Cooler by the lake (Chicago weekend, 2).

After ingesting all sorts of tasty carbohydrates Saturday night, I knew I needed a kickass workout Sunday morning to counteract the effects the sushi and the ice cream must have done to my body. I say “must have” because for the first time in preparation for traveling since the type 2 diabetes diagnosis in 2005, I forgot to check how many test strips I had left before packing my blood glucose meter. Three. Strips. Are. All. I. Had.

You can be certain I will never again forget to figure out the status of test strip inventory before a trip, even a quick weekend trip like this one. (Did I absolutely need to test as someone managing type 2 diabetes with diet, exercise, and metformin? No. Do I like to know what kind of trends travel brings? Heck yeah.)

Anyways, on to the exercise…

While watching some of the Wimbledon men’s final, I kicked out fifty-five awesome minutes on the hotel elliptical. Then after visiting the Art Institute that afternoon, I walked briskly along two waterfronts for another couple miles – taking the Lakefront Trail from Monroe to Lower Wacker, switching over to the Riverwalk all the way to Dearborn near my hotel.

I did stop to take pictures, both on the way to the museum and on the long contrived way back to lodging.

Chicago Theater:

The credit card receipt may now read Macy’s, but it will always be Marshall Field’s to me:

Michigan Avenue entrance to the Art Institute:

Orchestra Hall, just across the avenue, where I attended a concert just for music students back in junior high:

The lakefront looking south towards the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum, with plenty of boats in Chicago Harbor:

The Chicago police helicopters patrolled the Harbor during the holiday weekend (looking north towards Navy Pier):

Not much else to say about the whirlwind weekend in Chicago. A lovely meal at a decent Italian restaurant near the hotel, followed by a quick soak in the hot tub, then ready for bed before the sun set. An absolutely perfect end to the short time in the Windy City, with nine hours of quality sleep before traveling back to Colorado.

(Entire Flickr set of photos here.)