Friends Visiting

It has been a fun and busy start to September... and here we are looking at the first day of fall. Where has the summer gone?

I had a friend, Laetitia, from South Africa visiting and she brought along one of her friends, Ilette, as

well. Laetitia and I were in the Jacaranda Quilt Guild together and were members of a home group (bee) that met just about every week in the evenings. I collected them at O'Hare on Saturday and from there we visited a Quilt Shop. Quiltfabric.com, one of my favorites when I lived there, and I always try to stop in for a visit when in town. I love the huge selection of batiks!! We made a stop at a retailer for some necessities and then dinner at Portillos, burgers and beer long what could be better after a long flight? Does Laetitia look happy and excited?

The following day we did Chicago. We did a lot of walking. Navy Pier, caught a lake tour boat, and we saw one of the tall ships sailing about as well.


We then took a friends suggestion and made our way to the Chicago Cultural Center, which had escaped my notice ... when I lived here. There are 2 dome rooms, one on the north end of the building and the one we wanted to see the Preston Bradley Hall with the Tiffany Dome is on the south end. The Mosaic is absolutely stunning and worth the few minutes it takes to visit it. My photos are not the best. I had the zoom lens and it does not do so well in low light, but this will give you an idea....  those tiles are about 1/2 inch square, so there are millions of them.... and many of them glitter too.

We next walked across the street and spent a few minutes under the trees listening to the Jazz Festival music and viewing some of the artists on our way to 'Cloudgate' otherwise known as the BEAN. I have never seen so many people at the bean. I have even  been there when, the only reflection has been us, no other people on the square!!! It was very very busy... and I forgot to mention HOT in Chicago.

Our next stop was the Buckingham Fountain, which was under renovation when I came in the past and you would think I would take a picture of it.... nope... We continued our walking tour... on down to the Field Museum and then along the waterfront back to the car.

It was a long day, and we packed a lot into it.

I will share more in the next few days.... More for sure Beth

Arlington National Cemetery

Yesterday we took a trip to the Arlington National Cemetery for 2 reasons. One we live here and it would be a shame to have not visited this place where our Veterans are buried. Arlington is one of  131 National Cemeteries in the US…

It would have been a more spectacular photo opportunity last week when there was snow… but the graves and wreaths have just as much impact without the snow. Sadly, only a small percentage of the markers get wreaths, there are many more graves that are not presented with a wreath, here and in other National Cemeteries. I must say thank you to the companies that supply the wreaths, the companies that ship them and the volunteers that place them. I hope next year I can volunteer… it would be my honor to honor our hero's!

There are more than 250000 military graves at Arlington Cemetery. But there are also family members buried here as well making the total closer to 400000 graves. Along with the plain headstones, there are many that are larger and more prominent. In some cases, the headstone marks more than one grave, (a soldiers wife or child/children) are also marked and added to the back of the smaller stones. There is a fact sheet about the Cemetery here if you are interested in more information.

Among the memorials; we visited the Kennedy Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Challenger Memorial. We also saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A very sobering sight!

We had to leave after only 2 hours, as sometime in the last week I did something to my left knee… I suspect it is all the stairs in this house, but the walking… did me in. I did think to take ice with us… so I iced it all the way home. I think a doctor is in my near future….

More later- Beth