I recently went on a long weekend trip to Chicago for my 35th Birthday, here is a summary of Day 4′s adventures – June 9, 2013 – my 35th birthday!

• Breakfast again was nice, and the CTA trips today as well – that’s pretty standard each day 🙂
• Attended church at Resurrection Lutheran Church with Ann.
  • What an absolutely wonderful service. I love my church, but the way their services are done, aren’t quite what I really enjoy.
  • This had everything – wonderful organ and piano music.
  • All the parts of a traditional service.
  • The Great Thanksgiving was sung!
  • Great hymns, including my favorite (or one of them) communion songs “I Am the Bread of Life”.
  • Just wonderful.
• After church Ann and I went to a little Mexican restaurant she knows and likes for lunch.
  • Very nice staff and great food.
  • When the topic of dessert came up, Ann mentioned it was my birthday, so the waiter said he’d bring out a piece of cake.
  • And out comes the cake – which was absolutely delicious – and a shot of tequila. So of course I ate the cake and did the shot!
• I then went to the Lincoln Park Zoo and had a great time.
  • I was a little rushed, because my OCD for completeness kicked in and felt compelled to see everything.
  • What a wonderful asset for Chicagoland – a zoo that is free of charge.
  • I of course felt guilty using it without paying, so I was relieved to find a places to put a donation in.
• I then traveled to go to Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria to meet up with Karen.
  • Went to have true Chicago deep dish pizza and to
  • Catch up with her – seeing how we haven’t seen each other since college!
  • It was a great time, and of course she mentioned that it was my birthday, so got a little freshly baked cookie with ice cream, whipped cream, and a cherry on top.
  • It was wonderful.
  • Karen was then nice enough to drive me to a nearby Blue Line station, so I didn’t have to walk to catch a bus to the train.
• Got back to my hotel earlier than any other evening, and relaxed in my room a bit and did some stuff on the computer.
• Then I walked to Dairy Queen to get a S’Mores blizzard as another birthday treat.
• I called mom and dad (since I can call long distance to their landline, but they can’t call long distance on it) to talk to them for my birthday.
• I then and went and used the pool and hot tub, came back and used the whirlpool in my room – got it as a cheap upgrade to my room, so figured I should use it at least once!
• Oh – and the icing on the cake for the day – was yellow. This isn’t the cake I had at lunch – it was on a cupcake. In my hotel room when I got back, with a birthday card signed by the staff here at the hotel. What a wonderful surprise to find!!!! This is a top-notch hotel!
• One more day of adventures to this weekend!