Chicago Thanksgiving 2024

For our fourth Thanksgiving together Liz and I were blessed to celebrate our first Oak Park Thanksgiving. We drove out Tuesday night and everyone was up and at ‘em Wednesday morning to start the day with a downtown adventure. It was time for Liz to have her first Au Cheval meal!

For “lunch” (it was 10am) instead of the famous burger I had my first bologna sandwich and it was quite the initiation. The table also dined like wolves on an order of marrow bones and several platters of bacon and a couple burgers were ordered on hash-buns.

Post-lunch we had a nice West Loop (or Fulton Market?) walk-around followed by a Loop walk around with some international McDonalds, donuts, shopping and a winter market mixed in their too. And do not fret about the tacos being sold out, the Edwardses hooked us up with some from the day before!

That night we all went to see Wicked and boy it was a hit! Such a big hit that we took a group photo in front of the poster afterwards!

Thanksgiving! The family decided this year it would be fair to have a great Italian feast (a Franksgiving, if you would) and Liz and Mom and me were down in the kitchen by 6am to get it going. Don’t feel bad (at least for me), this was my dream! I don’t have a lot of pictures of the cooking because, well, I was cooking. But here I am with my timeline and recipes taped to the wall.

In a slow bit while everything was simmering Liz and I went to River Forest to walk around Dominican Priory and Concordia College — both institutions might have different names now but that’s what I remember them being when I lived there.

And then…dinner time! Here are some photos of the food, and then us at the table, and then Cornelius up to what he was up to.

And then that night we went and saw The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and this time I have a picture of a picture in front of the poster!

On Friday we all visited Mom and Dad at their job and then got Paradise Pup for lunch. Post lunch Liz and I took a walk around Oak Park.

That night we had our second feast of the holiday at Superkhana International, what a great place that place is! And what sports they were about our big party.

After dinner? A little family photo shoot in front of the restaurant’s floral curtain before a bit of downtown Chicago driving.

Saturday the Edwards flew home (booo!) and Liz and I had breakfast at the Bongo Room. Instead of waiting an hour after for all the stores of Wicker Park to open, we walked the 3’ish miles to the Sears Tower and went up to its observation deck. How fun!

Then we walked on back to Wicker Park (or Wicker Park-ish) and did some “shopping”, celebrated that there’s a Baggu in Chicago now, then headed home for a Johnnie’s supper.

And then Sunday we drove back to Columbus after having had such a nice and lovely Chicago time! (I was wearing a mask because I had just caught a real rotten cold and didn’t want to get Liz sick in the car, which we were about to drive off in.)