Oak Park,IL For The Weekend With The Gills

Evie, With Her Sister Elaine, Her Daughter, Kianna. 

I am the first one up, and it's 6:30 on a gray and wet Sunday here in Oak Park.  As I sit here finishing this, it's now 7:40, and I have fed the cat Itchy, let him out and in, and finally someone, Elaine is also up with me.  It looks like another gray day, the third in a row for our trip, highs in the 40's perhaps.

We left Euclid around 7:30, in freezing rain for the first two hours at least, but the roads, though wet, did not seem to have frozen although our windshield did.  It started to clear up some, still gray but not as dark, as we were nearing Toledo thank goodness.  It was not a fun six hour plus ride but, fortunately, we did not hit much traffic until we were almost in downtown Chicago, where we took the Eisenhower west out to Oak Park.  In fact, the Eisenhower was the most busy of all the roads.

Aloha Chicago

We arrived at Elaine and Jim's home around 1:30, just as they got home from shopping, good timing. Elaine was making a vegetable stew, so we all ended up in the kitchen, talking and deciding what       we were going to do for dinner.  By 3:00, Evie and Elaine were off to do some shopping at Costco, picking up things for dinner as well as the week and then picked up Kianna at gymnastics.  While they shopped, Jim took me out and let me drive his Chevy Volt, an electric car.  It drove amazingly well, a great pick up, and of course, quiet. For just driving around town, less than say forty miles in a day, this is the perfect car.  He also let me drive his Prius, which seems more utilitarian but gets great mileage, is perfect for both trips as well as driving around town.  And I was quite comfortable in both.

Alex, Elaine, and Kianna

The suburb of Oak Park is quite chic, a bustling, thriving town about ten miles from Chicago, twenty minutes by train.  It's downtown is filled with cool shops, stores, restaurants, coffee shops, all the kinds of thing you might want in a village.  Jim and Elaine live about a mile or two from the town center, on a street filled with Arts and Crafts homes.  Their home was completely updated in the Arts and Crafts style, with amazing stained glass windows, built in cupboards,  by the the previous owner, a perfectionist fortunately.  Most of their furniture is in the Mission style, emphasizing horizonals and verticals, the chairs and tables made of oak.  It's the style Evie and I love as well, and wish we could have brought more of it to our house in Chautauqua.  We have one Morris chair which, however, is uncomfortable so we have it in the attic, alas.

Vintage Stained Glass Windoes

Dining Room Window/Backyard

When Evie and Elaine returned, Elaine and her daughter Kianna put together a cheesecake for dessert, and made up some bruschetta for an appetizer.  Everyone was hungry by 5:30, so we all relaxed in the living room, enjoying our toasts with a glass of wine, picked up at Costco, where else. Dinner was great, stuffed shells and turkey meatballs, and great bread from the local artisan bakery. Their son, Alex, a twenty year old, having spent a gap year in Australia, regaled us with stories and jokes.  And Kianna is the perfect audience for his jokes, as she can rarely stop laughing.  A great family.

Dinner In Their Arts and Crafts Dining Room

In the evening, Elaine and I sat back and talked, while Alec, Kianna and Evie played a game called Clue.  Not sure what it's about but I thing it involves figuring out who the murderer may be from the various 'clues.'

Le Chat, Itchy