I went on a road trip with a few friends. We had to wake up at 2 in the morning. It was a five-hour trip so we got on the road by 3 a.m. We were all tired.

The people that sat in the back were sleeping until we had to stop to get gas, food, drinks and using the bathroom. Then we continued our journey to Chicago.

We enjoyed our car ride, and we went back to sleep until it was morning and some of us were awake or asleep. We stopped to get some gas and we were all got hungry so we stopped at a restaurant. After that we were driving in our car to get to Chicago. We were very excited THAT WE WERE THERE!

Then we checked in our hotel, The Hyatt, we went into our rooms to get refreshed and unpack and relax for a little bit.

We were headed to The Chicago Davidson Motorcycle Store and browsed around and looking at the motorcycles and the T-shirts. They also had really cool things in there.
It was actually a relaxing day, and we had lunch and it was delicious. We were walking around the city, and I came across the “Friends” museum — from the freaking hilarious TV show that I watch all the time! I couldn’t believe it! I was really happy and very excited. But the frustrating part — it was closed.

It was also Saint Patrick’s Day weekend. My friend Missy told me it won’t open until next weekend and that weekend we were NOT GOING TO BE THERE. We were only there for a one weekend. So, I was bummed. But life goes on… I hope sometime I’d like to go back to Chicago to explore the “Friends” museum.

We all had tickets to the 360 Chicago Observation Deck museum. We got to explore different parts of the city of Chicago. I took a few pictures and it was nice. There is another part of the museum and there was a bar, so we had a few drinks! It was really delicious.

I saw people waiting on line to go onto the Skyline and it was inside of the museum. Missy has a fear of Heights so we all encouraged her to come and do it with us is because “we want her to have the experience of trying new things even as a group.”

I am really happy for her that she conquering her fear. We took a group picture together. So, all you have to do is to go up to the glass window and it has two handles on each side so then you need to grab with two hands. And then you have to lean forward and I know it feels like you are tilting. But the amazing part is, you get to see part of the city on the 94th floor. It was beautiful to look at.

We got to shop around at the gift shop. It was Saint Patrick’s Day Weekend and they had lots of fun and cool things to look at. So, I found a really cool green T-shirt so I got to wear it the next day.

Then afterwards we all decided to go to a restaurant that has a bar, so we got a few drinks. We were going to order some food but our waiter brought our drinks to our table and then we had our picture taken and that was the last time we saw our waiter. He was a not a good waiter at all and my guess was he was avoiding us and not giving us any service.

So that went down the drain! We decided to go back to our hotel and around our neighborhood we found taco restaurant to eat. Then we called it a night.

On Saturday morning, we had brunch at a restaurant called the Yolk, so we had to wait, so while we waited on our table we all decided to go to the bridge and the water was completely dyed with lots of GREEN and it was beautiful. And it was also Saint Patrick’s Day.

We took a drive into China Town for a little bit and went into a few stores and got drinks and ice cream. it tasted really good. The weather was nice and sunny and a little bit chilly, but it was a good day.

There was one store that I really liked and I really enjoyed looking at the magical fairies and lots of skeletons that were on display.

A friend of ours wanted to go see The Bean, it’s really big and humongous and it was at the Millennial Park.

Missy really wanted to go to the Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co. restaurant, and we had a reservation there. Her heart and soul hadn’t had her “Pizza Pot Pie” in about five years. It was really yummy… it is to die for if you decide to go and visit Chicago. The pizza pot pie is cooked in a bowl and flipped table-side by the server. It comes in two sizes — a half-pounder and a one-pound serving. You can ask your server how would you like your pizza and you can choose any toppings that you want, then they flip it upside and it becomes a pot pie.

We all had tickets to go see this Gangster Ghost Tour at The Chicago History Museum. On a side note it’s across the street from the building that went down in history for the Valentine’s Day massacre. It was exciting to learn about so many crimes, murders, mysteries and cemeteries and also you can sense any ghosts around these places than the tour guide named Tony had mentioned. It was interesting.

It was a good experience to me and I also enjoyed myself on this GREAT journey of being with wonderful friends that made me very HAPPY and it was my first time of being in Chicago. It was really fun.

Alexis Ackerley writes from Alexandria and will be featured on the LCBDD website once a month. If you would like to send her a message or suggestion for a future column, please email anna.jeffries@lcountydd.org and it will be forwarded along to her.