We've Made It!

Phew, 17.5 hours, 5 states, a hotel, one dog and a sick cat and we finally made it to our new home in Chicago! It was a fast and furious event meeting the new landlords and unloading the moving truck. What I mean when I say this is, we pulled into an alley, which we have now learned is in between our place and a pizza restaurant (lots of pizza smells wafting up) and our landlord started taking things out of the truck to move it. We had worn nice clothes to meet them and hoped to change before lugging boxes, but there was not any time for that, so flip-flops and a dress it was. Up and down the two flights of stairs we went however many times as the animals waited for us to be done, panicked in both bedrooms. It was an event and quite the way to see the new place, but we did it. The following days were a fury of unpacking boxes, setting up beds, and searching for things we knew we packed, but really had no idea where they ended up.
While the searching for items is still happening, we are down to the last few boxes and have already hosted some visitors! In a crazy coincidence, my future sister-in-law, Julia, was in town for work and we got to see her the second day. We went to grab a much needed and deserved drink and walked the whole 262 feet to Yelp's top rated Hyde Park restaurant, The Promontory. Yup, it's delicious. We also walked down to Promontory Point, which is a really neat park that juts out into Lake Michigan. We put our feet in the lake for the first time and watched as people got their BBQ on around these big fire pits. The park reminded me of Oakledge in Burlington, but on steroids.
We have since continued to explore and have discovered that we really live in the heart of it and are feeling very excited about this. Right around the corner is this great cafeteria-style restaurant called, Valois. It was recommended to us by our landlords and has not disappointed in the slightest. The food is great and the people that work there are even better. Julia and I almost got a free omelette for guessing the ingredients, but no luck. We listed off a whole bunch of vegetables and meats, but missed broccoli. When we went back the next weekend with my brother, Alec, we couldn't find that listed on the menu though, so we were left wondering. We did get a free coffee for our efforts, so no real complaining from me!
Scott and I took a break from setting up and unpacking and carried up our bikes from the basement to go check out the bike path that follows the edge of the lake up to the city. It is a beautiful ride and immediately was put on the list as a great activity to do when guests come. The path reminded me a lot of the Burlington bike path since there is the city on one side and the lake on the left, but a huge difference is that there are not any Adirondacks to look at across the water. The lake is so big, that you can't see the other side, so it really gives the feeling that you are biking next to the ocean. It is also used not just for recreation, but for commuters, so there were quite a few cyclists whizzing by with very few alerting you with an "on your left". This will certainly take some getting used to for me and I will very soon be looking into acquiring a rear view mirror and bell.
A couch, ottoman and shelf later, and the apartment is starting to come together and feel more like a home. I am very grateful to the furniture store for delivering the pieces, because I am not sure that my legs or arms would have held up. I also tried to carefully study their strategies for maneuvering the beast of a couch up the back stairs and in through the kitchen for when we have to do the reverse. That will certainly be interesting. The animals were certainly very appreciative to have something other than a wood floor to lie on and immediately jumped up and got comfortable on the couch. Maybe they will continue to lay closer and someday snuggle. This is very doubtful as Nuit still loves to toss out a claw at Layla, but I can dream!
By midweek Scott was dressing dapper and going to work at his new job! At the end of his first day I met up with him and his new colleagues at this bar that is on the University and can only be attended if you have a student or faculty ID. The place is called, The Pub, and is so unassuming in the basement of this gorgeous, ivy covered building on campus. There was only one other person, one of Scott's new colleagues, who had to let us in, but as the hour continued, people getting out of work slowly trickled down for a mid-week beverage. It was nice to get a chance to meet some of his new colleagues and one used to go to summer camp in Vermont, which gave me a pang of homesickness, but filled me with even more pride as I get to call that my home state.
More boxes, deliveries and neighborhood walks led us right into the weekend and picking up Alec from the airport! Even though it had only been a few weeks since I had seen him, I had missed him a ton and couldn't wait to show him the new place. It was a fantastic weekend! We started off with a repeat bike ride up to Navy Pier, but this time we walked the pier a bit and enjoyed a cocktail as we strolled through masses of people attending graduations, weddings, and Ferris wheel rides. We then ducked into the city to go on the highly recommended architectural boat tours everyone had told us about (thank you so much, Kiersten and Mike). It was well worth the hype and was the perfect way to see Chicago. The tall buildings towered overhead as our witty tour guide, Gladys, explained the history and architecture to us. If you come to Chicago when the weather is nice, definitely go. The Wendella Boat tour did not disappoint!
After about 20 miles of biking and walking we treated ourselves to a delicious pizza dinner back in Hyde Park at a funky restaurant called Medici's. This had also been recommended to us and was another restaurant score. It is a BYOB, which means it had 5 stars in my book before we even walked in. That coupled with eating outside and the fantastic pizza and I can't wait to go back! The next morning we visited Valois again, this will be a guest staple, and walked off the omelets and biscuits by making our way back out to Promontory Point to see the views. Alec had done a Google search of our new neighborhood and was telling me about this park before I even knew about it, so we definitely had to see it in person. It was much more quiet on a Sunday morning than it was the previous Saturday evening and was a great way to close out his trip.
During the drive to take Alec back to the airport, I reflected on our first full week here. We have accomplished a lot and are settling in. Sharing the beginning of this experience with Alec and Julia helped me to realize that. I look forward to seeing what we learn this week and can't wait to share that as well!
Thanks for sticking with me through this first post!