A wedding in the Windy City, cruising down the river and a blues tune

This was surely the year for weddings.  First it was Harry and Meghan’s wedding, unfortunately that invitation got lost in the mail. 🙂 Then followed a string of other weddings for the year 2018.  Would you believe it if I mentioned that we had 7 invitations for this year alone?  There’s years where we’ve had no invitations at all, but for some reason, this was definitely the year to be wed.  The count includes our own daughter’s wedding this coming weekend in New York City.  The countdown has begun 🙂

One of the weddings we’d attended was in Chicago.  We were especially excited and honored to be invited to this particular wedding and I think the bride and groom were equally chuffed when we responded “yes”.  Our friends grew up in Nigeria, so you can just imagine the glitz and glamour with national dress, customs and traditions on full display.  Some co-ordinated fabrics from different tribes in Nigeria for a hint of unity, or so we were told.  Intricately woven head dress, necklaces and jewelry complimented it all.  Some of the fabrics were brought all the way from Nigeria and tailored.

 

We’d visited Chicago a few times before, but it had been a while, so I was definitely looking forward to visiting this culturally diverse and beautiful city again.  Chicago is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and is among one of the largest cities in the USA.  After the wedding, we decided to take in some of the sights on our own.  The 75 minute Architectural boat tour down the historic Chicago River was definitely impressive.  We watched the iconic buildings glide by as the guide pointed out relevant facts and history. The water is the best vantage point to enjoy this city.

 

 

 

 

 

There’s just so much to see and do along the river.  The Riverwalk is an open uninterrupted pedestrian trail in Downtown Chicago.  Restaurants, cafes, bars and music cram this 1.25 mile area.  Day or night, this is a great place to hang out in the summer time.  When we visited many years ago, the Riverwalk did not exist.

 

 

 

Like we normally do, we rented an Airbnb for 4 days.  When we researched the area for points of interest and things to do, we read that Obama’s house was right in the neighborhood.  He lived in this house before his move to the White House.  We strolled around the area and found the house.

 

Chicago is also world renowned for its blues.  How could we leave the city without checking out one of the blues venues?  Bert did a bit of research and found a dive bar voted the best blues club on Chicago’s north side.   Check out B.L.U.E.S. on North Halstead.  Here’s a video clip to get you in the mood 🙂