we ride bikes

Nothing says "holiday weekend" quite like a long bike ride! This morning, Mike and I made the trek into Chicago at an incredibly early hour to Bike the Drive. This 30-mile ride goes up and down Lake Shore Drive, which is closed to auto traffic just for this one morning each year. It was really interesting to see how the Loop has changed (most notably with the Trump building) and to revisit my old neighborhood up at Bryn Mawr. And the views going back south toward the Loop were just incredible: Lake Michigan on one side, parks and Lincoln Park Zoo on the other, and the skyline spread out in front of us.




I wish I could say that the ride south of the Loop was as interesting, but I'd by lying. Once we got past the Field Museum and Soldier Field, it was really kind of boring until we got down to the Museum of Science and Industry. The last leg of the ride, north from the Museum of Science and Industry to Grant Park, was the easiest segment (thankfully, because our butts were pretty sore by that point!), and the view got interesting again once we were back in view of the lake. After we finished, we braved the crowds at the post-race festival only long enough to pick up our t-shirts, then we got out of there and started the drive home to pick up the boys, who stayed happily at Yami and Papaw's house, and spent their time shopping, playing, and getting good and dirty helping with the gardening. So far, it's been a great holiday weekend for us all!