Jamaica: Day 5

I began this day with another cup of coffee and another flavorful omelet. Lancel, a neighbor and former caretaker of our home for the week, stopped by for coffee conversation. (He also visits to eat the rest of breakfast, when there are leftovers.) If I had to guess, I would say Lancel is 80+ in age. Our conversation ranged in topics including hurricanes, American history, his family, and his favorite television show--Deadliest Catch.

We explored Treasure Beach a bit after breakfast, stopping at the Treasure Hunt Craft Shop and to pick up more roadside fruit. Then it was time to get my suntan on. I munched on heavenly frozen peanut butter stuffed chocolate covered bananas and continued reading until late in the afternoon.

When I was finally getting "schoochy" as M.R.B. would say, Boyfriend and I took a stroll along the beach. This was my favorite part of the trip! The way the shoreline is structured is one after another small bays or coves. Just when I thought I'd found the prettiest, most gorgeous, never want to leave cove, I was stunned by the next one. This goes on and on and on as far as I've walked in both directions. Because the sun was only a few hours from setting, the colors were incredible--turquoise water, green seaweeds growing on yellow, coral-ly rocks mixed with tan sands.

I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking. 

Note: Trip HIGHlight.

The walk ended just in time for us to change clothes and head next door for sunset pictures. So clearly this day was awesome! We went to Jack Sprat for dinner afterwards. I opted for the estovietch snapper. I have zero idea what estovietch is, even after consuming my meal. Once I had enough with the bones, I moved on to the delicious jerk veggies smothering Boyfriend's mountain of crab. My meal was served with bammy, a cassava flatbread. Think a dense corn tortilla. Boyfriend opted for festival, so I proceeded to steal (more of his goodness) in exchange for the less exciting bammy. His festival were the best I've had yet.

At the ripe age of 27, I have a true appreciation for how I was raised. My parents always encouraged me to try new things. The best part of traveling, for me, is the exposure to new cuisines. As I walked to the bathroom to wash my hands after filling my tummy, I was appalled by the number of people eating french fries and chicken wings in JAMAICA. To each their own, of course. But when I'm sitting at dinner overlooking the ocean (and being consumed by mosquitoes), I certainly think seafood. And this is coming from someone who formerly went on several missions with Boss Man to track down the best french fries in Northern Virginia; I love a good fry.

Lest I fail to mention the drinks accompanying my dinner. There was a piña colada, strawberry banana daiquiri, and planter's punch to sip while conversing and munching.

Dinner (and drinks!) left me in a food (i.e., sleeping) coma. Another successful island day!

Chicao, Part Duex

I woke up at 4:45 am on Sunday, about 30 minutes before my alarm. #Fail I got up and starting drinking my #prelongrun six ounces of strong coffee. I finished all the #prerace essential tasks and Boyfriend and I were off to the races... #literally. After security--oh so much security--and another bathroom stop, I was in my corral (#CorralC) with about half an hour until the gun sounded. I remember anxious runners budging their way to the front of the corral before I stumbled upon a nice lady, willing to pass the time through conversation with me. I was so thankful for her company.

(Dear Mystery Runner Woman, 

I hope you ran your #BostonQualifier. I enjoyed meeting and chatting with you. I hope Texas isn't still basking in the summer-like temperatures. If so, send warmth. #Winterishere in Washington, D.C.

Best, S)

At promptly 7:30 am, I was off with 40,000 plus runner friends. And I ran and ran and ran those 26.2 miles (I have yet to recap) until I crossed the finish line in #GrantPark. The walk to the 27th Mile Post-Race Party felt like another couple miles. I remember how hard I had to concentrate on putting one front in front of the other for a l-o-n-g period of s-l-o-w-l-y passing time. Boyfriend eventually found me and we walked to meet my parents, who were tired from running their #spectatormarathon. We grabbed food at Epic Burger for calories. And Dairy Queen for more calories. The burger was eh. I still wasn't totally feeling food. I must have recovered quickly though because the ice cream tasted better than anything I had ever consumed.

That is, until I stepped in the doors of Girl and the Goat. (Before I was ready for dinner, I showered (#gome) and spent a few minutes with my brother and his friend at The Aberdeen Tap to end the dry period. My parents dined at Girl and the Goat on their #30thAnniversaryTrip to Chicago a few years back. They, especially Pops, have hyped up the restaurant ever since. We ate and ate and ate until dessert, when we ate some more. #WasNotLetDown The cocktails. The meal. The wine. The dessert. The coffee. The experience is all more than my meager words can describe. Add #GirlandtheGoat to your #bucketlist and, to make this dream a reality, be sure to make your reservations at least 90 days in advance. #NotJoking

I would like to say I crashed after this meal--both from exhaustion and the food coma, but I found sleeping difficult to come by. My body was writhing in pain. I "woke up" ready to be home. We made a few plans for our remaining day: North Avenue Beach, Magnificent Mile, and Portillo's. I felt as though concluding with a #Chicagohotdog complimented the trip perfectly.While I loved the views from North Avenue Beach and under normal circumstances could have shopped the Magnificent Mile all day, my body was too spent to find real pleasure in moving and viewing. #WishIWouldHaveKnown

All in all an excellent trip, I must say. #Takemeback, OK?

A Chicago Trip Hashtagged

The calendar indicates November 2014 is one-third behind us. #TimeFlies In the first third of October, I found myself (and several #importantpeople) in Chicago, Illinois. To avoid the depressing discussion about how the #marathonhigh has been replaced with a purposeless low, I'll recap Chicago. #BetterLateThanNever

After checking in and dropping our bags at the lovely, not so conveniently located South Loop Hotel, we walked to Eleven City Diner for a lunch/dinner combination meal. And from there, we were off to enjoy the #TheArtInstituteofChicago for free. #ThanksMarathonEntryFee As we moved from Impressionism to Blue Period Picasso, Boyfriend impressed me with his art history interest and knowledge per usual. I made him browse the Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary Life, 1926-1938 exhibition with me as it was being featured. If you have more knowledge of art than myself, you would have been prepared for the weirdness and suggested a more pleasurable exhibit. I honestly couldn't walk through fast enough.

I'll fondly remember the art institute for the warmth provided. The temperatures outsider were more chilly than I arrived prepared for. #WindyCity We braved the cold at Millennium Park, #ournextstop. The Cloud Gate (#TheBean) was real crowded--#bigsurprise; we managed a #photoshoot anyway.

 

Still full for from our linner, we grabbed popcorn at Garrett Popcorn for dessert and called it a night at the wild hour of 7:30 pm. Garret's was offering a seasonal pumpkin spice caramel crisp recipe. #PopcornHeaven The night ended rejoicing in the #CentralTimeZone; I watched the entire first half of a #TNF game with my eyes open.

On Friday I was in for the surprise of my life. #MoreOnThatLater Boyfriend and I began the day with breakfast at Yolk. We walked over to the #NavyPier and then the #ChicagoRiverwalk afterwards to kill time before our Chicago Architecture Boat Tour. The boat tour came highly recommended and did not disappoint. I could have floated on the Chicago River all day had it not been freezing and shaded by fancily architect-ed buildings. We combination bused and strolled our way to #LincolnPark for an afternoon coffee at Elaine's Coffee Call. #CoffeeHeaven And this is where the day really picked up, our next stop: #LincolnParkZoo. When we finished perusing the petting zoo #intendedforchildren, we found #mybrother wandering around the zoo. #WTF He came to Chicago for the #bigrace via bus from Atlanta, Georgia. After the shock wore off, I was able to speak (and thank him profusely) again. #NotOneForSurprises We continued to browse the zoo, where my brother served as an excellent tour guide, having walked the premises in search of us.

We walked towards downtown to find my parents, who were also in Chicago. #PlannedInAdvance The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging before dinner. We "treated" my parents to their first ever Uber experience. #WorstRideEver #WeSurvived In need of drinks and food, we dove right in at Nando Milano Trattoria. The Italian--perfect for the #continuationofcarbloading--meal was divine.

The night ended after dinner. I headed straight to bed for the most important night of sleep before #raceday. I woke up late on Saturday morning for my #finalrun before the #marathon. I did an easy four-mile out-and-back run over to the #ChicagoLakefrontTrail, right past #SoldierField. #CityRun With the conclusion of run and shower, Boyfriend and I made our way to the #MarathonExpo, where I proceeded to race through as fast as I could to avoid a further settling in of nerves. The expo was exhilarating and overwhelming and loud but organized and therefore efficient. The mandatory pictures were taken... and we moved on to Little Goat Diner for bagels and later relaxed in a random park in the #WestSide before meeting #friendsandfamily at Haymarket Pub & Brewery for drinks.

We left the group for an early dinner at Giordano's. #DeepDish And that was the day before The Day.

I tried not to drag this Chicago recap out too much and #failedmiserably. I’ll be squeezing the final two days into one post later on this evening. #AtLeastThereArePictures