The Fourth of July Chicago Style!

The Fourth of July dawned bright and beautiful. We hopped on a bus and headed to Lincoln Park to begin the adventures of the day!

As we walked to the Chicago History Museum, I saw this beautiful home with darling patriotic decor!

The Chicago History Museum had a beautiful patriotic outdoor event that morning complete with a band and the world's tallest Uncle Sam!

Rosalie and her sweet friend Elise

Our next adventure was the Lincoln Park Zoo!

Such a good view of the Chicago skyline!

The monkey house was fascinating!

Then, we saw the ostrich and giraffe exhibit.

There was even a magnificent polar bear!

After seeing the rhino, we headed back to the Chicago History Museum to take advantage of the free admission they offered on the Fourth!

These photos are of memorabilia from the Columbian Exposition when Chicago hosted the World's Fair of 1893.

They even had an el car from long ago that you could walk in and statues waiting for the train that you sit by!

These statues represented actual historical figures of the time and we were able to read their stories!

I have to admit that part of me did feel like Anne of Green Gables, waiting for Matthew at the train station!  Oh, and my beaded necklace was made at a craft booth at the earlier Fourth festivities outside by the museum.  They had also had face painting, but the line was too long. :(

This display was really neat because you could choose a card and pretend to be the figure from history it described while on the train.


After all this fun, we decided to try the chicago-style hot dog for lunch!

Yum!

After lunch, we enjoyed some time looking in fun shops like this record store!

We were hoping to stop here for a cupcake, but it was closed for the Fourth. :(

The swings for seats looked really fun, though!

After lots of shopping and walking, we reached our final destination -- Wrigley Field! It was so fun to see this great landmark!

I had always heard of these rooftop seats where you can watch the game, so it was fun to see them in real life!

After our long walk, our feet were more than happy to ride the train back!

They were filming the news as we walked by!

For dinner, we headed to Greektown!

For an appetizer, we enjoyed the most delicious goat cheese with bread. Another wonderful recommendation!
As you can see from the picture, we didn't like it very much! ;)

I had the most delicious lamb and artichoke heart dish!

Caroline tried the mousaka.

And I can't remember what Rosalie tried, but it was yummy!

Our meal ended perfectly with baklava cheesecake! Absolutely divine!

Then, we watched fireworks from the Michigan Avenue bridge!

What a show!
Happy Fourth!