Sisters, a Brother and Walking Chicago

 Summer always seems to mean one thing: weddings. Whether I'm shooting or attending, we're bound to end up at a few every year.  This time around we were heading down to Chicago from my big sister Katrina's nuptials.

I feel like all our vacations are centered around a wedding or something wedding related. I wish we could go on a vacation without having to worry about being somewhere.

 It also means a few repetitive trips down I-94. There aren't nearly enough unique stops off the interstate. One outlier is Foster Cheese Haus, the only organic Wisconsin cheese shop I know of. Run by the folks behind Castle Rock Organic Farms, we always try to stop by.

Unfortunately for us they were closed on Wednesdays, but at least we got to spy on their darling garden out front. 

 Brooke and I arrived in Necedah. We decided to stop at Brooke's sister Brittany's home along the way to cut the ride in half and get her dressed hemmed.  

Inside Brittany's workshop are dozens of stockings waiting for Christmas.

 Brooke wanted to make sure her dress looked good. Looks like Brittany did a great job.

While they worked on the dress I spied two kitties.

Brooke and I went on a self-guided tour of Jeff and Brittany's rather large yard. (P.S. this photo is an actual film photograph, not some Instagram imitation.)

I loved her house. It was the perfect size. It made me wish we had bought a smaller house. 

 Both of us really liked these cabinets.

I'm jealous of all the drawers she has. 

 Around ten Brittany had finished fixing Brooke's bridesmaid dress and we were on our way to our next stop.

 About two hours later we arrived at my parents home in Cudahy, just south of Milwaukee. My brother had taken out the Ewok Village the night prior.

 I checked out the rather large spruces that were planted when I was in grade school. We corralled my brother and his better half and headed to Chicago.

 After arriving at the hotel the men and women split up. We had arrived a day early to party with the groom-to-be and almost bother-in-law Dennis Wrobleski. What happened at the bachelor party? Good times.

Jen and I did some shoe shopping then met up with Katrina and fellow bridesmaid Sam to do some wedding projects.

After putting together 75 boxes we went down to the hotel lobby for some drinks.

We decided to have a girls night out and headed over to Wicker Park. We had margaritas and tacos at Big Star. I didn't take any photos there, but as you can see we were having a good time by the time we got home.

We weren't quite ready for bed yet and went around exploring the hotel.

 The next morning I woke up with an epic hangover. 

Scott and Colin met up with us at the Blackstone hotel.

 We found Eleven City Diner on the Trip Advisor app on my phone. Seeing as it was ranked 35th out of 4000 plus restaurants in Chicago we had to make the journey. After a mile walk Brooke got a strawberry milkshake and I got a sammy with corned beef and turkey.

 The milkshake and corned beef were deliecious, but the turkey was a bit dry on this day.

I had just eaten breakfast so I wasn't ready for lunch.

Of course Mrs. Breakfast.

After sleeping separately the night before we checked into our room.

 Though I was still feeling the remnants of last nights partying I let Brooke drag me around Grant Park and beyond.

 Brooke spent a good deal of our walk to Buckingham Fountain trying to find a picture of her mom from the 70s.

 I took some killer (if a bit cliche) pictures of the fountain and the skyline.

 Brooke got back into the scenery once she found the picture she wanted to recreate.

No it wasn't this one. You'll see it later. This is just the same picture taken with two cameras.

We meandered back and forth through Grant and Millenium Park until we got to the bean.

Can you find us?

 After taking a little break in the shade we picked up our car and drove it past the South Loop near McCormick place.  

We didn't want to pay 50 dollars to park our car downtown so we drove until we found a free spot.

 Then we headed for the lakefront and snapped a few pics along the way. Did I mention that it was sweltering hot outside during this walk?

This was the photo I tried to recreate. That wall she's sitting on doesn't exist anymore so it was hard trying to figure out exactly where she was.

 Not quite right.

Although I think this was the closest of the three.

My favorite, but too much legs.

 And the sweet spot if Brooke is to be believed.

I still don't think its right. May have to try again some day. 

 

 Though this entire Loop/South Loop loop was 10.29 miles, including driving, I figure we walked a good 7 miles in almost ninety degree weather.

 After we got back we hitched a ride (a very slow and traffic jam clogged) up to Gino's East for the rehearsal dinner. We at some delicious deep dish pizza. At least that's what I thought, everybody else complained about the crust.

 The two "sisters" compared compared their dress backs and then we walked back to the hotel. I can't believe she got me to walk, again.

C'mon you get to see more of the city this way.

To be continued...