Don and I made a last minute decision to spend the long 4th of July weekend in Chicago. We wanted to use our Six Flags season passes at the location in Gurnee, IL. It was located about 20 minutes north of our hotel. We knew we wouldn’t have a problem entertaining ourselves in a city with so many things to do. We left for Chicago about 6pm Friday evening. The ride was pretty smooth. We arrived around 10:30pm and stopped at Giordano’s prior to checking into our hotel.
We stayed at the Westin Chicago North Shore. We pulled up to this beautiful view on Friday night.
Don located a hole in the wall bar right across the street from the hotel. When we arrived there was a couple at the bar, the bartender, and a African gentleman controlling the jukebox. They had one dart board. Don and I enjoyed a couple cocktails and a few games of darts. We had the opportunity to speak with the African gentleman who was from Ghana. He spoke about living as a bastard child in Africa and all that he endured his entire life. It was quite eye opening and educational for us. We sat and listened to the stories about his home country until the bar closed. As we headed back to the hotel we talked about how cool it was to speak with him and despite all that he had been through he still spoke so highly of his country.
The next morning we planned to arrive at Six Flags about 11am. Those plans quickly changed and instead we headed for Navy Pier. The kids had not been in about 5 years so we knew we had to get them down there. Navy Pier had its usual crowd. We grabbed a bite to eat at the Miller Lite Beer Garden and enjoyed lunch by the lake. It was a perfect day in Chicago, sunny and mid 70’s.
We headed back to the hotel so the kids could swim. They wouldn’t be able to enjoy the water park at Six Flags because although the weather was nice, it was still a slight chill in the air.
We left for Six Flags around 6:30pm. As we approached the park we could see a lot of people leaving. We hoped those early morning folks would be worn out by then. It was still a pretty good crowd in the park but that didn’t keep us from enjoying ourselves.
We were photobombed….the creepy guy in the back was not with us.
Here’s a picture of the sunset from Six Flags. Erica took this picture while she waited a hour and 15 minutes for Don and the kids to ride The Flight.
We ended the night with a beautiful fireworks show. This day was pretty AWESOME.
Sunday morning we slept in. We didn’t have much planned. Don spotted a local diner on the first day and wanted to try it. It was right down the street from our hotel. The place was a small mom and pop style restaurant called Rise n Dine Pancake Cafe. The people were very friendly and the food was great!
After breakfast, we headed for the pool again. The kids have been dying to test out my waterproof phone. I was little nervous because what if it stopped working. Here’s their undewater photo shoot.
I can safely say, my Samsung Galaxy S6 Active still works.
After swimming, we headed up to the room to pack up. The hotel offered a late check out on Sundays and we took full advantage.
We were on the road headed home about 3:30pm. We stopped to pick up Tyson on our way in.
Another fun and exciting road trip….making memories that will last a lifetime.
Johnson Family Workshop 