Last week (has it been a week already?) Andrea had to attend a conference in Chicago. Since I love Chicago I decided to go with her. Since the conference ended about noon on Friday, we decided to take a little holiday and stay the weekend.

We were staying at the Residence Inn on the Magnificent Mile. Since it is a Marriott property, I got us upgraded to a suite, and it was half the price of the conference hotel (the Four Seasons) and only two blocks away.

For lunch we consulted Yelp, which told us to check out The Purple Pig. Calling itself a “swine and cheese” restaurant, it featured small plates featuring, you guessed it, pork and cheese. We had a butternut squash salad with ricotta, pork shoulder in milk (much better than it sounds), and scallops. For dessert we had an “Iris” which is like a beignet filled with cheese. It was all very tasty and I would definitely go back.

We then hit The Art Institute. I didn’t realize what a wonderful collection they have, since the name “The Art Institute” sounds like one of those companies that used to advertise in the back of comic books with “Draw Corky and you could be an Artist!” I was amazed at the number of signature works they had.

One of the most famous is Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, which was featured in the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

For those of you who have been watching Doctor Who this season, you’ll recognize this Van Gough:

and since I have been studying classical guitar, I was partial to this Picasso:

After we left the museum we headed up to Millennium Park to see the “bean”.

and we had to do the touristy thing and take a picture:

That night we went to Shaw’s Crab House for dinner. Despite one really bad experience there, most of the time the food and service are amazing. This night was no exception. It turns out it is king crab season, so the crab was alive minutes before we ate it, and when we couldn’t decide between no dessert and the large dessert sampler, our waiter, Valdemar, decided for us and gave us the sampler for free.

The next morning we slept in a little bit and then headed for the Shedd Aquarium. It was a toss up between the Shedd and the Field Museum, and the Shedd won because it was open a hour later (being a fan of Jim Butcher novels, I wanted to see Sue the Tyrannosaurus but perhaps next time).

It was a cool aquarium, but nothing too amazing. We went to the “show” but missed the dolphins since the beluga whales weren’t cooperating and wouldn’t leave the tank. They did have a jellyfish exhibit that was pretty cool.

Even though it was pretty cool outside, Andrea wanted to take a ride on a “tall ship” – a four-masted schooner called “Windy“. So we grabbed a cab to Navy Pier and since we were early, we stopped to have a bag of Garrett’s popcorn (we got the Chicago mix – cheese and caramel – which was rather tasty).

We ended the day out on the lake, bundled up under blankets and listening to stories of pirates on the great lakes. The skyline was beautiful from the ship.

Cold and tired, we headed back to the hotel. We decided to eat nearby at a place called Francesca’s which turned out to be pretty good and rather inexpensive.

The next day was a bit of an adventure.

When I travel by air, I like to get to the airport a couple of hours early. I hang out at the lounge, check e-mail, read, etc., and then have a leisurely walk to the plane.

Andrea, on the other hand, likes to be the last person to board – preferably just before they shut the door.

Anyway, we ended up leaving the hotel later than I would like. The train station was 8 blocks away, and at 6 blocks we remembered that we had left some things at the hotel. I parked Andrea at a Starbucks with our luggage and took off at a run.

Usually when I’m on the blue line to O’Hare, it’s crowded downtown but pretty empty when we arrive. Not this time – the train was packed, standing room only, and with our delay we got there one minute too late to check our bags. I managed to get them on the next flight with just enough time to get through security and to the gate.

Andrea was happy.

We got to the airport, got the car and went to pick up Kali. We had her stay at a trainer’s place for the weekend. We got home, dropped her off and then headed back to the airport to get our bags.

So it wasn’t until about 9:30pm that I was back home, and I still had chores to do. Winter has arrived and the temperature drops below freezing, so I needed to bring in the few houseplants we have left. Now, I’m lazy, so I’ve put all of them in self watering “violet” pots (one inside another that holds water), and when I was filling one of them I found this little guy.

Apparently green tree frogs like to burrow until they hit water, and this guy had dug through the dirt and through the hole in the bottom of the main pot to settle in the water in the outside pot. Lucky I found him before it froze, and I kept him inside until the next day when it was warm enough for him to find another place to crash for the winter.

But that wasn’t the end of my evening. Around midnight Andrea went out to bring in the horses and Freya managed to surprise a skunk. Luckily she wasn’t sprayed too badly and we had the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda needed (according to the Internet) to correct the problem. Bedtime was about 1:30am.

I need a vacation.