I got the opportunity to take the Scotty B origin tour in late September! We took a road trip up to Chicago and spent several days seeing the sights and catching up with Scott’s friends. Scott, as well as his friends, kept reiterating that we were catching Chicago at its best in regards to weather, as the brutal cold and gloomy gray would find its way to the city in just a few short weeks.
Our first stop was outside of St. Louis, in O’Fallon, Illinois, where we detoured to see Scott’s college roommate Mike Lobstein. He hosted us for the evening and it was fun seeing his house (across from the obligatory Midwestern cornfields) and all his woodworking and computer projects. He and Scott have many similar hobbies and interests and it was fun watching the longtime friends catch up. We went to dinner at a local brewery and restaurant that was in a beautiful old mill building. Our after dinner field trip was to Menard’s, a monolithic superstore of superstores, that combines elements of Costco, and home improvement giants Lowes or Home Depot. I was mesmerized by the scope and vastness of the building and its inventory. We came out of it lugging giant bags of various candy, me starry-eyed from the experience.
The next morning we headed out to see the Arch and to do the Anheuser-Busch brewery tour. I was in heaven with both the beer and the iconic Clydesdales. It also brought back fond childhood memories of the Busch Gardens theme park when I lived in Williamsburg, VA… when I was too young to appreciate the overwhelming yet delicious smell of beer being brewed but was obsessed with seeing the Clydesdales! The Arch was more impressive in person than any picture can do it justice and we marveled at its engineering, design, and stature. On our way north to the Chicago suburbs we stopped by Edwardsville, IL for me to see the Southern Illinois University campus, the college Scott went to.
Buffalo Grove, IL, home to Scott’s longtime friends Al and Bobbi Lisse, was our next stop. I had met Al several times before but this was my first time meeting his wife Bobbi. They were so welcoming and I felt right at home and enjoyed watching Scott pick right back up where he last left off with them. They are more like family than just friends.
We ventured into the city of Chicago via commuter train the next day, me getting to experience a taste of the commute that Scott had once routinely done. I can see the appeal of the train after I saw what traffic was like and Scott’s cat nap as soon as we sat down seemed like another perk of this form of transportation. I was filled with questions about the city and it’s sights as we got closer to it and Scott’s reply to many of my inquires was “I don’t know, Google it”, and that response soon became a running joke in which I said he was a crappy tour guide and I was going to leave a “one out of five star” review for his imaginary tour company.
Big cities are simultaneously fascinating and overwhelming to me and it was nice having someone so familiar and so confident at navigating within this big bustling metropolis. One of our first stops was to the Shedd Aquarium, an important part of the Bouchard history and story since Scott’s dad, Don, once was a volunteer scuba diver there. I had been told stories about his time at the aquarium and one of my favorite was of Scott’s children and niece and nephew getting to watch their “Pepe” feed some of the different fish in various exhibits, submerged within the tanks. I can only imagine how exciting that must have been for them! Poor Scott has been to the Shedd more times than he can probably count but I was fascinated by all the elaborate and award-winning exhibits and was sure to read every. single. placard. in the aquarium. The highlight for me was finding a random stick-on googly-eye that someone had affixed over the eye of a photo of a Blackstripe cichlid (a Mexican freshwater fish) on a placard.
We know that my travel motto is “do/see the thing you’re supposed to do/see in the place you’re supposed to do/see it” (thanks Kristin Newman, author of “What I was Doing While You Were Breeding,” for that motto) so naturally we visited the Buckingham Fountain (featured in the opening to 80’s sitcom Married With Children), the giant metallic “bean” in Millenium park, walked along Lake Michigan, and ate Chicago style hotdogs (delicious).
One of the must-do’s that Scott’s mom Wendy had suggested for our visit to the city was to go up to the top of the John Hancock building for drinks. She said that the best views of the city were to be had from the window in the women’s restroom of that restaurant and she was right. From that vantage point I got a true appreciation of just how congested the traffic leading into and out of the city was but also was able to enjoy seeing how beautiful a city it is.
The finale of our day was a sunset cruise. We had watched the movie The Breakup (starring Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Anniston) in preparation for the boat tour. It departed from downtown Chicago, near Trump tower, and made its way via the Chicago River, through the locks (an interesting but time consuming experience), and out into the cold Lake Michigan harbor. I do believe that this city is most beautiful at night, the lights of the buildings were spectacular to see. Despite ribbing Scott about his aptitude as a tour guide, he was a wealth of trivia and information and pointed out interesting and meaningful buildings and features. Scott had sagely advised that we pack lots of layers for this adventure and he was spot on and we donned them all, thankful to have them as the wind off Lake Michigan whipped around us. Seeing the city this way was probably my favorite part of our day and was a perfect ending to a wonderful day, Scott’s tour guiding easily earning him a full five star review as he expertly guided us through the passages of the city back to the train station so we could commute back to the Lisse’s house.
Our visit was timed so that it would coincide with Brooke’s birthday and we picked the kids up in Crystal Lake on her actual birthday and I got to experience the institution that is Chicago deep dish pizza at the iconic Lou Malnotti’s pizza. It was different but good, seemingly more like a rich tomato and sausage casserole than the cheese, sauce, and toppings on top of bread version that I’m accustomed to.
We picked them back up the next morning for a trip out to Richardson’s Adventure Farm in Fox Lake for a full day of corn mazes (Brooke is amazing and if I am ever lost I hope I have her with me because she is a whiz at navigating her way through paths of tall stalks of cereal grain cut into the fields to resemble various James Bond actors from over the years) and other various farm themed outdoor fun. My favorite feature was probably the piglet races, followed closely by the hayride. We wrapped up the day with dinner at Portillo’s, another iconic Chicago restaurant chain, featuring their famous Italian beef sandwiches and to-die-for and equally famous chocolate cake. It was a fun day spending time with the kids.
The last few days of our Chicago trip were spent in Crystal Lake with the Petrelia family. Bob and Scott used to mountain bike together and Bob and his wife Virginia were gracious hosts and I enjoyed meeting them and getting to know them. Their daughter’s artwork was featured prominently throughout the house and it was fun hearing about each unique piece. I enjoyed getting to see the town where Scott grew up, including his old houses and the schools he went to.
We went with Bob, Virginia, and their son to breakfast on our last morning and I had a “Dutch baby” pancake that was the feature of the restaurant that we went to- it was the size of a tire! It was also delicious and had a lemon juice and powdered sugar drizzle on top. I wasn’t able to finish it but enjoyed the experience. Fully stuffed from our extravagant breakfast we met up with Scott’s friends Matt and Jenny for lunch. Scott and I just watched them eat because the thought of eating anything else was out of the question. We finished our day, and trip, by hiking in Sterne’s Woods and Fen, a popular county park in Crystal Lake.
The whole trip was fun and it was nice being able to put names and faces together, as well as to see and experience in person, places that helped shape Scott and make him the person he is.
