Saturday Sabbath

I'm a big fan of Sabbath. In fact, I think this is one of God's best ideas ever. It's so essential to take a break and relax from the daily grid.

I also don't think Sabbath has to happen on Sunday. Really, just find a day each week when you take a break from work and enjoy spending time with friends and family (or yourself).

Last week, I had a Saturday Sabbath. I woke up at a hotel room in Chicago with Todd and Rebecka. At 6:40 AM, we took the shuttle over to Midway Airport (love Southwest!) to escort Rebecka to her flight to Orlando and Disney World. Once she was airborne, we took the train up to Loyola University, where we started walking to a restaurant that I had picked out for our brunch. It is a place called Uncommon Ground that has the country's first certified organic rooftop garden. How cool is that? We both decided to go with the granola pancakes and it was a good choice. Those may have been the best pancakes I've ever had (it's a toss-up between these and the sweet potato pancakes at the Pancake Pantry in Nashville).

After a leisurely brunch, we took the train even further north to Evanston. This is one of our favorite spots in the Chicago area. It is the home of Northwestern University, including the Kellogg School of Management (I can always dream...). We walked around the campus for a while and then started wandering along the lake shore. We passed through a neat park and continued walking through what must have been one of Evanston's more affluent neighborhoods. The proud old houses are so beautiful and inspiring. Why did we stop building houses like that?

We eventually ended up in downtown Evanston (thanks to Todd - you know me and directions...). It is so nice to see a town with a real downtown. Feels like Sweden. When we started getting hungry, we found the cute little Italian place we went to last time and ordered delicious food off of their ridiculously cheap lunch menu. We sat there for a good while enjoying the atmosphere and the food, of course.

Finally, it was time to go so we could catch the 5:08 PM train back to Milwaukee. Seems like every time we manage to be running late for the train. We were slightly lost (mostly my fault), so I asked some people, who looked like locals, for directions and we arrived at the gate just as the train was boarding. At least we didn't have to wait around in the less-than-attractive Amtrak "lounge."

It was good to be welcomed home by a tail-wagging Bichon and settle in for a calm and quiet evening.

Sabbath at its best.