Things around this blog have been quiet, as I finally took a few days of vacation and got outta town!
Yay!
My sister and I took our annual "sisters weekend" last weekend, this time with a destination in North Carolina: the Biltmore!
We had fantastic weather, a great vacation package, a wonderful visit, lots of pictures taken, a lot of laughs, some good relaxing and only got stuck in traffic once. ;-)
I've never been to North Carolina, so I loved getting to see the Smokies and enjoying the vistas. *grin*
Anyhoo, it was a fantastic trip, and it was REALLY hard to go back to work...I need a vacation from the vacation, methinks...
We marveled at the architecture and the grounds...
We ate lots of tasty food!
We drank a lot of coffee and saw lots of pretty plants...
We visited the winery and did some tasting...
We drove the Blue Ridge Parkway and saw lovely vistas...
What a fantastic autumn trip - thanks, Mich! :-)
Yay!
My sister and I took our annual "sisters weekend" last weekend, this time with a destination in North Carolina: the Biltmore!
We had fantastic weather, a great vacation package, a wonderful visit, lots of pictures taken, a lot of laughs, some good relaxing and only got stuck in traffic once. ;-)
I've never been to North Carolina, so I loved getting to see the Smokies and enjoying the vistas. *grin*
Anyhoo, it was a fantastic trip, and it was REALLY hard to go back to work...I need a vacation from the vacation, methinks...
We toured "the big house"...
We marveled at the architecture and the grounds...
We ate lots of tasty food!
We drank a lot of coffee and saw lots of pretty plants...
We visited the winery and did some tasting...
We drove the Blue Ridge Parkway and saw lovely vistas...
What a fantastic autumn trip - thanks, Mich! :-)
Y'all may have noticed I was off the grid for a few days there...I spent a week in Chicago with my family, seeing a cousin from England who is traveling 'round the world, and stopped in the Midwest to say 'allo, 'allo!
We packed a lot of sightseeing into just a few days, but made sure to leave time for lovely meals and leisurely coffee in the morning! We stayed at a fabulous boutique hotel (Hotel Indigo) in the Gold Coast, which was just lovely as well. Wanna see what we did?
Welcome to Illinois!
My super cool hotel room...
All together at last!
We visited Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio in Oak Park, which was fantastic:
We walked all 'round Millenium Park, and took self-potraits in "The Bean":
We took a river architecture tour from Navy Pier, which was fantastic:
I braved the top of the Sears Tower, despite my fear of heights!
I insisted on a stop at Giordano's for Chicago style pizza. ;-)
We saw the absolutely gorgeous Chicago Botanic Garden, complete with trolley rides!
We had an awesome, awesome steak dinner at Ruth's Chris:
We went to the Chicago Art Institute, where I saw my Monets, and had my own Ferris Bueller moment with this painting... :-)
I also threw down major coin at Crate and Barrel while the "elderlies" looked on, and Dad filed an incident report for slicing his hand open:
And before we knew it, we were back home again in Indiana...
We had a fabulous time, and it reminded me again how much I love Chicago!
(The entire huge, honkin' photo set is right here)
We packed a lot of sightseeing into just a few days, but made sure to leave time for lovely meals and leisurely coffee in the morning! We stayed at a fabulous boutique hotel (Hotel Indigo) in the Gold Coast, which was just lovely as well. Wanna see what we did?
Welcome to Illinois!
My super cool hotel room...
All together at last!
We visited Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio in Oak Park, which was fantastic:
We walked all 'round Millenium Park, and took self-potraits in "The Bean":
We took a river architecture tour from Navy Pier, which was fantastic:
I braved the top of the Sears Tower, despite my fear of heights!
I insisted on a stop at Giordano's for Chicago style pizza. ;-)
We saw the absolutely gorgeous Chicago Botanic Garden, complete with trolley rides!
We had an awesome, awesome steak dinner at Ruth's Chris:
We went to the Chicago Art Institute, where I saw my Monets, and had my own Ferris Bueller moment with this painting... :-)
I also threw down major coin at Crate and Barrel while the "elderlies" looked on, and Dad filed an incident report for slicing his hand open:
And before we knew it, we were back home again in Indiana...
We had a fabulous time, and it reminded me again how much I love Chicago!
(The entire huge, honkin' photo set is right here)
