Chicago and that's a wrap.

After 5 fabulous day in Paducah, we caught our flight back to Chicago. The flight was only 1 hour from Paducah to Chicago. Monday we booked the river architectural tour, which departs at 12md and usually lasts for 90 mins. It was a glorious day, 85 Fahrenheit. A pity as I did not dress for the weather and was very hot. The cruise was interesting and until you do this cruise, you do not notice the differences in the designs of the buildings which are not evident until it is pointed out. 

The docent was very informative.

Our ferry.

The Michigan Mile, looks lovely with all the tulips in bloom.

The gates to the bridge, on the Michigan Mile.

We walked the mile, did not do any shopping, as my bags were already overweight.

The modern, Trump Tower.

The Art Deco buildings, This was the Nathan Hale building.

The echo deco, this building was apparently made famous by The Blues Brother film,

Great skyline.

After our cruise we walked down to the navy pier, lots of entertainment for children and numerous eating places, you certainly would not starve in Chicago, it is inundated with places to eat.

The next couple of days in Chicago was quite cold, 40 Fahrenheit, so out with the winter woollies.

The cloud gate, aptly,  nicknamed the bean is located in the Millenium park.

We walked around the park, visited the art gallery and also the Crown Fountain, which only operates in summer, as a fountain, the faces still change, but no water spurts from the mouth.

This whole area is usually under water in the summer.

We visited the war memorial we visited on Anzac Day 

Robert Morris, George Washinton and Hahm Solomon.

Maybe Chicago Fire, I did not see Kelly or Jessie, LOL

Chicago Bulls !

Is this the biggest Golden Arches you have ever seen.!

When we were sightseeing in Chicago we came upon a funny sight, is this what you call bumper to bumper parking LOL.

That ends our tour of Chicago, a very active 5 days. It is now time to go home to the land of Oz. 

We did manage to try Chicagos famous pie pizza as well as some whoopie pies, until next time, USA

Flight home was 19hrs flying time, 4 1/2 hrs from Chicago to San Francisco, then 14 1/2 hrs from San Francisco to Sydney. 

Time for some R & R before our next adventure.

Relaxation after some heavy retail therapy and a dedication.

After some very involved retail therapy for a couple of days, it was time to relax a little, Tony and Elva were very keen to take us on an expedition into the lakes district and countryside. DH and I were eager to participate in this little adventure as well. On Saturday we all set off for the Land between the lakes, after a visit to Walmart, as my youngest son Alex requested Jiffs peanut butter and some butterfingers we went o Walmart to stock up. Little did I realise that Walmart stocked fabric, so a quick shop turned into a couple of hours, my fault!

 A lot of goodies purchased, as well as some fabric.

A little delay, but off we set for the lake, Tony and Elva took us the long way round to the lake as they were being the perfect hosts and wanted to show us as much of the countryside as they could, it would normally take 25 mins to drive to the lake, but as we had a couple of stops on the way, we arrived 2 1/2hrs later.

One of our first stops was the Grand River quilt show.

Whilst Elva and I looked at the quilts, the boys went antique shopping, on a quest for our daughter in law- no luck.

Some nice quilts on display

This was interesting, quilt below

War times certainly does have some great stories.

This was my viewers choice.

A close up of the embroidery.

There was a miniature house / home challenge as well.

First prize.

After the quilt show we visited a Sanctuary for Bison and Elk, we were fortunate enough to see both as well as wild turkey. Thank you Tony for your perfect photos.

Wild turkey

BIson

A herd of Bison

Even a number of babies

Elk

Another stop on the way, don't you just love American decorating styles.

I found some little treasures in here.

On the way to the land between the lakes we stopped to get some lunch at Belews, this was quite a novelty, you do not get out of your car, it is curb side service and I must say, it sold the best southern fried chicken.

We finally arrived at the lake, AHHHH ! the serenity, we had lunch, and set up chairs to enjoy the scenery.

Had some visitors as well.

Chillaxing!

A very enjoyable day, was had by all.

Sunday, was our quite day and time to pack and see what overall damage that I had done with excess luggage.

My fabric stash and some extras

Walmart even had goop and the glue that I use, happy days

More fabric off course and some minature resin antlers.

Embroidery bits

Stencils, all in all a great time was had by me....

Let me share this morsel, with you, bought by Elva,for us said to be the best apple fritter that you can try, and I must say it was good, but you only need a small amount, very sweet and very moorish.

This ends our time in Paducah and I must say DH and I, had the most amazing time, we felt that we were blessed with our host's Tony and Elva, when we first met it was like we had been friends for years and we all just clicked. Our accomadation felt like home and we were very grateful for the extras tagged onto our stay, my every whim was catered too, transportation provided and a debt of gratitude to Elva for taking time away from work, to be available for us, a couple of Aussies a long way from home. Thank you for introducing your family and friends to us, we were made to feel so welcome and all that you did, was very much appreciated. Distance may divide us, but enduring friendship will prevail, this post is dedicated to you both, a heartfelt thank you and God bless.

Chilling in Paducah

On our exploration of the town on Friday, DH and I discovered some wonders and just enjoyed strolling  about the streets . Popping into antique shops and discovering what Paducah had on offer, in quilt week.

We hitched a ride around town with a horse and cart, transport provided for quilt week.

For some reason, our driver, offered for DH to stay with him for the day, I think that he felt sorry for DH, with me dragging him around town and  into the shops.

We did visit a moonshine place.

A perfect photo opportunity as well.

Walking around town is quite interesting, signs are all over the shops, welcoming quilters, there was even free lemonade for the quilters.

Lots of art work and the shops are competive with window displays, quilts are heavily featured and there is even prizes for the best window display.

Lots of art displayed.

Other means of transport.

A visit to the quilt museum, no photos allowed inside the museum.

A lot of bronze statues adorn the town.

We walked along the Ohio River and the flood wall, there was a great flood in 1937 and again in 2003. The town is surrounded by the flood walls as well as levees that circle the town. The flood walls have the most interesting murals painted on them.

The paintings depict typical life in Paducah, past and present.

Paducah has all these wonderful historical plaques all over the town.

In the afternoon Tony and Elva picked us up and we had a nice stroll along the river and enjoyed a photo shot along the wall as well as with the steam engine.

A little history of the 1937 flood.

Watch this space....more soon.