Chicago

 If you follow the news, you would never visit Chicago! 

Buckingham fountain in Grants Park

Take today's  CBS news headline is a perfect example.

It begun:

"Local News

3 dead, 14 hurt in Chicago weekend shootings, according to CPD."

Yep and that is the normal feed I usually see from that beleaguered city. 

My own country Jamaica which has only a slightly larger population, (3.5 million to 2.7) had a similar problem because of our murder rate.

 Happily it's being rapidly reduced now, so hopefully the reporting will reflect that soon.

What no one tells you about places like Jamaica and Chicago, is the beautiful, quiet side. I only discovered Chicago's pretty side on a visit there about two years ago.

 In every country you have to know which areas you have to avoid, but in Chicago and Jamaica they always make it appear that everywhere is dangerous😡.

In my book, that city should be renamed the architectural capital of the USA as I have rarely seen such a diverse collection of beautifully designed buildings in a small space, anywhere in the world.

Entrance to Grant's Park downtown 

I was lucky enough to get tickets for Obamas Library for this Wednesday,  so flew in on Monday. 

The planetarium 

So naturally I hit the streets right away to get acquainted with my environment and yes, it was pleasant.  

For from what I have seen today, its still a beautiful city, pedestrian friendly and well maintained. 

Glad I got to come before fall really sets in, for it is now in the 60's and as the nomenclature says, its really the windy city.

My kind of church😉

Papa San (Puppa San) has only gotten better with age. The super DJ who used to mash up Sumfest and other music  festivals when great dancehall music prevailed, is still there.

 Only the lyrics have changed.🩷.

 

Amazingly, during his chart stopping performance at the Faith Center, he revealed that he had only just come out of hospital after a serious appendix issue! WOW.

He is amazing. 
 

I like the Faith Center too. It reminds me of the popular Church on the Rock which I attended for many years in Jamaica, to get my Sunday exercise.😉.

You know, Jamaica is reputed to have the most churches per square mile in the world. I will add, that no one in the world knows how to make a joyful noise to the Lord like a Jamaican. Faith Temple is clearly following the tradition. 👍. 

It was a wonderful Jamaica Worship night.

And the lobby of the church was beautifully decorated too.

The young DJ who calls himself Prince SAJ, set the stage for Papa San and was good too.

 I predict he will have his own church in a few years. 

He introduced himself as a 26 year old from Spanish Town. He had a moving testimonial about being an unwanted child born to a teenage mother (14 years old!) who was really only a child  bringing up a child. And as is so common in Jamaica, his father spurned him.

He has clearly come a long way and his high energy and original music ignited the church and set the stage for the great Papa San.

After the concert, there was a drone show, but the main event sell off😊.

Carol, Paulette and I had a wonderful time. 

Nb. Some pics contributed by Carol.

Birthday bash.

 Guess what, Michelle has made it into the big leagues. Proud of her being now a certified yoga instructor. 🥰

When I saw the above on Instagram, I excitedly suggested to Shadrach that we should go, join her class and have the  brunch with her. After all, west Palm is only an hour away and we owed her a visit. 

It seemed like a great idea, especially since it was my friend Camille's birthday, so we could kill two birds with one stone by inviting another friend  Sonja aka Sonia, and spend a pleasant, celebratory afternoon out of town. 💢💥🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒.

It sounded like fun till I learned that brunch was going to be "healthy." As that usually means things like a few sprigs of parsely and other tasteless green stuff🤑, I quickly changed plans.

So it was on to plan B, lunch at the lovely Seasons 52 where Michelle/Melissa/Shadrach took Norma and I to lunch on Mother's Day.

Seasons 52 on Mother's Day.

That was a far more palatable idea, as the ambiance and food there is great and guess what, Melissa works with the group, so we get a decent discount through her.😋

With the birthday girl

Seasons 52 is right on the waterway so you can watch the boats go by and even pick up the water taxi right outside.

We who drove from Tamarac, arrived early so relaxed by the water and in the lounge.

We had reserved a table outside by the water but as we ate and relaxed out there there, a tumultuous cloudburst accompanied by fierce lightening and thunder spoiled the setting. (That same lightening storm killed a mother and her 2 year old daughter in nearby Margate.)😭

Although they pulled down awnings, the sheets of water were blowing inside so we had to repair to the cold air conditioned, crowded, dining area.

As expected the food was great and we had a wonderful afternoon. 

Later, we started to drive behind Melissa and Michelle to head home we thought, only to end up at Yard House where Melissa works.

Melissa hailing up colleagues at Yard House. She is very popular there😉.

We enjoyed ourselves at Yard House though only having space for drinks.

Camille got birthday dessert at both Seasons 52 and Yard House but at the latter, she actually got candles in her cheese cake. We all enjoyed the cake with her 😋. 

It was a really nice day all around and we were transported back safely by super driver Shadrach.👏.

A great day without healthy food.😁