Next stop of our phototour:  the glorious metropolis of Chicago.  Home of the Bean and the best falafel sandwiches on the planet.  We were excited, to say the least.

We made a quick stop at Target in rural Illinois to blow a $25 gift card on animal crackers, sets of grow capsules (in assorted shapes including aquatic animals, farm animals, and dinosaurs), a Lisa Frank sticker set, and a Phase 10 deck.  All of these will be put to use very soon.  After some more driving and about 90 wrong turns (Helena was driving), we were in the city.

Our first night was full of falafel, free pizza and cheap cocktails, planning and promoting.  Night one came to a close at “The Whiskey Chest,” otherwise known as the home of former Raleigh native Angus, who took us in for the night.

Day 2 was a doozie.  Our first interaction of the day was with Ivana, our smily Romanian waitress at the Cornerstone Cafe.  She was quick to explain her name: “Ivana.  It sounds like ‘I wanna.’ Everyone starts to say ‘I-want-a…’ and I say ‘Yes?’”  Imagine that in a Romanian accent.  Adorable.  She made us feel at home, as if we were at the Raleigh Times Bar.  Tim had a turkey avocado panini and Helena had a salmon omelet the size of a football. 

After parting ways for a while to do some separate exploring, we ended up reuniting in the afternoon at the Bean.  We quickly found ourselves distracted by really nice grass in the park, sandwiches, and a free concert at the Jay Prizker Pavilion in Millennium Park.  Cellos, violins, MacBooks, and beatboxing, all integrated beautifully.  The concert and atmosphere were absolutely perfect and we found ourselves unable to really function other than laying on the grass and embracing the sensory overload.

One thing stayed on our minds though - at that very moment we were missing the secret Rosebuds show… at the Jackpot, our beloved neighborhood dive.  We got word of it in the afternoon, and once we found a photo of the show, we were missing home.  The 15-hour drive home would have been worth it.

See more stories + photos at welldonetour.com.