I just returned from my third trip to the Midwest in 5 months- not a bad ratio!  This time I hit up Chicago proper, North Chicago, and made a return trip to Milwaukee.  I survived the cold!

I started out my Chicago adventures by meeting up with Brad and Lauren.  They were such gracious hosts.  We started with a driving tour of the city, which has beautiful architecture and tons of fun restaurants! I can see why people love it there!  We culminated our tour at a little wine shop/tapas bar, In Fine Spirits.  They like it because it has Left Hand Brewery beer, which I will admit is pretty nifty despite my hatred of beer.  After a delightful wine tasting, we headed next door for cocktails before dinner.  Apparently, I love indulging in Chicago, and enjoyed some delicious Prosecco.  Mmmmmmm.  We ended up at Mixteco, a little BYOB Mexican place that has the best fish tacos I have ever had- yum!! We finished off the night with a little SNL before getting a glorious night’s sleep.

Sunday we had a slow start, but eventually ended up at Francesca’s Forno for brunch- our three orders of Salmon Benedict were devoured with glee.  We spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for their superbowl party: braving the crowds at Costco, seeing Ed from the Bachelor, flying on carts, making guacamole, and chatting.  It was great seeing them!

Alas, it came time for me to catch the train to North Chicago, where Rosalind Franklin University is.  I made some great single-serving friends on the train, and met my friend Kristen when I got there.  She was nice enough to show me around campus and her home before a delightful Chipotle dinner.  I stayed my first night in a hotel alone, which was a lot more fun than I would have expected!  I went hot-tubbing, jumped on the bed, watched the Biggest Loser, and tried to prep myself for my interview.  Whew!

Monday was my interview day, which is always weird.  Who knows how that went?!  What I did really enjoy though was seeing Kristen’s cadaver, Myrtle (no fainting here!), meeting a physiology professor, and exploring the towns of Lake Bluff and Lake Forest which are just south of the school.  They have cute main streets, and rows upon rows of beautiful houses, all on the edge of Lake Michigan.  Given that I love taking photos of pretty houses, I would have lots to do there.  I didn’t even get the best ones, but you get the gist:

Eventually Kristen dropped me back off at the train station where I took the train back to Chicago with a couple new friends from my interview, Yen and Rebecca.  I really like it there!  Thanks for all your help, Kristen!

By the time Rebecca and I made it back to Chicago, we were both seriously time crunched to catch our connecting bus/train.  This was apparently obvious to some enterprising Chicago-ites who were happy to show us the way for a tip, but we were definitely glad they did- we barely made it to Union Station in time (and, there are 3 to add to the confusion!).  I hopped the Amtrak to Milwaukee, and after watching the Notebook I arrived to meet Adam, one month later for my re-do of discovering Milwaukee and the Medical College of Wisconsin.

I guess they are having a mild winter there, but everytime I visit, the snow arrives.  Adam suggested that I am the spirit of La Niña, which I believe.  Given that I love the snow so much, this is perfect for me (sarcasm).  We hit up a Chipotle, and I went to lectures, met with curriculum people, quizzed students, and took myself on a tour.  By the time our day was done, there was nothing left to do but visit the casino, Potawatame.  I won $12.50 on my $25, so I was pretty pumped.  Other than that, we spent our time catching up, eating bagels, drinking coffee, and watching House before bed.  Another great trip to the midwest! And, this time I got to see Milwaukee in daylight, without clouds, without puking.  It was Awesome!




Mission accomplished!