before...exactly 4 years ago. It was during COVID so a lot of things were shut down and there were even gates around the bean that wouldn't allow Jeff and I to get close. It was fun to get close now and see our reflections in the statue. From there, we walked down Michigan Avenue to see the Chicago River and eat a little sweet treat from Ghiradelli's. Once we finished our sugar rush, we took State Street back to our hotel. I loved seeing Chicago all decked out for Christmas. The store fronts were adorned with everything from holiday trumpets to angels to Christmas trees. I'm not sure Jonas was in awe of a Chicago Christmas like I was but he did enjoy the Sky Deck and of course the brownie sundae.
We made our way back to the hotel, grabbed our stuff, hopped in the car, and headed to Navy Pier. This was another place that was shut down last time I breezed through Chicago. This time, we explored all it had to offer! Food, stores, rides, and more! We started with a lunch at the famous Giordano's for some classic Chicago style pizza...and it did not disappoint! The pizza was HUGE with so. much. cheese!! There was no way we were going to finish it by ourselves. We packed up the left over slices for later then went to explore the pier. We rode the Centennial Wheel, browsed some stores, walked along the pier, got lost in the fun maze, competed in Time Freak (I won...just want to put that out there), and even raced down an ice slide.
Finally, it was time to move on. We made our way down to Champaign to meet up with everyone else. We started at the Barnes and Noble bookstore then Megan gave us a tour of the armory. She worked hard to earn several awards and smash records. She is graduating in economics and is assigned as a field artillery officer. Once she completes about 3 years in artillery, she'll move over to army intelligence. From there, I guess we'll see. After the tour, we had dinner then everyone retired for the evening. The next day (Friday, December 20th) was Megan's commissioning. It didn't start until 4:00 p.m. so Jeff and I took Jonas to a jump park in the morning then met up with the others in the hotel lobby to play some games before the event. As time approached, Jeff, Jonas, and I headed to the University Union where the commissioning would take place. We still had about an hour to kill so we found our way to the basement where there were billiard tables. Jeff and Jonas played a couple rounds before we headed upstairs to the South Union Lobby. I'm so glad we came to the commissioning. It was such an intimate, unique event steeped in tradition. Jonas was pretty excited to witness it all. He has always been fascinated with military stuff so this was right up his alley. It was fun to cheer for the newest officer in the United States Army - 2nd Lt. Megan Distelhorst!
Saturday (December 21st) was our last full day in Illinois. Megan was graduating from the University of Illinois with a bachelors degree in economics. There were only so many tickets to go around so we opted to celebrate with them in the morning, prior to the graduation, then say our goodbyes. We met up for more lobby games, grabbed some pictures with the graduate, and even stopped for a treat at Starbucks to honor the first day of winter. It was sad to say goodbye. John, Julie, Sara, and Alice will be coming back stateside next summer. Heidi remains at college in Oregon...and Megan got her orders to be deployed to Germany in June after her training. While we may not see Megan again for some time, hopefully we can see the others a little more. After our goodbyes, we decided to stop by a little Christmas Market at a local brewery in Urbana before heading back to Chicago in anticipation of an early morning flight. The Christmas market was small, but we enjoyed a yummy pretzel with cheese, bratwursts, and chocolate covered nuts. This little market only whet our appetite for more so Jonas, Jeff, and I headed to the famous Christkindlmarket in Chicago. The crowds (the weekend before Christmas) were crazy, but we had so much fun! It was a fun experience to maneuver our way through the booths. I loved all the artisan goods and of course, more food! This time we tried pierogis and strudel. We spent about an hour there before we headed to the hotel. It was a quick trip but so much fun! I loved spending time with family and experiencing a little bit of Christmas in Chicago. Now...on to Christmas!
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