Jammin Jane Travels: Chicago...we love this city!

We could not have gotten a better view!

We kept our boat in Kenosha for two weeks while we went home to take care of Dr. visits, dentist, vet, Trader Joe's, Costco, hairdos for all three of us, and of course time spent with friends and family. We also had to make sure we filled up on some of our favorite food stops. You never know if we will be able to get some of our favorites (or at least not as good) along our trip down the river. So...we pigged out on sushi, pizza, Mexican food and more sushi!

Katie and Julia, two of our favorite people...loved catching up!

My PEE! This is Ben's sister but MY sister/best friend!!

My brother, Frank, nephews JP and Preston and Natalie...love my family!

Birthday boys...our nephew Luke!

Nieces and nephews oh my!! Hannah, Ethan and Luke...can't wait to see how much they grow in a year!

Ben's mom and Uncle Mark who was visiting from Colorado

Luck was on our side and we were able to catch at least a pre-season Bears game. This will mark the first year in the 18yrs we have been together where we will not be going to any Bears games...sniff sniff! We have been hearing the rumblings of complaints from several die-hard fellow Bears tailgaters. Ben draws in a crowd of 20-30 people every game. We left the tailgate torch in good hands though...so we will be cheering from afar!

Train ride to the Bears game!

Our house will not be lonely while we are gone, our friend moved in a few months ago. Even better he's a bit of a neat freak (thank goodness!!!), actually more than a bit. I think the house was cleaner than when we left! I'm sure our visit home with all our boat clothes, linens and all the bags loaded with the spoils from shopping, laying around in an unorganized mess, is driving him crazy. Nice to know he is taking care of our home and even the yard! WE. LUCKED. OUT!

We finally made it to the beautiful city of Chicago! We enjoyed playing tourist and of course filling our tummies with the delicious food! We dined at the Colombia Yacht Club, Weber Grill Restaurant and The Parthenon in Greek Town. We had several visitors stop by and even ran into some old friends. We are especially spoiled since Ben's mom and sister, our friend Anu and friends Max and Samara came down to spend our last night with us! Lots of fun and laughter with this crew!!

We stopped in Waukegan on our way to Chicago to meet up with Uncle Bob, who had gifts for the Jammin Jane! Love you Uncle Bob!

Dinner at Colombia Yacht Club...glorious views!

Dinner at Weber Grill...flowers and champagne included thanks to Uncle Bob!!

The Bean...I've finally made it to the bean!!

Sears Tower (I know its called Willis...)

Brave Max and Samara!

I might be smiling but I'm terrified of heights! It wasn't long after this shot that I ran out of there!

We have our friend Max joining us along the first part of the river (we are taking the Calumet River to Cal-Sag Channel & Sanitary & Ship Canal to the Illinois River) to St. Louis. I am so happy to have another helping hand, plus he's done this trip numerous times delivering boats and I'm all about leaning on his knowledge with going through the locks.

He probably won't like this shot of himself, but when he changes my wallpaper on my phone with his face...payback!

We had a very emotional send-off by my mother-in-law and sister-in-law (my best friend)...hard to leave for such a long time. I'm going to miss everyone...but this trip will keep us busy and I'm sure the time will fly. So, until we return in a year (or two!) we are taking reservations along the way!