So, what would the perfect 4th of July weekend look like for you?
Not sure?
Well, let me tell you since we just had it! It begins with a road trip to the great village of Francesville for some fun with cousins. What kind of fun, you ask.....canoe fun! Yep, we spent a wonderful afternoon on the Tippecanoe River (no, we didn't tip a canoe). I would say we canoed, but I don't think 7 hours of floating three canoes tied together down a river really counts as actual canoeing. To us though, it was canoe-tastic! As always there were a few lessons learned:
- Make sure you put sunscreen everywhere, including your knees
- When squatting in the woods, check for swarms of mosquitoes and poison ivy plants
- Take twice a much food and drink as you think you'll need because a 3 hour trip can easily turn into 7 hours
- Local river dwellers are strange folk
- Never make plans to party hard after a canoe trip
After making it down the river, we headed back to Chicago to meet up with Tameric who were in town to enjoy the Cubs / White Sox showdown. While not a great series, the Cubs did end it with a win! GO CUBBIES! We enjoyed a chillaxing evening with our peeps and got some good rest to gear up for some Chicago-style 4th of July fun.
Following a fabulous breakfast at our favorite spot, Ann Sathers, we got ready for round two of visitors. Rejuvinated from the previous day's river adventure, Tammy, Jason, Travis, and Shauna came to Chi-town to partake in the annual Taste of Chicago and Grant Park fireworks on the 3rd. As always, the Taste proved to be HOT and JAM PACKED! For some who don't appreciate crowds, it was a bit overwhelming......and i quote, "I would rather eat the roots and bark of that tree than go back in there to try to get some food."
Watching the fireworks caused us to be 99% parched, so we headed to Rush and Division to enjoy a frosty beverage (or two). The frosty beverages hit the spot and inspired us to return to our pad to watch some Dark Crystal! Scary or not? You decide.
With yet another day upon us, we headed to yet another excellent breakfast spot, Wishbone, to enjoy breakfast during a power outage. Equipped with fully bellys we were off to Lincoln Park Zoo for a beautiful day outside. I HEART THE ZOO! Winding down after the departure of the cousins, Chandi regrouped and spent the rest of a wonderful 4th of July weekend on our roof watching the most spectacular 360 degree view of fireworks all over the city! AMAZING!
So, that is our story of the perfect 4th of July weekend. In the hopes of having yet another perfect 4th weekend next year, we invite you all to a fiesta on our rooftop!
canoeing cousins
