Wine and Spirits Travel

It was a very comfortable night at the Hyatt Centric the Loop in Chicago . We were able to take our time in the morning and I was excited to find out my friend and fellow writer, Kristine Hansen, was in town. We met for breakfast at Cochon Valent Brasserie, just downstairs from the hotel. Their blueberry pancakes were loaded with fruit and as delicious as everything always is there. My Joan picked something up to eat and relaxed in the room. and we met up to head over to the Art Institute of Chicago . I have been to the Art Institute many times. I try to check out all of their special exhibits as well as some of the smaller ones. The exhibition that brought me here this time was Manet and Modern Beauty.  Edouard Manet was a late 19 th century painter known for what was a modern style at the time. He especially flourished when painting women. The collection, the first of its kind in 50 years, was well worth a trip, but we decided to spend some time looking around. I stopped at

No matter how many times I go to Chicago, the minute I see the skyline there is an excitement that runs through my veins. I know I’ll always have a fun time in the Windy City. This trip was for a 24-hour getaway with my friend Joan. We had the perfect mixture of food, activity, and chill time. We started with lunch at Cantina Laredo . It had been years since I had been there and it was even more welcoming than I remembered, with our seats in front of a gas fireplace. The waiter brought us tortilla chips and immediately suggested some of their famous margaritas with the current month’s guacamole. It was as delicious as it sounded, with cotija cheese and tomato, for a combination of sweet and a bit spicy. I sipped one of their fruitful Pineapple Infused Ritas, a mixture of pineapple infused Avion Reposado Tequila and Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur. Joan had the current margarita special, which was Jalapeno. Although we were starting to get full from devouring every bit of the gua