chi-town

actually a fairly accurate pictorial representation

chicago! the land of... i don't know, hot dogs and baseball? deep dish pizza? we took in one of those three iconic experiences over the last couple days, and from the photo above you may be able to guess which. max himself (i can only assume) served us up one regular-sized dog with everything and one jumbo with melty ballpark cheese, which quickly ganged up with the generous helping of mustard to fall onto my one good shirt.

still worth it

on our first day, we went to the Chicago Art Institute, Millenium Park, and the Shedd Aquarium before making our way over to the arena where the Bulls and the Blackhawks play, to take in a wicked Arcade Fire show. the art museum had two particularly good exhibits - Magritte and an incredible weaver named Ethel Stein, the aquarium had an enormous snapping turtle and three attention-seeking belugas, and the concert had us dancing pretty hard.

ceci n'est pas Magritte

a moment of existential crisis in millenium park

buckingham fountain in grant park

these belugas were trying to impress the ladies. it seemed to be working.

so much confetti!

this morning we stuffed ourselves with french toast and bacon at the hotel's breakfast buffet and made our way down to a neighbourhood called Wicker Park, which features some beautiful Ukrainian churches, old store signs, used book stores, and a kind of Williamsburg/Portland vibe. (i bought some Dickens.)

full title: Saints Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral

definitely not a shady front business

big star: rated 13th best tacos in america (seriously). so good i was tempted to bump them up to 12th.

i've never been to a "furniture mart" before

we found two donut shops directly across the street from each other, so of course we had to try two from each. from left: chocolate x4, oreo, pistachio, and chocolate old-fasioned. dazed & infused (left) has been around for decades, but stan's donuts was the clear winner.

we drove around the southern end of lake michigan and are currently holed up in a terrible motel a ways east of Grand Rapids. tomorrow we hope to be allowed back into Canada and plan to camp in Ontario. so close to home!