A Beautiful Spring Day

On Saturday, Dave and I spent our one-year anniversary wandering around Chicago like tourists.  First stop, Vosges Chocolates in the Nordstrom mall on Michigan Ave.  The naga bar is superb, absolutely smooth milk chocolate spiked with sweet Indian curry powder.  The trick is to let a piece of chocolate sit on your tongue for just a bit, so the heat of your mouth warms the chocolate and the flavors fill your mouth.  It’s the kind of taste that is very subtle, then after you swallow, pow!  It hits you, and days later, you still remember the flavor.

We enhanced the experience by simultaneously browsing the Lego Store.  Huge fun.  They even had a Lego chef outfit that I’ll have to remember come Halloween.  And, a whole buffet of colorful Lego blocks!  You can purchase a single piece, or a whole collection!  I’m not really sure what you can do with an assortment of random Lego pieces,  but just running my fingers over the nubbies, I was brought back to childhood, when you could build things without purpose.  I am in serious need of some regression…

We continued walking down Michigan Ave to check out the Urban Garden Show in Grant Park.  It was pretty interesting, as different landscapers displayed their interpretations of an urban garden, meaning, very little grass.  Instead of grass, we saw moss, wood decks, concrete, dry stone riverbeds, etc.  The same feeling prevailed through each exhibit though…tranquil, lounge-y, pseudo-Asian.  I guess the idea is to counterbalance the hustle and bustle of the city with quiet minimalism.  The best part was how Dave unintentionally got us in the back door, thus bypassing the $12 admission fee.  No wonder I love that man.

The next stop on our mini-tour was Navy Pier to hitch a ride on the SeaDog.  I was so excited, as I’ve often seen the bright yellow speedboat racing through the waters, spray everywhere!  We took the 30-minute Lake Tour, which went south to look at Museum Campus (Sky, Ocean, Land = Adler, Shedd, Field museums); then zip zip zip, up north to look at North Ave. Beach; then zoom, zoom, zoom, out west to look at nothing before heading back into dock.  Very fun!  Kind of makes you want to go out and buy enough Legos to make your very own speedboat. 

Such a nice day.  Topped off by a great picnic on the floor at home, with candles.  Perfect.