#Chicago

It has been a long time since I've blogged, but I wanted to share a milestone of my 20 "Sweet" 16! Jason and I had the privilege of taking a road trip to see my brother and his family in July. The Bible reminds us in Proverbs 30:25 that the ant prepares for the winter in the summer. With that being said, we planned strategically on one income in advance with incorporating coupons for restaurants, we purchased our snacks at my favorite place in the world #Dollar Tree and we purchased gas using fuel points. Another traveling nugget we discovered was to bring coins for toll bridges and to get the free fuel point cards that gas stations in other states offer to new customers. In terms of traveling with money, we each carried a portion of cash and we only kept a small balance on our debit cards just in case heaven forbid we lost them or they were stolen. Upon our arrival into Chicago, we were engulfed with the dynamic melting pot of culture, food, and most importantly HISTORY! Our first day was spent touring the University of Chicago, famous architecture sites such as "Ebony" headquarters and an exhibit of the Great Migration of African-Americans from the South migrating to Chicago. I had a moment when I saw the Ebony building because my grandmother was a faithful subscriber and I grew up reading all of their issues. Such a special moment! The evening of our first day was spent on an architecture boat tour throughout the entire city where we had an architect retiree lecture us on every building on Lake Michigan. It was absolutely breathtaking and we were blessed to tour it for FREE! #Favor The next few days were spent attending the famous #TasteofChicago (taste-testing all of the local shops and restaurant foods) for very reasonable prices! My favorite foods were the #Giordano Pizza, jerk chicken and funnel cake. Delish! Throughout the week, we toured the exclusive malls and shops on Michigan Avenue and famous food places such as, Maxwell Street Polishes, Garrett's Popcorn and Harold's Fried Chicken. We also toured exclusive high risers and attended our very first #WhiteSox game! The people were very friendly and had a captivating contagious spirit for their love of Chicago. Having the privilege of staying in #HydePark  we were in walking distance to President and First Lady Obama's home as well as the homes of Muhammad Ali, Louis Farrakhan, and Roebuck (co-founder of Sears and Roebuck) who I also discovered was a Black man! We also saw Jennifer Hudson's home and Oprah's high rise building where she lived during her time in Chicago. We visited the beautiful famous landmark Navy Pier where my brother treated us to a two hour yacht tour and party on Lake Michigan that took us throughout the city at sunset! Our final days were spent eating and did I say eating...LOL and spending time with my sweet nephew Jameson and their neighbors who were also from the South. We ended the week in worship at New Life Covenant Church with Pastor John Hannah. I encourage you all to travel as your schedule permits and your finances allow. It was such an amazing trip and a lasting experience! To sum up my experience, Oprah Winfrey penned it best, "My first day in Chicago...I set foot in this city, and just walking down the street, it was like roots, like the motherland. I knew I belonged here."