Chicago (The Next 24 Hours)

We slept great in our cozy bed, woke up the next morning ready to squeeze in all we could.  Russ brewed us each a cup of coffee in our one cup coffee maker to tie us over until we had a very light breakfast.  The plan was to eat something little so that we would be hungry for some Chicago style pizza for lunch. 

We packed up our room and I said goodbye to my favorite chair...

and we headed out for a "light" breakfast to save room for some Chicago-style pizza.  We passed a flower stand that caught my eye.

The plan was to have a "light" breakfast somewhere so we would be hungry for our Chicago style pizza.  We walked to an area we hadn't explored yet and stopped at The Corner Bakery.  Nobody ate as "light" as we hoped, but we all enjoyed our meal!  Hmmm...would we be able to eat deep dish pizza in a few hours? 

This one is Donald Trump's latest...

We ran into this little cutie who lives in the area and is somewhat of a greeter.  She loves talking to people about "her" town.  She goes on her daily walks and hangs out here and visits with tourists from all over the world.  She was thrilled to meet some people from Sweden (and Texas too, of course)!

A friend from high school that I was recently reacquainted with at our 20th reunion lives in Chicago and recommended this place.  We walked in and were informed the pizza took 1 hour and 15 minutes to bake.  Gulp!  We had a plane to catch...

He also recommended this place.  Little did we know it was the same owner, second location...caddy corner across the street!  They said the pizza needed 45 minutes to an hour to bake here, so we grabbed a table and ordered a pepperoni pizza. 

Russ and I actually prefer a thin crust with little sauce.  We had no idea we'd love this pizza as much as we did!  We saw it on Food Network last night! 

We quickly grabbed a cab and headed back to the hotel--we were in a hurry now to catch our plane that left at 4:45. 

Goodbye Knickerbocker!  I chose you because I loved your name.  You didn't let me down!

Goodbye wonderful friend who lives a million miles away, though every time I see you, it feels like you never left.  Until we meet again...Spain?  Fiji?  London?  Maine?  How about Texas?

Have a great time at the Blackhawks game tonight!

Goodbye Chicago, we'll be back!

Home.  Family.  Friends.  My boys.