midwest travels (and back again)

 my buddy, janet, invited me to visit her in chicago last month, and i bit.  

this was neve's first (memorable) plane ride.  there were some rapid heartbeats.

all in a day we took a 1. plane into midway, then a 2. train to downtown, then a 3. boat down the river (architect's tour!), and then 4. hoofed it to have dinner with our friend, nayt, and then a 5. taxi back downtown, and then an 6. elevator up to the top of the millennium building (poor man's sears tower), and finally 7. the train to indiana, where janet lives.  

dorothy (or dot) is still getting used to us.  and those lips?

we spent the following day at beverly shores (a place that deserves it's own blog post).

dorothy and neve, norway and italy.

they all played for hours, uninterrupted, while janet and i got caught up.

more with the lips.

they're even cuter from a distance.

you want this mask.  (search "horse head" in amazon.)

janet and john's house is so dreamy.

and back into the city...

but foggier and cooler than before.

and back onto the train.

the next day the whole group of us (minus john- wave to john) headed to birmingham, al.

we stopped in columbus, in, where we saw some beautiful architecture by mid-century designer, eero saarinen.  (not pictured.)

and then we headed for louiville, ky.

and passed some wind farms.

and then we stopped here.

obligatory kentucky blue grass photo for my father.

and then to memphis, by way of ancient greece.

oh, those faces!

only a mere 13 hours of harmonica-playing, snack-begging, potty-stopping car ride later we arrived at janet's dad's house in birmingham.  i love this place.

the kids set up rock and shell shops on the dock.

i creeped around his workshop, sneaking photos of his latest work- a dinghie!

and more handmade sailboats!  

bill even sews his own sails and makes these water bottles.  i'm so inspired when i visit.

i even love their decorative boats.  (i'm the creep who's photographing in the bathroom.)

and when we came home, we were eager to place our souvenirs on the mantel.  these rocks were gathered from beverly shores, from a wonderful visit with a wonderful friend.  it's your turn to come here, janet!