Summer Vacation 2014

My daughter, Melody, and I have been home from our big Summer vacation to Chicago, Milwaukee, Baraboo, Madison, Route 66, St. Louis, Louisville, and Point Pleasant.  It was an incredible and memorable trip, and I want to focus on parts of it in the next several blog entries.  We took plenty of pictures, and visited lots of sites.  Melody, the list maker (just like her dear ol' Daddio), provided the following list of places we visited along the way:

Our Summer 2014 Trip:

7/10:•Steelers Penguins HQ in Breezewood, PA•Dinner at Max & Erma's in Cranberry, PA•Stayed the night at a Comfort Suites in Toledo, Ohio

7/11:•Breakfast at Big Boy•Lunch in Chicago with Gwynn at The Ram, Rosemont, IL•Checked in at the InterContinental in Rosemont, Illinois•Checked in at G-Fest XXI at Crowne Plaza•Japanese Store•Lou Malnati's•Back to G-Fest•Hotel

7/12:•Denny's for breakfast•G-Fest•Chicago Fire Grill for lunch•More G-Fest•Back to InterContinental for a nap•Back to G-Fest for the Costume Parade•The absolutely AMAZING concert at the Pickwick theater for Ifukube 100•In rain, went to White Castle for a really late dinner•Back to hotel

7/13:•Denny's again•G-Fest•Awards Banquet for lunch•Left G-Fest•Drove to Milwaukee•Saw Bronze Fonz•Dinner at España & Tapas House in Milwaukee, IL•Back to hotel in Gurnee, IL

7/14:•To Six Flags Great America•Found out that Macy was gone•Left Six Flags•Dinner at Giordano's•Drove to Madison, Wisconsin•Stayed at a Sleep Inn, Madison, WI

7/15:•Stopped at the Mouse House Cheesehaus•Ate cheese curds :3•Circus World in Baraboo, WI•The Log Cabin Restaurant for lunch, Baraboo, WI•Drove a long way!!•Stopped at Walmart•Steak 'N Shake for dinner in Normal, IL•Stayed at Comfort Suites, Normal, IL

7/16:•Car Wash•Route 66•Stopped at Towanda, Illinois•"Dead Man's Curve"•Funks Grove Sirup•Dixie Truckers Home•Stopped in Atlanta, Illinois•Saw giant Paul Bunyan•Lunch at Palm's Grill Café•Route 66 Trading Post (or something like that)•Giant wagon Lincoln, Lincoln, IL•Ghost Bridge hike o.o•Pig Hip Monument•Springfield, Illinois•Lincoln's Tomb•Cozy Dog•No more Route 66 >:O (lol joking); Drove to St. Louis•Find parking for the Arch and walked 18 blocks to the Arch just to find out that it's sold out!•Ted Drewes (too crowded!)•Imo's Pizza•Holiday Inn Express for the night in St. Louis

7/17:•Six Flags St. Louis•Ted Drewes Frozen Custard•Fazzoli's•Drove to Mt. Vernon, Illinois•Holiday Inn for the night

7/18:•Drove to Santa Claus, Indiana•Went to the Christmas store•Ate lunch at the Brick Oven Pizza•Drove to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory Tour in Louisville, Kentucky•Stopped at Ginza Of Tokyo for dinner near Lexington, KY•Drove to Gallipolis, Ohio across the Ohio River from the "Mothman" at Point Pleasant, WV•Stayed at a Quality Inn

7/19:•Drove to the Moth Man statue in Point Pleasant, West Virginia•Went to a gift shop for t-shirts•Went to an antique store•Went to the Moth Man museum•Went to the wild and crazy Hillbilly Hot Dogs in Lesage, WV•Drove back to Maryland•Stopped at Hilltop Fruit Market, Grantsville, MD•Dinner at Ruby Tuesdays, LaVale, MD•Drove home

That was the whole trip, with all of the stops along the way.  We had a really great time, and we're so thankful for God's protection, safety, our health, and fun in the adventures we encountered.

Have a great evening, everyone!