Many many years ago, my Dad and my biological mother had Tasha, Kyle, and myelf. My Dad, Tasha, and Kyle, were all born in Joliet, IL. In this same town of birth, was also the same place of death, of my sweet older brother Kyle. He died at just three months old-which means we have never met. Although we have never met in person, I remember feeling his presence and spirit with me as a young three year old and cried because I missed him. Since that time, I feel his love and presence with me from time to time and cannot help but feel like we are very close siblings and friends. The trip to visit my family was a great one-a great time of relaxation and unwinding. The trip to Chicago was a part of my healing process as I revisited his gravestone and paid my respects.
When we arrived at the Cemetery, the entire "Babeland" as they call it, was covered with snow. Although my Dad's excellent memory of it's location was accurate, it was extremely hard to find. After about 10 or 15 minutes of digging through the snow we finally found his gravestone. For memory sake I had some of the following pictures taken:
While we were standing at his grave site, my Dad recalled that he was my age when he had to bury his sweet, baby boy. I cannot imagine having to bury a child at the young age of 24! It gave me great insight on once again the strength of my father and his testimony of the gospel and eternal life. I am so grateful that families can be together forever!
Speaking of family, since we were in Joliet, we had to hit up some of the local spots! A ritual is
grabbing a dog at Joe's Hot Dogs.
After eating some Joe's my Dad took us for a drive through his old neighborhood's. He shared some of his earliest memories with us, one of which where his life was protected by listening to the Holy Ghost. I am always amazed and thankful for my Dad being baptized and converted to the LDS church. It certainly changed his life and his posterity as well.
Following the stroll down memory lane, we visited my Grandma Mahoney- whom I share the same middle name with. It had been sooo many years since I had seen her and I am so glad we did. A few days later she suffered a massive heart attack and was hospitalized. I am told she is doing better now and am so thankful for that! We also visited our Grandpa Mahoney before heading into the city. This trip was little Laurens' first trip without Mom and just when she started to feel homesick, she saw this beautiful cat and felt much better. She sure loves cats!
That night we made our way into the city, just as night approached. We stayed at the Hilton in downtown Chicago, which was a perfect location and treat. Our first night we ordered room service and had some sister time as we rented a movie.
Hotel Lobby
Tasty citrus-berry cheesecake!
The next morning we awoke and hit up Caribou for breakfast, while my Dad was in training the whole day. I was a tad bit nervous how my midwest, small town little sisters would do in the city. Let's just say it was quite the experience for them, haha! Since Caribou was close to our hotel we ate there both mornings of our trip. I am seriously missing their smoothies and baked goods looking back at the pictures. Here are some pictures from our mornings at Caribou:
Autumn at Breakfast
Breakfast Day One
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Calissa + Caribou = Perfect Combo
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Breakfast Day Two
I love this sassy pic of Makayla and Lauren
Poor Lauren didn't realize the hot chocolate would be served so hot and gulped her first drink down and burnt her tongue :( She soon learned that having a hot drink was a bit more complicated than she anticipated!
After breakfast, we went back to our hotel and rested while we made plans to visit the "bean" (as seen in The Vow). The weather turned rainy as we made our walk about 10 blocks down to the park where the bean was located. We snapped a bunch of pictures in Millenium Park which was fun. Little did we know that Jef Holm, from the Bachelor was literally there at the same time. I'm not fan of the Bachelor but come on-that would've been cool to spot him right?! Oh well! Here are some of our pictures from Millenium Park and the Bean:
On our way back to our hotel, we stopped for a late lunch at Cosi-a cute cafe. We ate our fill and then walked back to our hotel. Our poor feet were not accustomed to so much walking so we took some naps that afternoon.
That evening, when Dad was done with his training convention, we went out for pizza together. Typically we visit Gino's but was told it was just a tourist trap and that the real good pizza was at Lou Malnati's, so we went there instead. We had some fried calamari-which was a very first for Lauren and cute to see her try. Of course, we had pizza too! It was a true Chicago deep dish pizza-quite tasty! Naturally we had a pazookie, since we had to have dessert in some type of pizza form. Needless to say, we ate a lot of good food that day!
The next morning we did our typical Caribou stop in the morning for breakfast. We outlined a plan to visit Millennium Mile and our Dad joined us that day. We walked for blocks and blocks which took some getting used to-but I just loved the experience and vibe of the city! Although I think it would take some getting used to, I couldn't help but fall in love with downtown Chicago! It was reminiscent of New York City, only cleaner, smaller, and less chaotic.
We went to the mall and then my Dad, in true perfect father fashion, treated us to cupcakes at Hershey's. My parents sure know the way to my heart!
Now looking back at all this eating, it's a good thing we were walking everywhere because we then ate at Ed Debrevics. If you've never been to Ed Debrevics-it's this fun 50's diner where the wait staff is rude to you intentionally and of course in good nature. Some of the comments given to our table were braceface, foureyes, "you order like a kid" (in reference to my order of a grilled cheese sandwich), etc. My little sister Lauren was not accustomed to being talked to in such a way but we told her it was in good nature. The next time our waitress came around Lauren accidently interuppted her and the waitress said, "why are you talking?" Lauren piped back, "I got my rights!" To which the waitress said, "Barely!" haha. It was cute to see Lauren stick up for her little self and have a good time. By the end of our visit, in true Lauren fashion, she growled at the waitress. If you knew Lauren when she was three or four years old, then this probably brings back many memories for you, haha.
As we were wrapping up our early dinner, my Dad and sisters said how much they missed Mom and the kids. Usually I don't get homesick, but considering I was on a trip, within a trip, it was kind of like inception and I missed Branson too. My Dad said, okay-then lets leave tonight and get home a day early. So just like that we made our way back to the hotel to pack our bags and leave. Before our spontaneous moment of early depature we stopped by Barnes N' Noble and we were all in heaven. We Mahoney's love a good book or ten! I purchased a book as well as the audio book, Eat Pray Love, for my trip back from Missouri to Utah. Here is the last picture I had taken before we left back home.
As soon as we got back to the hotel, we packed in 10 minutes flat and got on the road just like that! It was a wonderful trip but we were ready to get back. My dad drove halfway, stopping in St. Louis that night so he and I could visit the St.Louis temple the next morning. Much to our dismay, when we arrived it was closed for cleaning :( Sad day! So we got back in the car and made our way back to Branson.
It was fun to surprise my Mom and siblings with our earlier than anticipated return and I cherished how good it feels to have people excited when you get back from a trip! I am so glad my family let me tag along for this trip. We ate a lot of good food and saw a lot of great sites in the city! Until next time Chicago!
Love,
Calissa
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