It Was All About Food and Family

Thursday afternoon we left for our big summer vacation. The first part of our trip was to go to the Chicago area for a big family picnic on Saturday. That night we made it up to St. Louis just in time for dinner. We ate at a neat place called Fitz's Grill and Bottleworks. They have really good burgers, root beer, and cream soda. The root beer and cream soda are made on the premesis. It you get there earlier in the day than we did you can actually see the bottling process in action.



This restaurant is in a really neat part of town near George Washington University.



This is our toasted ravioli appetizer.



I had this really yummy Pepper Jack Burger. Those onion tanglers on the top were amazing.



Mom has their classic Bottler's Burger.



Mike got this BBQ Burgers with onion rings.

After dinner, we headed to our hotel so we could get up the next morning and head on toward Chicago. We stopped for lunch in Springfield, Illinois at Cozy Dog. This restaurant along historic Route 66 is known as the home of the corn dogs. I don't know for sure about all the history, but I do know I sure enjoy eating Cozy Dogs. We make a point to stop here anytime we are in the area.








This was the lunch we all shared. Yum!



Mike and I really enjoyed it. I even had to wear a bib to prevent mustard spillage.

After enjoying lunch, we headed the rest of the way to Chicago. That night we had a nice dinner and visit with some extended family, including my Uncle Floy. He was hosting the picnic the next day, which would also serve as a memorial to my aunt, who passed away a couple months ago. Uncle Floy is my grandfather's brother. Every time I see him it's like stepping back in time and being around my granddad again. At the picnic we got to spend time with a lot of our extended family, which is always nice. Hubby's brother, Matt, who lives in Chicago, also came to the picnic. Saturday was all about spending time with family.



Mom and I with Uncle Floy.



The two brothers enjoying some time together.



After family time, we enjoyed one last meal in the Chicago area at Al's Beef and then went to see Cars 2.



Out dinner of Italian Beef sandwiches and BBQ fries.

The next day we woke up early and headed out for the next part of our vacation.