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

After major spine surgery in January, I had hardly left my house. Travel in general has been cut down the last few years because of my health, but now I needed to once again take another step down. When I felt I finally could go somewhere, I was careful to pick a place that’s very accessible and would allow me lots of rest and breaks.  With Brittany taking pictures, and Amanda accompanying her on active activities, it was a perfect mix. The two were very helpful to me with my medical scooter. I thought I had all the plans in place for this first trip of the year (even though half the year was over). Then, less than a week before we were to go, I received an email that the place had overbooked, and they couldn’t accommodate us. It is a place I hope to visit someday so I’m not going to go into details, but I was ready to finally get out a little and I didn’t have much time to plan. The wonderful team at Visit Missouri and their PR

After a good night’s sleep in our spacious suite at the Superior Place in Sault Ste. Marie, Brittany, Jamie, and I got ready for our morning breakfast meeting. We were getting together with Linda Hoath, Executive Director of the Sault Area Convention and Visitors Bureau . She had graciously put together this trip for us last minute after one in a nearby area did not work out. We met Linda at the Lock View Restaurant downtown. It was right across the street from the Soo Locks and you could see both the American and Canadian sides from the building. Everything on the menu looked great, but our host recommended the pancakes and I went for the chocolate chip ones. They were as good as she said. The other ladies had eggs and we were all quite full as we learned more about the area and the plans about other activities on our list. After we finished eating, we walked around town and looked through some more shops. Linda pointed out the Michigan Made sto

It’s always fun when I get to spend a day exploring with a good friend. Angela and I managed to eat our way around Chicago for this trip! I had no idea what to expect when was invited to check out and sample the foods at the  Chicago French Market . I actually thought it was outside, so I was surprised to find it inside a building. The market is actually conveniently located to the train station from the suburbs.  (it’s also only a 10-minute walk from Union Station). They’ve also got something you will be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the windy city – free parking (you do need to spend $20 at the market). I had set up a meeting with a rep from the market to take me around and provide us with some samples.  Before she met us, I walked around and took a quick look at the variety of shops. It seemed they covered everything among the 30 vendors. In some cases, it was the only location in the city. I saw all types of fruits at City Fresh Market; meats