Wow! This has been quite a tour so far. We are now on Day 13 so we are halfway through the tour. We just had an amazing weekend with our new friends, the Fisticuffs! I woke up in a beautiful hotel in downtown Chicago, The Chicago Hilton, this morning with three of my best friends from college. Kathleen lives outside of Chicago and Jodi and Laurie traveled from their homes to visit. Now we don’t get together too often so this was a great time to see each other. Our other friend, Nikki was not able to make this trip and was greatly missed.
Jodi, Laurie, and I woke up at 7:30 a.m. because Jodi had to catch her train into the airport at 9 a.m. It was a beautiful, sunny day, which was a nice relief from the pouring down rain the day before. We grabbed breakfast at Panera Bread and headed to the train station. After dropping Jodi off at the train station, Laurie and I went back to the Hilton to clean up. I tell you this hotel was a huge step up from the hotels we’ve been staying in this whole tour. I could see the Aquarium, Planetarium, Lake Michigan, and Soldier Field from our window, incredible view. We had all these plans to get moving and see a lot of Chicago, but ended up taking our time getting ready. I didn’t mind that because I was very tired from playing so many shows. We did finally get out and had lunch at a great place, Bodega. Laurie got a little wild and had the rib-eye sandwich while I went with the tuna salad sandwich and some refreshing sangria. It was a great lunch for the beginning of my day off.
After lunch, we headed in the direction of the Aquarium, Planetarium, and Lake Michigan. We had intentions of visiting the Aquarium, but by the time we were moving it was already 1 p.m. and such a gorgeous day. We took a whole bunch of pictures of the scenery and had a nice walk around the area. I haven’t been to a lake in a while since I live near the ocean so it was nice to get back to the beauty of Lake Michigan! It was practically my backyard growing up. The lake was bright green and there were many boats in the water. It was a perfect day for Laurie and I to sit on a bench looking at the water and catching up after probably eight years of not seeing each other. After a great day off, Laurie and I headed up north to Kathleen’s home in Palatine. Will grilled up some great food and I met their two kids for the first time. It was a great evening in northern Chicago relaxing with my friends and Kathleen’s family! Refreshed and ready to jump back in the van for the road trip to Iowa!!!
– Cami Smith