Sunday, May 31, 2009

Bye-Bye Chicago!

Spring Fling 2009 is history, sadly. But oh, what a wonderful fun filled few days it was! Meeting the people behind the blogs was the very best part for me. And then it was a tie for second favorite-the beautiful gardens and the fabulous food. :)

Rose and I drove up, with her doing an awesome job of managing the traffic in Chicago. I was the navigator and for the most part, I didn't get us lost. We found our hotel and had the car parked, enjoying the curbside valet service and bell persons to help us with our luggage. We are both not morning people and opted for the later activities of the three days. This post will be a very abbreviated synopsis of our itinerary. In later posts, I hope to share more photos and tell a little more of the great bloggers we met. Plus, I intend to go into more detail about all the places and gardens we saw.

Friday, we (Rose and I and a few others) went to the Chicago Botanical Gardens on the later train. To do these gardens justice, you would have to spend days there.

Tree Peony, or the triplets!

Hill sides of poppies, or Heaven!

Waiting at the Glencoe station to go back to the city. It was raining.


Sunny in the city. The Lurie Gardens.


Friday night reception. Rose and I did a lot of talking.



Saturday lunch at Andersonville. FABULOUS!!!



A most unusual iris at Carolyn Gail's gorgeous garden


Frances taking a picture of a butterfly on my bag with butterflies
on her hand and flying toward her!


Again, we are eating! Saturday evening at the best Chicago style pizzeria.



Sunday morning at the 'bean' in Millennium Park



We were such tourists!




Bye-Bye Chicago. Buffalo here we come!

26 comments:

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

I'm so glad you both had a good time in Chicago, and I'm glad I got to finally meet you. I think I'm not going to eat anything for 3 days after all that food.

Robin's Nesting Place said...

Looks like you all had a great time! Love the poppies!

Morning Glories in Round Rock said...

Loved the butterflies--amazing. It sounds like a good time was had by all.

Rose said...

What a wonderful time we had, Beckie! I agree meeting other bloggers was the best part. Now I'm definitely going to have to go on a diet after all that food. Of course, I think we did walk off some of those calories:) I'm amazed you had the energy to post tonight!

Jan said...

I'm so glad you were able to attend and had a blast, at that;=) Perhaps one day we'll meet at one of these 'extravaganzas', you just never know! I love that photo of you and Rose, 'chatting it up'!!

Kathleen said...

oh that looks like so much fun. I'm glad you could go Beckie and enjoy it. I hope some year I can join in too.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Beckie, this is a great synopsis of the trip. It was such great fun.

Roses and Lilacs said...

Those poppies are real show stoppers. It's wonderful you all had such a good trip.
Marnie

Cheryl said...

Dear Beckie....I am so pleased that you enjoyed your trip. I thought of you all having fun and sharing lunch together. Laughter now doubt was on the menu.

The poppies are indeed heaven on earth....after seeing the display I am thinking of planting a bed of poppies next year. Thank you for the inspiration.....

Mr P and I visited Chicago a few years ago now....we were on a fly drive holiday and only stayed a couple of nights. It is a great city.....

So glad you had fun and just love the tree peony.....beautiful.....

Gail said...

Dear Beckie, What a delight it was to spend time laughing with you and Rose...please do come to Nashville; we will have so much fun. I am worn out from the good time we had...and you've captured the whole long weekend wonderfully....It did seem like a lot of eating happened! The visit to the butterfly house was relaxing after a day of be-bopping all over the city!

Gail

Wendy said...

Oh Becky I am so happy for you! It looked like such a fun trip! The tree peonies are gorgeous. Poppies heaven and the butterflies - wow!! Thanks for sharing your pics with us.

Food and laughter is so much a part of the trip. Great memories to remember this winter when we're stuck indoors. It must have been awesome to visit bloggers face to face. One day...

Pam/Digging said...

Beckie, I enjoyed talking with you and Rose during our car ride to Rich's on Thursday. Wasn't Chicago in spring marvelous? Lucky you to live close enough to visit more often.

Frances said...

Hi Beckie, meeting you and Rose was a real treat for me. Just like a traveling comedy act, (spelled correctly this time, Rose). The drive back from Barrington was a laugh a minute, just like the upper deck train ride. Thanks for the link and photo of the butterflies, that was certainly a high point of many. You are right about all the eating too! Great photos by the way. :-)
Frances

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you & Rose and all the others had a wonderful time in Chicago. Hopefully next year I will be able to attend so I can meet all you sweet bloggers myself. :)

joey said...

Sounds like the perfect adventure for Thelma & Louise ... so happy you had a wonderful time (thought of you both often, thinking how fun to finally meet ... perhaps next year)!

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hi again. I will be dividing iris in a couple weeks. Would you like some? I have white, black, yellow and an interesting lavender striped. I can send an assortment.
Marnie

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

Hi Beckie, I enjoyed meeting you and Rose so much and enjoyed chatting with you at dinner on Saturday. I'm definitely going back to the ChiBot myself--I go at least once a year!

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

I forgot to add, I'm so glad you got a good shot of the tree peonies--I really loved the color, but mine ended up blurred for some reason (=user error!).

Layanee said...

Beckie it was a joy to meet both you and rose. What fun we all had at the event. Rose is a treasure and seeing your pictures brings back the spirit of the weekend.

Q said...

Looks as if you had a fantastic time! The butterflies are lovely!
Sherry

lazyclick said...

The flower snaps are beautiful

Christopher C. NC said...

Beckie it was so nice to meet you and Rose and spend some time on the bus chatting. I'm still sorting through all my pictures of such a fantastic weekend while I try to visit all the blogs.

Naturegirl said...

What a wonderful trip you had! Loved the image of all the butterflies!It surely is a treat meeting bloggers in the flesh and sharing such a memorable experience!

Susie said...

Girl I know you guys had a great time!How fun that you got to meet up with some bloggers.

I enjoyed your photos much!

Sweet Home and Garden Carolina said...

It was so nice to welcome you to my garden, Beckie. Loved your blog and the nice photos.

Glad you enjoyed the Chicago Spring Fling.

beckie said...

Thank you all for your generaous comments. I feel bad that I have not answered each one, but be assured I have read and enjoyed them. I just can't seem to find the time to get all done that I want.

I am still working in the gardens and have a few plants that need homes. I have had a BUSY weekend with the granddaughters here and now have a bad cold!

Hopefully,(I keep saying this)I can get back on track soon. Take care all and know that I am reading your posts, just not finding the time to comment on as many as I would like.