Unsurprisingly, a snow day is a wonderful way to begin a weekend trip.  Not only did I have ample time to sleep and finish packing, but I also had time to take care of some housekeeping tasks and adult chores (car registration, ordering contact lenses, etc.).  I also had ample time to make my trek to the airport while avoiding rush hour.  It wasn’t snowing, but the roads were incredibly slushy and my car is an icy, muddy mess.

DIA was crowded, but the flight to Chicago was smooth.  I arrived at Midway and took the train into town.  The hotel was a little under a mile away from the metro stop, so I pulled on my gloves and scarf and set out to enjoy the sights of Chicago in winter.  There were ice chunks floating on the river:

so it seemed appropriate that some people still had Christmas lights out:

Mom and Dad arrived at the hotel just minutes after I walked in, and Jason was only 30 minutes behind; so once we all rendezvoused, we headed out to dinner at the nearby Weber grill:

(No, it did not get lighter – I took this picture this morning.)

The food was tasty and they let us linger at our table long after finishing the meal, which gave us a pleasant and warm place to catch up and swap stories.

Roasted beets, goat cheese, and pecans – my favorite!

Pulled pork, ribs, blue cheese coleslaw, and cornbread

Berries and cream for dessert