Time with Friends - Midwest Meanderings Part III

Since it didn’t take all day and I wasn’t all tuckered out, I was up for more fun after the triathlon. Edie, Julia and I went to Arlington Racetrack. We’d done this before – but could it be that we haven’t been with Julia since she was in a stroller? And this year she had her bat mitzvah? Time does fly! It’s always fun to go to the racetrack with Edie, though this time I didn’t quite break even. I cashed tickets in a few races though, and cheered anyway. That night, I had Indian food with Helen while Edie and family went out.


The next morning, I went with Edie and her family to do Maot Chitim – delivering holiday food to poor (mostly elderly, mostly immigrant) Jewish families. A mitzvah! And then I took them out to brunch – chilaquiles too far away, but always good to try new places. We went to M. Henry in Andersonville, a good brunch place. I used to go out early when I went out for breakfast; beat the rush and all that – but there’s a reason brunch is popular. It’s a good thing!

And then we had the rarest of afternoons – just hanging out! Edie did yard work and I watched, and we both sat for a while. I took her bike out for a little spin – hadn’t had enough the day before! – and then Edie, Fred and I went to Foster Avenue beach for a little swim (ditto - but note, I didn’t go out for another run…). And we went to their new favorite ice cream place in Lincoln Square. That area is hopping!

The next morning, I had coffee at Starbucks with Joanne, did more hanging out with Edie and Julia, went for a massage (another thing I try to do when I go to Chicago – you develop relationships, you know?) and then it was on to the Twin Cities! Last year, during the Drive Across America, I returned a car in Chicago and picked up another when I was ready to drive east. But while I was in Chicago, I took Amtrak to Minneapolis and back! Since I had already done the train ride, and since time was short, and since Southwest is flying to Minneapolis now and air fares were low, I flew!


Paul and Tom have made some changes since I was there last – they’re in the middle of a major, major landscaping project. And Paul hadn’t told me about it. In Morocco and in the Philippines, I emailed friends often and called occasionally. But their garden-in-progress was a reminder of how much I had missed, that while I was off having adventures, friends were living their lives. Even in the U.S. I miss things, with friends spread out across the country – but somehow on that day the garden embodied all of the opportunity cost. I didn’t have time to process the monumentality of this, though – we went to downtown Minneapolis to see Twins Around Town, a version of Cows on Parade with ballplayers decorated for each year of the Twins’ existence. Nicely done – and it was nice just to go downtown, which we haven’t done a lot. We dined al fresco at an excellent restaurant called Vincent, which will get honorable mention for Best Dinner of 2010 if it’s not the outright winner.