Most of my travel blogs are about trips that last several days or weeks. They usually begin months before we leave, with a travel plan book that I design, make and bind by hand. The wardrobe capsule follows, which somehow still requires multiple suitcases and overpacking. Flight tickets and a fair amount of organizing come next, long before we get out the door.
These past three weekends have been different. Three trips, eleven days away, and no travel plan book or flight tickets. We drove, and the luggage was less than full, except for the wedding clothes for the two weddings we attended. Michael brings the same black suit, which he looks handsome in. I, in the usual course, bring two or three options. We are both happier that way.
Three Weekends
Three weekends in a row of traveling together in the car is familiar territory. Weekend road trips were how we lived during the first years after we moved to Illinois. The difference is the past year, when our trips have needed flight tickets, so packing up the car and going again the next weekend felt new. We went to Columbia City, Indiana; Chicago, Illinois; and Spencer, Iowa, for two family weddings and a weekend for ourselves, with lengthy time for conversation in between. The destinations gave us reasons to go, but the hours in the car were part of the time away, too.
Three weekends in a row of traveling together in the car is familiar territory. Weekend road trips were how we lived during the first years after we moved to Illinois. The difference is the past year, when our trips have needed flight tickets, so packing up the car and going again the next weekend felt new. We went to Columbia City, Indiana; Chicago, Illinois; and Spencer, Iowa, for two family weddings and a weekend for ourselves, with lengthy time for conversation in between. The destinations gave us reasons to go, but the hours in the car were part of the time away, too.
Indiana
Michael is from Indiana and still has family living there. Our trips back have felt more solemn over the past few years. The last two of his three brothers, Brad and Vic, passed in 2022 and 2023 after lingering health issues. Passings like these bring relief that the suffering is over, but they leave a space that can seem glaring. Michael became the remaining member of his generation in the Benner family within a year. Going “home” has a different feel now, along with a different sense of responsibility for Michael as the family patriarch.
This trip back was for a joyous occasion, the wedding of our sweet sister-in-law, Brad’s widow. We arrived Wednesday in the rain and left Monday after ten inches of it. Soggy as it was, we had several great days of family, food, cards and being together. We even got a boat ride in between showers. I was back in “wedding mode” and had a chance to remember how much I enjoyed coordinating, setting up and tearing down weddings. I was also reminded that I am okay with not doing them anymore.
The service, officiated by our nephew, was beautiful. The family and friends who gathered to bless the newlyweds were delighted for them, and we enjoyed an afternoon together before the couple departed for a few weeks away. It was good to make this trip home for a celebration.
Illinois
The following weekend, we traded the family gathering for Chicago. Illinois is a state in two parts: Chicago and the rest of it. We live in the rest of it, which is quieter, mostly rural and, well, rural. Chicago is big and loud and crazy. The buildings are many and very tall, and the river running through it gives the city a personality of its own. We like it, once we get through the traffic to get there.
This particular weekend, we went in to see Laura Ramoso’s Calm Down tour at the Chicago Theatre. We arrived Friday afternoon in time to grab a cocktail and some appetizers before the show. Two hours of laughter later, we were energized and strolled across the bridges and along the lit streets. The weather was a complete reversal from the previous weekend, with a warm evening and a bright moon. It felt good to be out among other people appreciating an early fall walk.
The show was really the only event we had planned, so a slow morning of room service, coffee and books found its way onto the schedule. We took in a museum and had a late lunch at Eataly before shopping for a bagful of Italian food to take home. A friend introduced me to the store the previous September, and I could easily spend a good deal of time among the pastas, sauces, cheeses and meats, with wines from different regions of Italy to go with them. We limited ourselves to one bag because we had to walk back to the hotel. Good thing, as I could have filled plenty more.
We made our way to Pops later that afternoon for champagne, a couple of bumps of caviar and a great burger with cheese curds. It is a small restaurant on a corner, with windows along the two outside walls, making it a nice place for people-watching and a game of cribbage. The sun set between the tall buildings while we sipped, and I confidently won the game.
The warmth of the day lingered as we made our way along the Riverwalk. Boat traffic was heavy that Saturday night, and the lights on the boats, buildings and streets gave the evening a festive, almost carnival feel. We stopped for a minute to watch the light show on the Merchandise Mart before making our way back to the hotel. Sunday arrived as bright as the previous morning. We managed to sneak in a little spa time before a late checkout and lunch, then headed off to battle the traffic and find our way home.
Iowa
Michael’s black suit and my options were back in the car by the third weekend. Spencer, Iowa, was the longest drive of the three trips, six and a half hours from home. Another family wedding, but this one without buckets of rain or details for me to manage. We simply enjoyed catching up with people we had not seen for a while.
Being a guest gave me time to appreciate the bride’s choices. She used a palette of green, mauve, purple, gold and navy in the wedding party’s attire, flowers and decor. It was well done and refreshing, and I enjoyed looking at it without having to check whether anything needed tending.
The groom, my cousin’s son, is the youngest on my side of the family. He never met his grandfather, my uncle, or his great-grandfather, my grandfather, but he is the spitting image of both, with a similarly large personality. He is as kind and loving as they were. When he was young, Michael taught him how to assemble and paint World War II tank models. We were honored to be part of this special day, seeing him married and spending time with family after being apart.
Today we are driving back across Iowa toward home, and it is a glorious fall day. The corn and soybean fields are ready for harvest, or already cut, and combines are busy in the fields. Barns, farmhouses and those tall grain elevators that Michael calls the “Skyscrapers of the Midwest” line the road. We spent the previous weekend looking up at Chicago’s buildings, and now these are the ones catching our attention.
Traveling Together
There is time to look, time to talk about the wedding, and time to let the conversation move on to whatever comes next. I enjoy planning our longer trips, and I will gladly make another travel book. These three weekends have reminded me how much I also enjoy getting in the car with Michael and going somewhere within a day’s drive. We have had family to catch up with, reasons to laugh, and a little time to ourselves.
