#615 Go to Alpha Xi Delta National Convention

When Andrea and I heard that AXD National Convention this year was going to be in Chicago, we made plans to go. AXD National Convention happens every 2 years in different city each year. Chicago was probably closest it would ever be. After debating if we should do the whole convention or just sign up for parts of it, we opted for the full convention since we didn’t want to miss anything being our first convention. Convention spanned 4 days and included several banquets, educational sessions, a few sisterhood activities including an optional outing to the Cubs (ugh) game, and plenty of free time to explore the great city of Chicago.

Convention was a wonderful experience – one I wished I didn’t wait 15 years to partake in. I came home with new friends, new ideas, and a renewed sense of sisterhood.

10 things I learned from National Convention

10. There’s a lot of leeway in the blue and gold attire requirement.

I was stressing about making sure I found solid blue dress and/or skirt/blouse combination for the Philanthropy breakfast. I ended up getting a dress I didn’t love completely but was solid blue. Instead of I could have worn a blue top and a nice pair of capris. Even the Celebration of Sisterhood Banquet had variety of blue and gold… in various shades, styles, and patterns. Next time I won’t stress so much about finding the right outfit.

9. Alpha Xi Delta loves Philanthropy

We have raised over $6.5 million dollar for Autism Speaks through walks and AmaXIng Challenges. The Milwaukee Alum association even took home some awards from the Philanthropy breakfast.

8. Everyone has a story to tell.

Kindra Hall spoke about telling stories when you have a message to convey. People relate to stories. Tell a story when you need to convey a message – people are more apt to listen and remember.

7. It all comes back to you

The ceremonies, the songs, and the words you haven’t recited since your college days 15 years ago roll off your tongue like it was only yesterday.


6. You’re never too old to realize your potential and get a lifetime achievement award.

Regardless of your age (29 or 92), work hard and realize your potential. Bette was honored for her work she did through years in Physical Therapy stating during World War II. Now that's a lifetime. It was a honor to meet her and call her my sister.

5. Work hard and you will succeed

Beta Psi, my chapter, was a small chapter in my college days and barely won any National Awards. Now they are flourishing and came home with many awards. The best award was xxxx which is the 2nd highest award a chapter can get. When the National President calls out this amazing feat, you just beam with pride.

4. Shining stars are everywhere

For a $10 donation to the foundation, you could honor or celebrate a sister. For sisters at convention you got a shining star for your name badge. There was a wall of stars with sisters names on it. Every sister at convention had at least one star thanks to a generous (and amazing) sister who gave each of us a star in honor of her 19th convention.

3. There’s plenty of opportunities to realize your potential

The break out sessions were beneficial to alum and collegiate sisters alike. With a wide variety of sessions to choose from, sometimes it was hard to chose. The best part most every session was led by a sister.

2. No matter where you come from, we are all sisters

I met sisters from all over the country. Andrea and I met one on the train to Chicago and a couple more at Taste of Chicago. We picked up a few in the lobby of the hotel.

We would sit in the lobby with our new friends and talk to all hours of the night. We may have came from different places but we share the bond of sisterhood.

1. Not 4 years but for life

This is so true when you see women old enough to be your grandma or mom there enjoying their 19th, 27th, or even first convention. Sisterhood doesn't end when you walk out of the house/room/lodge for the last time as a senior. If you let it, it will continue for the rest of your life.

1168. Take an Architecture Boat Tour in Chicago

Besides Taste of Chicago, the other thing I really wanted to do in Chicago was take an Architecture boat tour. Chicago has a diverse architecture scene and there are many different tours available to be able to get a glimpse at some of the architectural wonders of the city. We chose to take a 75 minute boat ride on the Chicago River with the Shoreline Sightseeing Company.

Shoreline offers Architecture boat tours every 30 minutes during the peak summer months. The cost was $37. Groupon offers a discount on Architecture boat tours but it doesn’t give you the company as it is done through e-vites and we didn’t want to be surprised.

The boat tour took us down the main branch of the Chicago into the North Branch, down to the South Branch and back up the main branch almost to Lake Michigan. Our tour guide was really knowledgeable. She explained the different architectural styles and architects who designed the buildings. I am not one to remember those kind of facts (the who’s who of architects or the styles of architecture) but the span of designs from the late 1800s (Post Chicago fire) to today is quite impressive.

The city planner back in the last 1800s early 1900s had a vision for the city to face the Chicago River and promenades built on either side of the river. It took over 100 years but the Chicago Riverwalk is nearly complete and some buildings do face the river.

I loved learning the history of the buildings and their designs. It was a gorgeous day for a boat ride. I want to take a walking tour to see some of the buildings up close and learn even more history. Chicago is a beautiful city with beautiful and even historic buildings. I would suggest taking some time to see them whether it’s on a boat or a walking tour or just by yourself.

#1205. Go to Taste of Chicago

When Andrea and I started making our list for Convention of things we wanted to do, Taste of Chicago was a possibility depending on dates. Once I saw that Taste of Chicago and Convention were going to overlap, it was one of things I HAD to do since it only happens once a year.

Taste of Chicago is an outdoor food festival that showcases several of Chicago's diverse dining options. It claims to be the world's largest food festival and is held in Grant Park which was only a short walk from our hotel on Michigan Ave.

Admission to Taste of Chicago is free which was right up to my alley. You just bought tickets to be able to sample the food. 14 tickets cost $10 and samples of most everything were about 5 to 6 tickets. Besides a sampling at each restaurant, there was also plate option for 10-12 tickets. Drinks were about 7 tickets which could also be bought using your credit/debit card. I bought 28 tickets which gave me about 4 to 5 samples.

When I think of the World's Largest anything, I expect it to be HUGE. I was disappointed in the size of Taste of Chicago. I think was expecting a lot more restaurants. It was really only 2 good city blocks of restaurants down one side of the street. There were 34 5 day Restaurants that were there all 5 days and about 16 Pop Up Restaurants which were only there a day or 2. Besides the booths, there were 16 food trucks around the area as well. I only saw a handful of them. Maybe it didn't seem like a lot there but looking back at the list -- that's a lot of food.

It was hard to decide what I wanted to use my tickets on. I ended up having a variety of foods

First up was a 1/2 a burger from Billy Goat Tavern... I wasn't impressed. I'm hoping it's because it wasn't as fresh as it would be if I ate it at the restaurant. It's like any other burger.

While Andrea ate some Deep Dish Pizza (ewww), I had a salted caramel chocolate puff from Puffs of Doom. I didn't find any napkins and that thing was messy. Being the Wisconsin girl, it seriously lacked cream. It wasn't bad and a very nice sweet treat.

Andrea and I then decided to split a macaroni and cheese grilled cheese sandwhich from Doom Street Eats. It wasn't bad... BUT I discovered that I am a traditionalist and my mac and cheese and grilled cheese need to be separate.

We had some gelato from Cafe Gelato -- peanut butter with brownie chunks. That stuff was amazing. I could eat a whole pint of it.. it just needed more brownie chunks in my opinion

Lastly Andrea got a pulled turkey slider from Oak Street Beach Cafe -- which was amazing -- while I decided to have an empanada from Beat Kitchen. I should have kept walking to find the toasted ravioli. My empanada tasted like dirt. I took one bite an threw the rest away. Severely disappointed by it.

Some of the booths, will sing and dance to get you to stop. These guys were singing about nachos.

Besides food there was also music. Some concerts were free and others, like the symphony, you needed a ticket. We saw a parade of random animals walk by Buckingham Fountain.

At the LL Bean booth, we could take selfies with the giant bootmobile. I also threw boot and managed to get it in the target at the first try. I won a LL Bean sticker.

There was so many other things to try. If I had a chance to go again, I would and try other things. Maybe I would plan it so I go hit it 2 days and try more food since after about 5 samples, I was full. It is a nice way to get out of the office for lunch or out of cooking for dinner. I may have to start planning Chicago trips around Taste of Chicago just so I can sample more food.

Baseball Stadium Tour 2017: Community Field

Our final stop on our Brewer/Cardinal Road Trip was Burlington, IA for the T-Rats and Bees game. It just worked out that the T-Rats were playing the Bees that night. The Burlington Bees are the LA Angels A team.

Community Field, the home of the Bees, is your typical small town ball park. There was no parking lot and we parked for free on the grass. The stadium was remodeled to accommodate the needs of the league. However it was still very old school. The locker rooms were right next to the bathrooms -- visitor's next to the men's room and the Bee's next to the women's room. The umpire room was accessible from outside the park. I am used to stadiums with several concession stand windows -- Community Park had 1 and it looked like something you'd find at the community pool. There might have been a second one down there third base line. 

There is not a lot of seating in community park and almost all of it is protected by netting. Like usual we sat right by the dugout. Unfortunately there weren't really seats down the lines. Most of the seating was behind home plate in an old school grand stand set up. Luckily there weren't many people there so we could move down so we could see the scoreboard better. Speaking of the scoreboard... I have seen high school fields with better scoreboards. It was your basic scoreboard that said Visitor instead of being digital for the teams. 

Unlike the other minor league ball parks we've been to, there was very little fan fare between innings. I think they had about 3 promotions and all done by kids in the stands. I am not even sure what they won. If I remember correctly, there was a t-shirt toss with 3 shirts towards the end of the game. However with the netting tossing things in the stands is difficult and the shirts were tossed (or handed out) from the stands.

The game itself wasn't very good. T-Rats played poorly and it was a like 9-3 or something like that. Because of the netting and lack of setting down the lines, it was difficult to get foul balls. The hubby tried to beat a kid for a foul ball in the grassy area outside of the seating area but wasn't quite fast enough. I stood around for a good 10 minutes and another one didn't get hit our way. Luckily the T-rats catcher handed us one later in the game.

As far as ballparks go I wasn't impressed but the hubby loved the old school ball park. I think I have just gotten used to the all the amenities and fanfare that comes with Minor League Baseball. Maybe I am just spoiled. Either way it was still a nice night at the ballpark. I hope the Burlington Bees and Community Park keep the baseball alive in the town because it is good cheap entertainment.