Amy Scott's Thoughts

I’m finding it’s a good thing I’m writing this all down! Just a week after my trip, I can tell that the details are getting hazy in my mind! This may seem strange you, but while I was actually in Chicago I kept a notebook entry on my phone of what we did each day. It’s coming in handy right now as I try to recollect the details!

Tuesday was our 4th day in the Windy City and just like all the rest before it, we had it filled to the brim with things to do and places to go! As usual we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed off to another Starbucks. We rarely hit the same Starbucks  more than once. There were just so many to choose from that we stopped by a new one each time.  We wondered from Starbucks to the Magnificent Mile. Our plan was to stop by the Water Works. I know that sounds weird, but the Water Works building is one of the few building in Chicago to survived the great fire. It’s also built like a castle and now in the heart of the Magnificent Mile. The Water Works building housed a visitor center and a theater. You can enter part of the building and look in on the water works in action. It is still in use today. Across the street from the Water Works is the Water Tower which now houses a gallery of city photos. It was very interesting to see many shots of Chicago in the past and what it looks like now. The gallery isn’t very large, but it was worth seeing the history inside of it.

From the Water Works, we headed over to 4th Street Presbyterian Church. The church had it’s first services just before the great fire. They only met together once before their new building was damaged by the fire. The church rebuilt and reopened it’s doors in 1914. At the time it wasn’t  in a very busy part of town and now it’s in the middle of commercial and retail shopping! Parts of the original structure did survive the fire and along with the Water Works, it’s one of the oldest buildings in all of Chicago. The stain glass in the sanctuary is beautiful. The church had a very sacred and reverent feel to it. It was a lovely stop. We spent some time in their beautiful, green courtyard as well. Even though it was off of busy Michigan Avenue, the courtyard is tranquil and secluded. There is a fountain that offers the calming sound of water flowing and the courtyard is shaded by trees and the church structure.

The major stop of the morning was the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). When we arrived at the museum, we were surprised to see a farmer’s market in front of it. It was fun to look around the different booths before heading into the MCA. Many of you who read this blog know that I am not an arty person. My mom and sister got that gene, but I didn’t really… I would love to explain to you in accurate detail what I saw at the MCA, but I know that is not possible! Sorry! My favorite piece at the museum was one that looked like waves and the ocean. In fact, it was called “Waves”, so I’m fairly confident that I interpreted it somewhat correctly! I may not have and that’s okay, because isn’t it really about what the art says to you!

Our lunch stop was at the coolest and most upscale Chick-Fil-A that I’d ever been it. It was a huge restaurant and it was completely full! The only reason we got a seat was because a man offered us his table when he got up. They had staff waiting around the dining area to wipe down tables and reset them after guests. Very classy for fast food in my opinion! April and Andrew had never been to Chick-Fill-A so it was fun to see them enjoy it for the first time. The ketchup packets where the highlight of our stop there! I know that might sound strange but they were shaped like ketchup bottles and you could open them two ways. One way opened it like a dipping sauce and the other way opened it so you can squirt out the ketchup. We were all impressed! Of course, I have to mention the waffle fries! They were awesome! I’m a fan!

We hopped onto the L and rode to the library. That might not sound like a must see stop, but trust me it was! The Harold Washington Library is the largest public library in the United States! We rode by 8 floors of books! The 9th floor was what they call the Winter Garden. It’s a huge open space with a glass roof. It was beautiful! I could just imagine reading a good book there or being a student and studying for a test! After the library was got an afternoon snack at Dunkin Donuts. They are everywhere in Chicago, so it seemed fitting. Most of us got caramel apple spice donuts.  Seemed like a nice choice for a fall afternoon! We took off to explore Millennium Park with donuts in hand! Our first stop was Buckingham Fountain which is actually in Grant Park. From there we wondered through gardens and green spaces. We saw some funky art sculptures and Crown Fountain. You can play in Crown Fountain and there were families splashing around it. The fountain looks like glass blocks and it creates an image of a face. The face changes from time to time and they smile and blink. Pretty crazy stuff! The last stop in Millennium Park was the Cloud Gate. It’s a big, shiny object that looks like a giant bean. You can get close up for some fun photo opportunities. Also the many reflections you see when walking under the Cloud Gate is pretty crazy!

This blog is getting longer then I like, so for the conclusion of day four tune in tomorrow! Trust me – it will be worth it! I will share how my family and I becoming movie stars… well, sort of! It’s a fun story, so come back tomorrow!

This blog is a continuation of the one below! I had such a great time in Chicago and I want to share all the details, but I don’t want each blog to get too long to read in one sitting… So I will highlight my trip in installments! Here is the second part of my adventures in Chicago!

Day Three (Monday), started off with Dad having to go his conference, so it was just the 5 of us that set off that morning. After breakfast at the hotel, we went to a Starbucks down the street and lingered there a while. One of the highlights of the trip for me was the amount of times we went to Starbucks. In fact, upon returning home, I do believe I experienced withdrawals! I’m not a coffee drinker, but I had a fair share of hot chocolates and caramel apple spices while I was there. Another exciting thing was since we were in the city, the stores opened early and stayed open late! It was a nice treat compared to our store that close so early!

Okay, I’m done with my “I love Starbucks” monologue! Our first stop was the Shedd Aquarium. In true fashion for the entire trip, we arrived early. This allowed us to explore the museum campus and walk the waterfront of Lake Michigan with the skyline in the background. It was going to be a warm day, so we changed our plans so we could be indoors with our activities. Even though our walk around the campus was before 9:00am, you could tell it was getting warm. The Shedd Aquarium was the highlight of my Monday and possibly the highlight of my trip (other than all the good food I ate)! The exhibits at the aquarium were wonderful, but the best part was the beluga whales and dolphins. We caught the belugas while they were training and the it was a very enjoyable sight! They seemed so happy as they swam around their tank and responded to their trainers! We thought we were going to miss the dolphins because the “show” they were in was about to start. We didn’t pay the extra to see the show, but we did catch an amazing show in the underwater viewing area. The lower level was not blocked off during the show, so we were able to watch the dolphins from down below! It was an awesome sight!

Once we had seen all there was to see at the aquarium, including the gift shop, we moved on to the nearest museum right down the street. The Field Museum is a museum of natural history and is named after it’s prime benefactor. We  had lunch at the Corner Street Bakery and Cafe inside the museum. The panini I had was very good, but the best part was I got a free cookie for giving them my email address. I had been eying the cookies while ordering my sandwich, so I was tickled pink that I got one for free! My favorite part of the Field Museum was the fossils and the ancient Egyptian exhibit. They had a lot of mummies in the Egyptian exhibit and it took me by surprise. It was a little freaky, but also very interesting. I also learned something new about myself at this museum – I’m not a fan of stuffed animals. Not the cute, cuddly ones you find a gift shop, but the ones that are dead, stuffed and made to look live. The museum had a large collection of them and it felt like a dead animal zoo. I know that’s not a very cultured things to say, but that is how I felt!

The last activity on the schedule for Monday was a trip to US Cellular Field to watch a White Sox game. I think we all would have preferred to see a cubs game, but they were out of town while we were in town. I will admit that I’ve been spoiled by Safeco Field. The game itself was quite good, but the ballpark left me disappointed. They have a strange rule that was created because of a one-time issues, where you can not go to a level where you are a ticket holder. That means that you stuck on whatever level your seats are. The whole group was really excited to explore the ballpark and then we realized that we would only be allowed in a small section of it. Also the food at Safeco Field is a lot better. This may seem silly, but I’m not really a sports fan, so I lot of my ballpark experience revolves around food. I was disappointed with the selection for both meal and dessert options. The White Sox ended up losing to the Detroit Tigers (by quite a lot)… the best part was the view of the skyline at night after the game finished. With an L ride back to the hotel, we all went to bed very tired from a long day of walking and sightseeing!

Stay posted for more Chicago adventure stories coming soon!

I think I’m finally getting back into the right time zone! My body seems to adapt pretty well to the time change while I’m there, but I have such a hard time getting back into routine when I’m home. Now that I’m starting to feel like my head is on straight again, I would to share with you all the fun and adventures that we had in Chicago.

The trip started early Saturday morning. Jeremy and I rode up to SeaTac with my parents in anticipation of our 8:40am flight to Chicago. My dad is one of those guys who strongly believes in being to the airport 2 hours before any flight. The line through security was very long and the line for Starbucks seemed just as long. With all the standing in line, things worked out pretty well so we weren’t waiting at the gate too long before boarding.

Once we arrived in Chicago, we reunited with my sister, April, and my brother-in-law, Andrew. It was an exciting greeting full of hugs and chatter! We were glad to be together and looking forward to all the week held for us. Once we claimed our bags, we made our way to our hotel. We stayed at the Comfort Suites on North Michigan Ave. This was a prime location because it was near public transportation and the Magnificent Mile where all the shops and restaurants are. We set off to find dinner once we had gotten settled into our hotel rooms. We decided to celebrate our first night in Chicago with deep dish pizza. Our dinner destination was Lou Malnati’s. We had discovered this pizza chain by watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Bobby had challenged Lou’s son, Mark, to a deep dish pizza challenge and Mark won. We figured anyone who could beat Bobby Flay must make good pizza! Oh boy, were we right! Deep pizza is so thick that it only took one yummy slice to fill me up! We walked around a bit and got some frozen yogurt for dessert at Froyo. Once back at the hotel, my parents decided to call it a night so the kiddos decided to go back out and explore. We had two locations in mind – the Hershey store and the Ghirardelli store! April and I split a chocolate cupcake at the Hershey’s store that was almost like a brownie! The Ghirardelli store gave out samples of their new pumpkin caramel chocolates (we went back almost daily for those free samples).

Day two started early… maybe a little too earlier… We weren’t sure how long it would take all of us to get ready, so we got up at 5:00am… We were ready to go by 6:15am. My parents were not… I think I was a little excited to get the day started. Each morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed off to find good coffee else where. I’m not a coffee drinker but those that are in the group needed another source for their morning java. We got our CTA passes which allowed us to ride the “L” all week. We made our way over to the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower). We got there a bit early so we made a stop at Starbucks. The Willis Tower Sky Deck is amazing! At 103 stories up in the air, you sure can see a lot! Plus they have built plexiglass ledges off the side of the building so you can actually step out on them and look down below. It’s really quite a sight! After the Sky Deck, we went out to Wrigley Field for some photo opportunities. From there we made our way to the Navy Pier.  We rode the Farris Wheel and got to see the Chicago skyline and be right up against Lake Michigan. We took at a walk through a stain glass museum and then played mini-golf in the shadow of the Farris Wheel. The day ended with dinner at the Weber Grill. It was amazing! I’d never seen a Weber Grill Restaurant before! The whole restaurant is themed around Weber grills, the food is made on them and the store is decorated with them! We did more walking on the Magnificent Mile after dinner and got more froyo at Froyo! Sunday was the only day we had my dad with us all day so we packed it in with as many touristy opportunities as possible!

To keep the length of this blog manageable, I will have to leave you with a cliff hanger! I’ll continue the play by play of our trip to Chicago in upcoming blogs! Stay tuned!

Tomorrow (very early in the morning) my travel adventures to the Windy City of Chicago will begin! I’m so excited for this chance to see a city where I have only ever been in the airport before. I love exploring new places and seeing sights that I have never seen before. What I love even more than going to new places, is going to new places with people I love!

This trip will be the first time the Vitzthum, Scott, and Gallaway clans will all be together since the end of May when we left April and Andrew to start their lives in Kansas. It’s been strange to have a 1/3 of our family so far way. This trip in a sense will be like a family reunion. I am beyond excited! My sister and I were talking just this week about how blessed we are to be a in family of friends. Yes, we are related, but we all really do have solid friendships. We enjoy time together and are deeply connected with each other. I am blessed not just to be a daughter or a sister, but I am friend and that means a lot!

I look forward to updating you upon my return with all the joyful stories of our time in Chicago. It looks like the weather is going to be good and the itinerary is all set for an awesome time! I’m all packed and ready to go!

Just wanted to type up a quick entry before I leave for Kansas in the morning. I will not be bringing my laptop on this trip, so I will write an update when I return from my road trip to Kansas. I appreciate all the prayer you can send our way as we travel. I don’t think I’ve ever been to 10 states in a month’s span of time. I will see some new places – Nebraska and Kansas. The more I travel the more I have an itch to see all 50 states. My next hope is to work New Mexico in some how… however, I would also love to see the New England states as well (preferably in the the fall).

Seems like life is in a continual season of change and this period of my life is no exception. It will be difficult to have my sister and closest friend move so far away, but I believe that God works all things for good. I anxiously await His new blessings and new mercies in this next season. He is so faithful to me in all seasons of life. Through all of the ups and downs.

I will take notes and be looking for God’s insights during this trip. I hope that I have something fresh and new to report to you when I return. The one thing I would like to leave you all with today is – God has given you the family you have for a reason. I know each family has it’s own unique situations and circumstances. Some come from positive family backgrounds and some from negative ones. I believe that God is intentional with the people He has placed in our lives. If you are close to your family, don’t take that closeness for granted.If you are not close with your family, remember that the greatest thing you can do for them is pray.  Family brings out so many different roles and emotions. Just remember that you have been placed where you are a reason and you didn’t pick your family, God did. Make the most of every opportunity!