New Year's Eve in Ak Park

 

This morning Travalon and I had a leisurely morning at our bed and breakfast, including taking a long walk in the neighborhood, then my uncle and aunt picked us up and drove us to the other side of Chicago, where we met another aunt and uncle, my cousin (their daughter), her husband, and her four kids for lunch. We had so much fun that we lingered there for hours. I was a bit confused when I first walked into the restaurant, since they don't take reservations and I was charged with finding us a large table, but the one that was the right size had a sign that said "reserved." However, a waitress saw my confusion and explained that it was reserved for any large group, and since we were exactly the right size group for the table, it was reserved for us. Perfect! Afterwards we drove back to Oak Park (or Ak Park, as the sign with the burned-out O said) with my uncle and aunt, and we hung out at their house for most of the evening. Travalon and I did take a twenty-minute walk in their neighborhood, since we had been sitting still so much today, and we passed a group of adults and little children counting down and then hollering, "Happy New Year!" I was confused, since it was a quarter to seven, so not even the New Year in another time zone. As we passed them, since they were standing right in the middle of the sidewalk, they wished us a Happy New Year so we replied in kind, and then they asked us if we wanted some mulled wine! Sure!! When we returned and told my uncle, he said, "I should have gone with you! I didn't know they were handing out drinks!" but neither did we. 

Here are some photos from around Ak Park. First is the living room at the bed and breakfast.

My uncle collects pigs. This one with a huge mouth just makes me laugh so much.

This fancy teak pig from Thailand looks like my Chinese zodiac sign.

Here are some photos of Christmas decorations in Ak Park.

When we got back to the neighborhood where our bed and breakfast is, I found this path of luminaries just down the sidewalk a couple of blocks away.

I also took a video of a cool Christmas decoration, but Blogspot is not letting me post it. Maybe I'll have more luck at home. Or maybe Blogspot just hates videos now. This one is five seconds long, so it can't be too large. 

I know people might think that we came to Chicago to have an exciting New Year's Eve downtown, and my uncle did say the 'L' runs for free tonight, but we are just watching the ball drop on TV and then going to bed. We want to get up early tomorrow and hopefully beat the storm home.

Famous Hat