Susan

Welcome to the History Tricks, where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental. Hello and welcome to the show. This is our travelogue from our recent field trip to Chicago.

Beckett

This is the first time we've been to the Windy City, at least as a group. Both Susan and I have personal histories there. She, of course, was a young married woman in her time of her life out and about, and I was a small child and then a teenager going to see my city grandma and grandpa every year. And then in the holiday season, we would go have Thanksgiving at the Palmer House.

Susan

Love that. And you know what I loved about this, just on a personal level, is that you and I could kind of share our experience, our histories there. We'll get into it, I think, a little bit later. You took me to some of the places that you used to go as a child, and I dragged you down to 310south Michigan, where my husband used to work. And every time we passed a place, be like, oh, this happened there. And I don't know, it's just fun to share it with you.

Beckett

And it's also fun to share it with the friends that came along with us, 50 of them on the actual tour, and then an additional 38 friends that came to join us on the dinner cruise. And you'll hear from them throughout the rest of this show.

Susan

Yeah, we like to let them tell you about the experience. We can go on and on, but to hear it from the actual travelers besides us, we think that's so special. And I do want to thank them for calling in and giving us their remembrances.

Beckett

So the first thing we do ahead of time is go out and source whatever city we're in. We try to source snacks from each location. And we really hit the jackpot with this one. First of all, we stayed at the Palmer House Hotel, and a listener will tell you a little bit more about that later. And if you've heard our Bertha Palmer episode, you know more than 99.9% of the world about the Palmer Palmer House Hotel. But one thing they do well is make a brownie, as Bertha Palmer was the originator of the brownie. So everybody got an original Palmer House brownie. And then we found a woman owned potato chip place that makes Chicago flavored potato chips. Chardonniere, Chicago dog, deep dish pizza, Italian beef.

Susan

I had the Chicago dog and I was a little hesitant, but I thought it was tasty. And then what was the one that was spicy?

Beckett

Gardennaire, probably.

Susan

Oh, yeah, that one was really good too.

Beckett

The company is Called local style chips and we highly recommend them if you are in the area.

Susan

You may have heard us mention the 1893 Chicago World's Fair at some point. If you've listened to this for more than, let's say, two or three episodes. It is our favorite World's fair. And at that World's fair introduced were Cracker Jack and Wrigley Gum, among a myriad of other items. So we were able to get Cracker Jacks and Wrigley Juicy Fruit, which is the flavor that was introduced at the fair. Wrigley Juicy Fruit gum to go in the swag bags with all of our other trip related goodies. I thought this was like big score.

Beckett

And you know something else that was introduced at the 1893 World's Fair? Very, very tempted to put a can of spray paint because yeah, but you cannot take that on an airplane. And we oughtn't to set people loose in a city where the can spray date. So you're welcome, Chicago. We kept it all inside. Before everyone gets there, we often have a couple of days or at least a day and a half to do some side quests that Susan and I had been wanting to do. And one of the major things that we did is we went to the Graceland Cemetery. We rode the red line right past Wrigley Field. Hello, Wrigley Field. We waved, we took photos, we got out and walked down to Graceland Cemetery, which is so beautiful and full of history. Susan had a little bit of a beef with the official guide at the cemetery.

Susan

I did. And that was. There was not a whole lot of women in the. You must see this grave map. There was two. And the one that really got me going and ranting was that Bertha Palmer was not listed under her husband. I mean, her husband had a full, you know, paragraph and a half about his accomplishments and where his grave is. But he wouldn't be there if it wasn't for Bertha. If it wasn't for Bertha building that mausoleum around the outside. I, I don't know. It's just me maybe, I don't know. I will say that since we got back, we did get an email from a woman who gives a guided tour of the Graceland Cemetery, just focusing on the women. So we will link you up with that in the show notes.

Beckett

Her name's Lori Russell and she and Mary Jane Hogue felt the same way that Susan did. And so they will give you a tour that is more women centric.

Susan

It is such a beautiful, beautiful cemetery and it's so well kept. I Mean, we've talked about Pere Lachaise in Paris before, and that's another class of cemetery. But this one is just. It's pristine. It's just kept in such beautiful condition. It's a beautiful stroll through that cemetery.

Beckett

Oftentimes in the past, before park systems were installed or planned for in major cities, a lot of people used to use cemeteries as picnic grounds. Or what did we talk about in the Bronte episode? You know, everyone's like, ooh, the parsonage is so scary. But literally, in the time they lived there, women used to use the gravestones to dry their laundry. So cemeteries were not necessarily completely set apart from. From the living experience, you know, the way they are today. So, anyway, this is a blast from the past. It's a big, long, architecturally significant cemetery. So we were glad that we went there. And I almost got a heat stroke, but we.

Susan

It was a little weird.

Beckett

And so to that effect. And on a lighter note, we hearkened back to something of my childhood. And there is a place called the Original Rainbow cone that will give you, when you request it, a waffle cone full of five different colors of ice cream, all shaped like a slice of a rainbow. And it tasted exactly like it did when I was little. Although I will tell you, I was never allowed to get the waffle cone when I was little because I think it cost 30 cents extra. And of course, prices have. Prices have accelerated, but so has my adult income. So when the lady said, for a dollar, would you like a waffle cone? And I'm like, did you lit up your lips?

Susan

Oh, my goodness, yes, I would love it.

Beckett

You know? Yeah. My first instinct was to hang my head. No, thank you. But then I'm like, wait, yes, I do. And so they have a flavor right in the middle called Palmer House, which is vanilla ice cream with walnuts and cherries in it.

Susan

I loved it. I had never had one before, despite living there, and I loved it. I loved it so much that, A, I went twice, and B, I took the picture that you and I took in there with me holding it up to my face and made it my Facebook profile picture, because I saw that ice cream cone.

Beckett

Well, there you go. There is a link that you can go see Susan's profile picture if you want to see what it looks like. And so then people started to arrive, and we had a lovely cocktail party on the top of the Chicago Athletic Association. And it's a bar called Cindy's. It is right over the top of the Bean and Millennium. We have a Great view. We had a private balcony and we all began to make friends.

Susan

This place is named after Cindy Pritzker, who was an extremely influential philanthropist. And she is so influential that there is an Andy Warhol painting of her over the fireplace of the room that we had our cocktail party in.

Beckett

And so, without further ado, let's hear from a couple of our friends who were there.

Deanne

Hi, it's Deanne. This was my fourth trip with the History Chicks and they just keep getting better and better. I can't think of one specific thing on this trip. It was all great. So I just want to talk about how amazing the other travelers are and how great the people are. I have met a brand new best friend through this group and many people and we still keep in contact. If you're listening and you think, oh my gosh, this sounds like so much fun. It is. And you will have found your tribe. You will be with a group of people that will cross the street to read a sign and no one will think you're weird. And Susan and Beckett, thank you so much for what you do and for creating this community. And Laura and Jamie of Like Minds Travel once again. It was an amazing trip and couldn't have gone better. Thank you all so much and I can't wait for the next one.

Mary

My name is Mary and this was my first field trip with the History Chicks and my first visit to Chicago. I walked into the lobby of the Palmer House Hotel where we stayed to meet 53 strangers and walk to our kickoff party at Cindy's rooftop bar, followed by a double decker bus tour of Chicago at night. Everyone was so kind and welcoming and I was surprised at how fast friendships formed. Beckett and Susan, not only does your podcast celebrate women in history, but also empowers women of today. I thank you both.

Beckett

This is Carol C. With very special

Deanne

memories from Wednesday night of the Chicago field trip.

Beckett

We started off meeting one another at Cindy's rooftop with an iconic view of the city in the early evening. Then on to the bus for a double decker vantage point of the lights and sights of the city in perfect weather. These two perspectives led me to fall in love with the city all over again. Thank you all for a wonderful trip. On day two, we took a couple of field trips. Number one, we went to the Glassner House and that is because we covered Frances Glassner, the person who created the dioramas that still train FBI agents on how to look for clues in a murder scene.

Susan

Now her actual dioramas are safely in Baltimore where they're still used as an educational tool. There was one reproduction of it that we could see, so we could just see the craftsmanship and the detail. But the thing that made me so excited is that there was a section of the symphony. Her parents had been big supporters of the Chicago Symphony, and she had created a miniature of the symphony with each person looking like the person that plays that instrument. And the music on their stands is actual music that the symphony played. The detail is astonishing, and I was so excited to see it was just a part of that, but to see it, just to see the craftsmanship that she put into all of her miniatures.

Beckett

In addition, her parents were great supporters of the Arts and Crafts movement, and there are examples of famous artisans from that movement all throughout the house, particularly pottery and tile fabrics. There's a lot of William Morris work in this house. They also, which is something dear to my heart, do not put on the big light. Do we know what that is? I never turn on the big light. I know my husband comes home and goes, we are lamped out. And I'm like, we're not lamped out. So anyway, the Glessners were also lamped out. I appreciate that about them.

Jess

Hi, this is Jess. I'd like to share something that surprised me during the Chicago field trip. I immediately fell in love with Frances Glessner Lee upon listening to her story history chicks, episode 238. I mean, what's not to love? She was a fabulously wealthy Gilded Age heiress who combined her vast fortune and a passion for crafting to pioneer the art of forensic science.

Chris

So cool.

Jess

So touring Glessner House was a highlight. Seeing where Frances worked and lived in a mansion unlike any other on Chicago's Prairie Avenue was an incredible experience. What surprised me about her home was that behind the stone fortress, like exterior, the space was warm and cozy. I especially liked learning that Frances and her husband shared a gigantic partner's desk so they could work together in the same room, and that the room where their children were tutored featured a smaller version of the same desk. This was clearly a family that valued spending time together. Thank you History Chicks and like minds travel for a truly unforgettable experience. And much love to all the wonderful women I met on this trip. Thank you for making this first timer and solo traveler feel so welcome. History Chicks people really are the best people.

Susan

Thanks, Jess. I might be a little biased, but I also agree about the History Chicks people being the best people. I did want to add a little point of explanation here for any other listeners. Jess knew this because she took the tour with us. But Frances Glessner, Lee's mother, her name was Frances Glessner, so I know it

Beckett

might have sounded a little confusing.

Susan

Why do people do this?

Beckett

And we were so happy at the Glassner Museum to meet a man named Steve who worked especially this day so that he could meet all of us and told us some stories of the history of the museum and was very gracious to welcome us into a place that he has called home for a long time. Shout out to Steve and everyone who works at the Glessner Museum for making us feel so comfortable and welcome.

Susan

Yes, completely. Lately I've had a hard time when it comes to getting all my protein in every day and made harder by myself because I don't like going into the grocery store anymore now that we're empty nesters. A lot of the time I'm just shopping for myself. My husband doesn't want to eat this high protein, high vegetable foods that I do and it just takes a lot for me to get to the store and buy the items. So I'm going to fire up my hungryroot subscription again.

Beckett

You have heard me talk about how I have a day job and the history chicks job and and here's what I like about hungryroot. It handles the weekly grocery shopping I'm not focused on, particularly the my protein macro, but nevertheless, Hungryroot reaches in and learns my preferences and shops for me and suggests things that I might not have tried before that I end up loving.

Susan

And they have over a thousand grocery items, smoothies and snacks and sweets and salad kits in addition to their ready to eat meals and meal kits. Hungryroot has all of that stuff. They even have supplements. I went on to fire up my hungryroot subscription and two things that just caught my eye right away were the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich and also Summer Seafood Roll. It's like a shrimp roll, but they use the right kind of bread. They use a brioche roll. Yep.

Beckett

They hold all their food to high standards. They screen. This is important to me. They screen for 200 additives, including high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and preservatives. Their meat and seafood has no hormones or antibiotics and they also offer organic and non GMO produce.

Susan

You're going to love hungryroot as much as we do. For a limited time, get 40% off your first order plus get a free item in every box for life.

Beckett

Go to hungryroot.com chicks and use code chicks.

Susan

That's hungryroot.com chicks. Code chicks to get 40% off your first box and a free item of your choice for life.

Beckett

We got to get up close and personal with another major artisan and went to the Second Presbyterian Church that is full of the works of Tiffany.

Susan

The windows in this church are mind boggling. They each were donated by a very wealthy family and the church has been there for a very long time. The congregation at this time has. It's shrunk and I think they said it was down to like 150 people, but there was 150 people that filed in and out of that place while we were there. So they're getting, they're getting the traffic. If you're in Chicago, it's really worth taking the time to go visit it and getting a tour from one of the docents there and seeing these windows. All of the windows had been donated by the original congregants. And these are names, big names. For instance, one of the recently refurbished windows was donated by the Marshall Field family who lived just around the corner.

Beckett

These knowledgeable docents even educated us on the different techniques one used while blowing glass, the different kinds of leading. Do you or do you not assume the leading is part of the design or is the eye supposed to ignore it? Things I'd never thought about. We had a stained glass artist with us on the trip and who was blown away, blown away by the fact that they're like, yeah, reach out and feel how rough this is. That's on purpose. Blah, blah, blah. Where else are you going to reach out and touch something made by Tiffany, you know what I mean? In a museum. Never gonna happen. So we loved that. And also a lovely walk through the formerly elite neighborhood that the Glessner Museum is housed in. We saw mansions of days gone by, most of which have not survived, but new mansions have been erected in the style that respects the historical nature of the neighborhood, which I think is relatively rare. And I can respect it.

Susan

If you do take a walking tour of the area, they'll explain that these houses, like the Glessner House, were basically in view of the lake. They were water view houses. But now you can't even see the lake from there because the city has been built up so much, you know, out into the lake, due to building on landfills originally from the Chicago Fire and other things. Over time, they used it as a landfill, and now it houses blocks and blocks and blocks of the city of Chicago.

Carmen

Hi, all you chicks and roosters. This is Carmen from Arlington, Mass. This was my first field trip and I had the extra joy of traveling with my teenage daughter, Ellie. Ellie said her favorite stop was the Museum of Science and Industry, but I suspect it was actually a tie with the Second City comedy show organized by Amy, with an able assist from Ravi. Thanks to both of you. The stop that stayed with me the most was one that Laura later told me she added on. While another group visited the Glessner House, our group walked to the Second Presbyterian Church of Chicago. On the outside, it's formal and gothic, and inside it's stunningly arts and crafts. It actually got its National Historic Landmark listing because of the interior. There was so much rich color, warm carved wood murals, and 175 angels, including several giving excellent side eye. The best part, though, were the stained glass windows. When you walk in, 18 huge windows let a ton of deep, brilliant colored light flood the sanctuary. I'm an amateur stained glass maker and it just made my heart ache with the sheer wonder and beauty of it. Even cooler. The docent on our tour took us up into the balcony and allowed us to touch and interact with the glass. Did you know that Tiffany Studios pioneered ways to make glass fold like fabric or look like feathers? I was in awe. When I learned that a significant number of the window artisans were women nicknamed Tiffany Girls, I realized I had a brand new rabbit hole to go down and I can't wait to learn more. Thank you to Beckett, Susan, Laura, Jamie, and all the chicks and roosters who made us feel so welcome.

Jamie

Hello, this is Jamie. I work for Laura at Like Minds Travel. Every time the recap episode rolls around, I. I really love hearing what everyone highlights as their moment of the trip. And for me, of course, our dance parties are legendary and that is always usually my trip. I was incredibly impressed with the Second Presbyterian Church of Chicago tour that we took. Inside, you're just greeted with huge, beautiful Tiffany stained glass windows. And our guide kind of talked about the restoration process that they're hoping to get the windows through. It's incredibly tedious and incredibly expensive. I think the number of one of the windows just to have it restored was about $700,000. So they're incredibly historical and beautiful pieces of art and it was such, such an honor to get to see them and spend some time with them. If you are interested in learning more, you can visit their website. They're always taking donations as this is a painstaking and very expensive process, but so worth keeping these pieces of art and making them accessible for all. So thank you, Susan and Beckett and Laura for another great trip.

Beckett

We also took a trip to the Hull House Museum. The settlement movement in America began in Chicago with Jane Addams, and careful curation has been done with artifacts and stories there. So we took a visit to the Hull House. And also while we were there, I was within striking distance of yet another childhood scenario, Mario's Lemonade, which sells Italian ice and has since the 1950s. There's only one location, and it is a. Wait till you see the picture. A rickety little shack kind of constructed in front of a row of houses that you would have thought the codes department would have taken away decades ago. But it is a Chicago institution and city. Grandma and Grandpa used to take the grandchildren there, and we'd wait in line, and I'd get my, like, horribly blue, blue raspberry. We call them slushies, but I think Grandpa always told us, like, they're Italian ice. Here in this block, we do not say slushy, but. And they have so many flavors that I could have gotten. But out of nostalgia, I got a blue raspberry and walked back just as happy as happy. So hooray.

Mary

That I had.

Beckett

I mean, it was only 15 minutes away, and I burned all the calories running there that I ate, eating the Italian sauce. I know.

Susan

I was like, where did. I looked around. I'm like, where's Beckett? And the next thing I know, I'm getting a text from you standing in front of Mario's. Oh, she made it. I was so happy for. But just walking into the Hull House, knowing what we do about Jane Addams and the entire settlement house movement, it's almost like walking into a church.

Carmen

There's just.

Susan

It's not, you know, elaborate. There's some beautiful displays in the main room of what the area looked like when it was Hull House and the entire campus of it, because right now, it's not there anymore. The only remaining building is this house. But it just feels so. Oh, what's that word? When you walk into a church and you're just overcome with emotion that whatever that word is, that's how it felt to me. Like, thank you, Jane. This is amazing.

Rose

This is Rose from Cigna Mountain, Tennessee. I was fascinated to learn about Jane Addams and the Hull House Museum. It was a reminder of what two, three women could do to impact a whole community of immigrants from all different cultures. It was so inspiring. I must say that the camaraderie that I experience on a regular basis all these trips now is one of the most wonderful things that I enjoy. This trip could have been to the Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, and I would have gone to that just to experience the camaraderie. Thank you.

Beckett

On day three, we hit a couple of spectacular museums and yet another culinary treat from my childhood. First stop, the Chicago History Museum.

Susan

I had never been here before, and I had always wanted to go when I first read about it, and I just never got there to do it, and I was missing out. And I think I speak for everybody who was on this trip loved this museum.

Beckett

This is the first place that I ever learned about those artists called the white rabbits that finished all of the massive statues that went on the tops of the buildings at the World's Fair. The artist that was to complete them was falling far, far behind, and all of his regular male compatriots were busy on the same type of task. He went to the World's Fair committee and said, look, I can finish this work, but in order to do that, I'm going to have to hire women, skilled women of my acquaintance. They're my students. They're all women. I'm going to have to hire them. And the board reportedly said, I don't care if you hire white rabbits, as long as it gets done on time. And so this group of young women sculptors made what arguably are some of the most visually stunning pieces at the World's Fair.

Carmen

Yeah.

Susan

And speaking of the World's Fair, they have a collection at the Chicago History Museum of dioramas and of Chicago throughout the ages. But there are several of the 1893 World's Fair. So you can. I mean, you're not there, but you can see everything. You know, how it looked and where things were placed and proportions of things. And I think I got stuck in that room for the longest time. There was one diorama that showed what Chicago would have looked like about the time that Bertha Palmer had moved there. And it was actually a lot more developed than I had in my head. Yeah. So I just.

Deanne

I don't know.

Susan B.

I just.

Susan

I loved this room. I love this museum. I was the person that was in a far room reading about Emmett Till, and I realized I had to leave it. I had to walk away because the bus was leaving. So I. That is definitely someplace I would really like to go back to and spend even more time there.

Beckett

On a slightly lighter note, this is happening to me increasingly. Many times. I turned the corner in a temporary Latino Experience in Chicago exhibit, and what, to my wondering eyes, should appear but my techniques. 2100 turntables from my DJ days in a glass case. And I thought, okay, it was one thing when my childhood Speak and Spell was in a case down here at the toy museum. But this is from when I was cool and I felt a little bit of a way. So I pushed the button and it played some house music. And I, probably on camera, but otherwise hidden, grooved out for about a six minutes. Belle. Nobody saw me but the security guard, who probably rolled his eyes and went off to get a coffee.

Susan

But like, oh, yeah, Gen X. I know her.

Beckett

Yeah, so there it goes. That will happen to me, to all of us at some point. Like going through the antique store going, oh, I. Oh, I had this. I wonder if this one is actually mine. Looking for your name on an old lunchbox.

Susan

Right, right, right.

Elizabeth

Funny.

Beckett

Oh, Chicago History Museum.

Susan

You wound me and yet delighted us all at the same time.

Beckett

Yeah, it was great.

Cindy

Hi, this is Cindy from Nashville, Tennessee. And I just wanted to say thank you to Laura and Jamie and Susan and Beckett for another fun weekend. And something that surprised me was the Second Presbyterian Church with all the beautiful stained glass windows, and some of them, particularly being Tiffany. The people working there were so knowledgeable and gave us a great history of the church. And then the restoration of the windows, and they were just breathtaking. And then the second thing I wanted to call out was Josh Anderson from the Chicago History Museum. He was so welcoming and full of information and so eager to help. The Chicago History Museum was a great museum to understand Chicago's history. And then he was just the icing on the brownie.

Beth Shelley

Plus, the Palmer House was wonderful.

Cindy

Thanks so much for a great time.

Beckett

And then we went to Lou Malnati's for arguably, you can fight me and people will fight me. The best pizza in Chicago. There's a couple of places, maybe even like three places, that fight for supremacy. And I think if you're born into one family, Lou Malnati's family, you may not have ever tasted the competitors. You really genuinely probably don't know that yours is the best, but you've been brought up to believe it is, and you're going to stand by it. And I stand by Lumel Nadis.

Susan

I'm going to go on the record as saying that I think deep dish pizza is really a casserole, and it's not my favorite thing. Although I will say that my rehearsal dinner for my wedding was at a Giordano's, and we had, oh, deep Disney pizza table. Oh, my goodness, you are so.

Beckett

You're.

Susan

You're Lou loyal, aren't you?

Beckett

This is like Montague's and Capulets in Chicago. And, you know we make a little bit light of it, but it's kind of serious. Like those restaurants in, Gosh, like about an hour and a half from here. There are two chicken restaurants called Chicken Annie's and Chicken Mary's. And they were born out of cousinly squabble. But now they operate functionally identical chicken restaurants within a parking lot's view of each other. And people are ardently for one or for the other.

Susan

Wasn't that in Brooklyn? There are two pizza places.

Beckett

Oh, yes. Yeah, Juliana's and Grimaldi's. Drama. The original Grimaldi sold the restaurant and the people that were in the family, I don't know. It's a big deal and they've gone to court over it.

Susan

I don't know which one you and I went to, but Juliana. Okay, well, it was very good pizza, actually. Pizza, not casserole.

Beckett

Yeah, I don't want to be. Okay, so please don't haul us into court. Grimaldi's and Juliana's. I think people can like what they like, but we, yeah, we went to Juliana's. If you have in your town or state or in fact country anything like this, I would be so interested to read about it. I'm just so fascinated by the concept of not friendly rivals either. Like rival rivals who are in it to win it, at least in the minds of the public. So please send us some of those stories because I love that.

Susan

I love that there's both places still in existence and they have their fans adherence.

Jamie

Yeah, they have their.

Beckett

Exactly.

Susan

And you know what? And if you're being really dark, you know, maybe drumming up some kind of rivalry like that would be a good marketing ploy. I don't know.

Beckett

See, Pepsi versus Coke, man, what would Coke be without some second place contenders?

Susan

I'm going to agree with you on that one.

Nancy R.

But yeah,

Susan

I am seeing so many of my kids friends having babies right now. And I also know that they're cat lovers. And I keep thinking the Whisker litter robot would be so handy for them. You know, there's so many things that you have to do as a new parent before you have the baby, there's all that nesting. And after you have the baby, there's all that everything. And what a relief it would be to have the Whisker litter robot. It is the world's leading self cleaning litter box.

Beckett

It automatically cycles after every time your cat or cats use it. So you are not yourself having to handle any cat waste or scoop daily at all. Plus, being an advanced technological product, the Whisker app Gives you real time notifications on usage, your cat's weight, which I don't know. My cats are both very rotund to the point where my son walks in and says I have to put these cats on a regime.

Susan

The big cat.

Beckett

But yes, if I, if I would like to track that, it's available to me. Or more importantly, it lets you know when your little robot needs attention, which is certainly not every day.

Susan

It's good for new parents, it's good for empty nesters. And in the middle I gave one of these to my 21 year old son. He has two cats. He loved this app and okay, he's a 21 year old guy but he showed it to me and it was very user friendly.

Beckett

So I have two cats. They're fastidious when it comes to cleanliness, like many cats are. And they have stopped coming to tell me about the litter box.

Susan

How about that?

Beckett

I like that they talked to me, but that wasn't the conversation I really liked to have. So now it handles it for me.

Susan

Well, Noah has the Litter Robot 5 for Pepper and Yankee. But Whisker has a full lineup of automatic litter boxes and models for every growing family. And litter robot bundles make it easy to get fully set up while saving you money.

Beckett

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Susan

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Beckett

that's an additional 50% off bundles with code chicks@whisker.com chicks.

Susan

Speaking of liking what you like, while we were in Chicago there was obviously it's a big city. There were several things going on. But the one that fascinated me and delighted me the most was a Pokemon convention. And there were people dressed in their Pokemon gear collecting their Pokemons all over the city. And they were having such a wonderful time. I love subcultures even if I don't understand them. I just love watching them. And this was a great opportunity to do just that.

Beckett

The Field Museum, which is the Natural History Museum most famous for the dinosaur named Sue. I do believe in Chris Graham's life. At one point they had a Harley Davidson exhibit he still talks about. I'm not really sure how that fell into the Natural History Museum, but there you go. They had an exhibit that ran concurrently with this Pokemon Go convention that was the fossil history of Pokemon. And it was so good and cute and all the posters were along the Facade. Everyone was so happy. It was a little rainy, and the organizers distributed these little teeny tiny umbrellas because you have to have your phone out to play this game or live this lifestyle. I don't know if they call it a game or not. I am not trying to be, you know, I just don't know the lingo. But everybody had these teeny, tiny little umbrellas that covered just your phone so that you could continue to play even though it was in the rain. And I have to tell you, that was genius. I kind of want one.

Susan

Yeah, it took me a while because I'm like, looking, is that for the sun? I. I saw them on people's phones before it clicked. Finally. Oh, they're all wearing Pokemon gear. I guess it's a Pokemon thing. Yeah. That was really brilliant.

Beckett

Simultaneously, Chicago was playing host to the Jazz festival. There was a lot going on. For any kind of demeanor in Chicago, it was pretty cool.

Sally

My name is Sally and this is my first field trip with the chicks. I loved every minute. I went by myself. I met lots of new friends and, oh, the city of Chicago is a beautiful place. I think my favorite part was the Chicago History Museum. Just absolutely lovely. So many wonderful things. Exhibits that change all the time. We couldn't have picked a better time to be there. Let's see, there was Jazz Fest, Pokemon Litfest, and just walking around a beautiful city. I'd do it again in a minute.

Nancy R.

Hi, this is Nancy R. From Pennsylvania. I thoroughly enjoyed the Chicago field trip, especially seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Seeing the skyscrapers from land and from the water, the interesting places we toured and tasty meals made for a wonderful experience. Like many listeners, I am fascinated by the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the World's Fair. I enjoy the exhibits related to the exposition on display at the Chicago History Museum. I admired the intricate details of the diorama of the fair reflected on Ida B. Wells protests about the negligence of black Americans experience at the fair. Cheered for the recognition of Bertha Palmer's role in the fair's organization and snapped a picture of the map of the fair that was useful to follow as we had our bus tour of where the fair had been. I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to view all sorts of items related to Chicago's popular culture at the history museum. My thanks to Beckett, Susan, Laura and Jamie for a terrific time in Chicago,

Susan

my kind of town, that day. We had also gone to the Museum of Science and Industry, and that building is one of the only two, the other being the Art Institute, which wasn't technically on the fair grounds, the only two buildings remaining from the 1893 World's Fair. It did not have the church experience for me walking inside, but I've been there many times, and it's a wonderful museum. So much to see and so much to do. You really have to plan out where you're gonna go and be prepared because it's a children's attraction. There's a lot of kids, which is fine. It's lovely. It brought me back to when my kids were little.

Beckett

I liked watching them, the things I liked there. The kind of airplane that Bessie Coleman flew during her barnstorming days was there, hilariously mounted upside down. Wink, wink. So good. Also, traditionally, I love Colleen Moore's Dollhouse, which is a classic attraction. It's been there for years. Real chandelier makers made the chandeliers. Real furniture makers made the furniture. Teeny tiny Aubusson rugs were woven on teeny tiny looms, type of thing. I love it very much. I made a beeline for that. It's not, you know, very sciency, but it is industry. True captains of all kinds of decorative industries had a hand in making this. And then, of course, a visit to the baby chicks. Yes, and a complete avoidance, at least on my end, of the sliced up people, which for one of our listeners, was a strong attractant. So while looking up where they were and directing her to that location, it gave me also a guideline of which staircase not to take.

Susan

Yes, that's funny. Yeah, I missed that one, too. They also had an Anne Frank exhibit reproduction of the house, the annex. I didn't go in there. I had actually been to the real one just a year ago. She definitely brags, but a lot of people were able to go in and see that and experience that. I personally spent some time in the plastic waste section. I'm not saying by sitting by a garbage can, there was a whole exhibit of plastic waste in oceans, which is very near and dear to my heart. Every time afterwards, I was given a plastic cup or I had the opportunity to get one, I didn't want to take it. Or a straw. I kind of weaned myself off of straws. But it's a good reminder there was

Beckett

something for everyone at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Susan

What there wasn't for us, however, was a walking tour. We were supposed to have a walking tour of where the grounds of the 1893 World's Fair was. However, it was raining buckets that one day we had perfect weather every other Time. But that one afternoon, it was pouring down, and we just couldn't do the walking tour. So they broke us up into a couple groups, and we did basically the outskirts of the tour with the tour guide on the bus.

Beckett

And guess what we got to see. It wasn't technically open to the public, but we did catch the first sighting of the Obama Presidential Center. The outdoor grounds were open. There's a playground going in. There's a branch of the Chicago Public Library. So many of the things are named after other people. It's genuinely a large community center. And I read something so cool, Susan, after a comment that our guide made that it was a brutalist structure. There is something that I learned about brutalism as an architectural movement that I thought was interesting. And I know somebody thought of it and just kept it in their back pocket, like, let's see if anyone gets this reference. But. But brutalism as an art form is. I'm gonna put all the framework on the outside. This is very honest. All buildings have bones. All buildings have infrastructure to keep them strong, and we clad them in other materials. But I am just gonna show you how I am.

Susan B.

Okay.

Beckett

Says the building. Yeah. That choice almost seems like a message. Like this building. I'm just gonna show you who I am.

Susan

Oh, yeah.

Beckett

And I'm not gonna have any facade.

Dana Jacques

Right.

Beckett

And it's very striking when you see it close up. And if you're out on the water and you see it in the skyline, it fits in perfectly. It's almost like they designed it for the proper height to make the skyline flow in each direction. Anyway, I was very impressed.

Susan

Yeah, me too.

Beckett

And I wish we could have gone in. We got there about one week too

Susan

early, and then one of my friends who was on the trip, she went and looked, and there was no tickets until, like, November. And it's. So we probably couldn't have gotten in anyway.

Beckett

But one thing to see if you do go back and get tickets is the fruit and vegetable garden, or food forest type of thing is named after Eleanor Roosevelt.

Carmen

Lovely.

Susan

I think it's very cool. And the cooler thing for me is that it sits where the women's building was during the fair. It butts up to the area where the women's building was. So the Obama Presidential Library and the women's building from the 1893 World's Fair Share landscaping, I guess.

Chris

Loved it.

Beckett

Right.

Mary

Hi.

Beth Shelley

This is Beth Shelley. This is my fourth trip with the history chicks. I live a little north of Chicago, so it was really fun to get down to the big city and see things through new eyes. My favorite place was the Museum of Science and Industry. I really enjoyed the Paul Tazewell costumes. He did Hamilton the Wiz, Wiz, Wicked west side Story, and he had some wonderful moments. And an exhibit of the puppets he made with his mother as a youth. Newest thing, Chicago History Museum. The dioramas were really cool of all of the world's fair exhibits and I will have to come down and see that again. It was fun reconnecting with old friends and meeting new friends. And thank you, Beckett and Susan, for all of your historical podcasts. You bring us together in knowledge. And Laura, thank you for making these trips unforgettable. And it was really nice being with Jamie again too. So thank you.

Elizabeth

Bye.

Beckett

Over the course of our entire trip, we build in days that people can load up with their own, what we call side quests. Things that have grabbed you that might grab others. You know, bring some friends along, cross something off your bucket list, explore something new you learned about, roll the dice, frankly, and go somewhere new. And we would like to let some of the listeners that were with us tell you about the side quest that they discovered on their own personal journey, parallel to the one that we were taking.

Carmen

Hello, this is Chris.

Chris

And my favorite things besides the whole trip in Chicago was two side quests, both of which involved dinners. One was to the Girl and the Goat, which was organized by Beth and Nancy. We had a bunch of different tables. We were all able to share food. It was just a wonderful time, taking the L out, getting to know people, bonding over a meal. We had a wonderful time. And the second meal was a few of us went to a Balkan restaurant. One of my favorite things to do when I'm in a city is to try a cuisine that I've never had before. And so getting to share Balkan food with other people who've never had it before was a wonderful experience. We had some new favorites and we're all raring to go back. Thank you to Susan, Beckett and Laura for again planning a wonderful expedition.

Carmen

Cheers.

Beckett

Okay. Summer in the Midwest has just hit the humidity. I don't know what the exact percentage is. It is just bar in the two digits.

Susan

It's pretty high. But with that comes heat, and with that comes our summer wardrobes. And I know I speak for myself and you, Beckett, that a lot of our wardrobe comes from quints.

Beckett

Yes, yes, absolutely. They have high quality essentials made in breathable fabrics like linen, organic cotton, washable silk. But what they don't have is the luxury markup.

Susan

And Their styles are just classics. I have a European linen sleeveless swing dress. I think this is third summer and it looks amazing. It just gets softer with every wash and that. Wash machine, wash, tumble dry. A linen dress.

Beckett

I'm obsessed. Also 100% European linen with the smocked midi dress. And I have it in multiple colors. And the gingham is the cutest of all time. It is like you should see me out there in this garden. I'm wearing this dress and these ridiculous Wellingtons that have birds on them and watering and I'm feeling like I wish somebody could see me right now. And then you can just literally take the Wellingtons off, obviously scrub under your fingernails and meet some friends for frozen French 75s at the Little French place down the line. Okay. Love it. It goes everywhere. It is the best thing. And it's just, it's, it just like speaks summer to me.

Susan

And I mean, I don't usually reach for jeans too much in summer, but you and I are getting ready. Go on another trip. And I am bringing a pair of my Quint jeans, the Bella stretch jeans with patch pockets and wide legs. And what I as a 5 foot 2 woman appreciate is that they come in different lengths. I love these jeans so much.

Beckett

Everything at Quint is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands that you will find. And they work directly with factories, ethical factories at that, and cut out the middlemen. So you're still paying for quality and not brand markup.

Susan

And Quince is not just a destination for clothing. It's also a destination for elevated essentials in your home, like bedding.

Beckett

I have some Italian leather travel like cosmetic bags.

Susan

Just go check them out at Quints. There's so much in there. Elevate your summer wardrobe. Go to quince.com chicks for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns

Beckett

now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N c e.com chicks for free shipping and 365 day returns.

Susan

Quince.com chicks.

Meg

Hi, this is Meg from Virginia. I had a very special side quest and I want to give a shout out to my new history, Chickie Kelly from Cincinnati to help me with this side quest. My mother grew up in Chicago through the age of 5 years old and she had very, very fond memories of the house that she grew up in. She was living with her mom post war World War II. It was her grandmother's house and her great grandmother lived there at the same time. She had given me the address to the house. And I made it my mission to find this house in South Chicago and send the picture back to my mom. So with Kelly's help and a wonderful Uber driver, we drove the 30 minutes down past Jackson park down into this neighborhood, and we actually found the house. I could have cried. It was exactly as my mother had described it. It was a 1920s Craftsman house that my grandparents had bought, my great grandparents had bought in the early 1920s. And I was able to send my mother pictures of me in front of the house. The most beautiful thing about it is when I got a reply back, my mother sent me a black and white photo taken in 1947 of my mother, aged two, with her mother, her grandmother, and her great grandmother. So four generations of women from my family sitting on the front porch of that house, and I will cherish that memory forever. Thank you so much, Beckett and Susan, and of course the indomitable Laura Hart for making this Chicago trip possible and for making this little personal piece of of my family history possible as well. Till next time, ladies, we're going to keep on with the history. Love ya.

Teresa H.

Hi, this is Teresa H. From Illinois. So many good things about this Chicago trip. A highlight for me was a side quest Wednesday when we walked from the Palmer House to Navy Pier and up to the water tower. On the way back, we stumbled upon the Dry House Museum. It's a lovely Gilded Age home with an ornate architecture and furnishings as well as an impressive art collection. The craftsmanship of the wood, the tile work, and all the Tiffany lamps were amazing and surreal. The stained glass dome in the art gallery was so beautiful. We saw a punch bowl that was made by Tiffany and displayed at the 1893 Columbian Exposition that was in the dining room. Thanks, Laura, Becca, and Susan for another great history Chicks field trip.

Beckett

Hi, this is June.

June

I want to thank Beckett, Susan, and especially Laura Hart for arranging another fabulous history Chicks field trip. My favorite experience in Chicago was a side quest I took on the Chicago river on a Chicago architecture tour. I was amazed at how they blended old and new buildings and the varying types of architectural styles that take advantage of the tight spaces in the city. I also learned how amazing the whole river system is in Chicago and the many ways they have developed bridges over the years to make communication and transportation possible. They also talked about how much the city was built on landfill going out into Lake Michigan, largely with debris from the Chicago fire. It was amazing experience and another fabulous trip.

Susan

A lot of these travelers are there solo and what we do or what Laura Hart of Like Minds Travel does is set up a WhatsApp group just for the travelers of the tour, like six months before the tour actually happens. So just like Beckett and I met online, all of these travelers get to meet online and they, they plan things. They might say, I want to go to this place or does anybody want to join me? I just love the WhatsApp groups because you might think you're going to be meeting with a stranger and you meet them online, but once you are in person, they're not a stranger, they're a friend. And you're off on your side quest, adventure or one of our group excursions and you have someone to sit with and talk with. And I just love that these trips encourage people to travel solo because you're not really solo once you get there.

Beckett

Unless you want to be. Right?

Elizabeth

Hi, this is Elizabeth, a first time field tripper. The Chicago field trip really brought to life for me so many women from the History Chicks podcasts. I got a kick out of staying at Palmer House, where the first brownie was created. And I love the fact that Palmer House bought the first commercial dishwasher invented by Josephine Cochran. As for side trips, I love the tour I took of a Gilded Age mansion that's now the Drie House Museum. The original owners bought a souvenir sculpture from the 1893 Columbia Expo that was so big that it's still in the home, even though the original owners moved out a century ago. And thanks to our tour bus guide's recommendation, I experienced Flyover in Chicago, something I would not have thought of doing. It was intense to virtually fly around the city. Everyone I met on the trip was friendly and interesting, and I'm reminded of that when I see updates in our group, WhatsApp. I didn't expect WhatsApp to become such a fun collective souvenir. Thank you to Susan, Beckett, Laura and Jamie for a fun and memorable experience.

Amy

Hey, this is Amy from Seattle and I wanted to share two highlights from the field trip to Chicago. The first highlight was my side quest to Second City. I invited you ladies along for the ride and much to my surprise and delight, over 20 of you joined me for an evening of improv. It was just awesome and I'm so glad so many new friends decided to join me. The second highlight for me was the end of trip cruise. I absolutely loved seeing Chicago from the water and seeing it at sunset. It was just spectacular. And then we danced the night away under the fireworks and well, I don't think there could have been a better end to the trip. Thank you ladies and I look forward to seeing you again on another field

Beckett

trip on day four, the last full day we dropped ourselves into. It's like, oh, it's a place.

Elizabeth

It's a very.

Beckett

I call it a sticky place, meaning I get there and I'm stuck. There's so much to look at and so much to read that I can't get out of there. I mean, they don't physically restrain you, but they mentally restrain you. You got a lot. You got a lot to get through. I love the Art Institute of Chicago. Some of the things that we encountered, and I always love this. When we go through an art museum, people keep sending pictures to the WhatsApp. Look, I found an Edmonia Lewis sculpture. Like, look, here's a portrait of Bertha Palmer. I found a Georgia Keeffe on the stairs. And everybody is directing people to different galleries, telling stories. I encountered Suzanne Valadon's face in multiple galleries. And not only that, I discovered Suzanne Valadon's face on paintings that Bertha Palmer once owned.

Ravi Shahani

I know.

Beckett

Amazing.

Susan

That absolutely is. And the Art Institute is one of my traditions from when I lived there. I used to have Mondays off from my job, and so I would go downtown. My husband and I would have lunch, and I would just go hang out at the Art Institute until he was done with work and we would take the train back together. So it was like old home week for me. And I just went to my favorites, including the miniature area. You could be in this miniature area forever. And my mom especially loved the miniatures. She just loved staring at them and looking at the different eras. What they are is small dioramas of rooms from different areas, from all different places. You can see what it looks like in 1700s Massachusetts, like, for real. That's what it looked like. It's fascinating.

Beckett

I would like to pitch if you are within striking distance of Kansas City and like a miniature just down the road from my house, there is, as far as I know, might be the premier toy museum. It's the Toy and Miniature Museum, the one that mounted the Speak and Spell that gave me adjective. But. But other than that, spectacular. They also have an entire lower floor full of dollhouses and miniature rooms. So if you are closer to Kansas City than Chicago, this is one itch that you can scratch locally. Also at the Art Institute, over and over, every time I went, Grant Wood's American Gothic was loaned out. And so instead of seeing our familiar frowning couple with a pitchfork and a little house in the background, what I saw was a card saying, oh, I'm so sorry we've been loaned out to this museum or that museum and while I like that it travels and that more people see it, I had not seen it in years until this trip.

Laura Hart

Yay.

Beckett

So I was happy to see them.

Susan B.

Hi, this is Susan B. Or the other Susan. While this trip to Chicago was not my first one, it was one of the few times when I was not traveling for work work. So I was excited to be able to get out of the hotel and explore the city and Chicago. You did not fail. There is history, art and food around every corner and I honestly feel that it would take weeks to do justice to this place. The exhibit that made me the happiest was the Miniatures at the Art Institute of Chicago. 68 Tiny replicas of rooms from different eras of world history with so much detail from the books on the shelves, the handmade carpet, carpets, the wood and the carpeting on the floor, the wall coverings and the light coming from the connecting rooms. It was the dollhouse of my dreams. A dollhouse I would never allow anyone to touch. When I first entered this exhibit, I thought I might spend 30 minutes at most. So imagine my surprise when I walked out of there an hour and a half later and only left because they were getting ready to close the museum. Thank you Laura for another amazing trip. To Beckett and Susan for helping to create this amazing community of like minded history nurses, nerds and to all my old and new friends, thank you for the friendship and the laughter. Cannot wait to travel with you all again soon.

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Ravi Shahani

Foreign.

Dana Jacques

Hi, this is Dana Jacques. I wanted to talk about something that surprised me. I had a secondary theme of the trip which was that of miniatures. The first occurrence was at the Frances Glessner Lee childhood home where we saw a mock up of one of her amazing crime scenes. And then at the Museum of Science and Industry there was Colleen Moore Moore's famous fairy tale house that was extremely extravagant and beautiful with diamonds and emeralds and platinum and stairs without banisters for fairies. It was just incredible. And then lastly the Thorn miniature rooms that Were recreations of very famous rooms in both Europe and the United States, Preserving the legacy of all of these historical places. I thought this was amazing and it brought me a lot of joy and really reminded me of my childhood and spending time with my grandmother, who was very into miniatures and actually made some of her own, including little mini Pampers. Anyway, this was. Was so wonderful and enjoyable, as was the entire trip.

Carmen

Thank you.

Ravi Shahani

Hi, my name is Ravi Shahani and I was one of two roosters on the trip. For the first day, I was the only rooster on the trip. So I'd like to start by encouraging more chicks to invite the roosters and more roosters to agree to go on the trip. Because I had a great time. Everyone was very nice to me. I highly encourage. This side quest that we went on that I really enjoyed was I had a goal for the trip of recreating some of the scenes from Ferris Bueller's Day off that were shot in the Art Institute of Chicago with history chicks. And I was pleasantly surprised how many of the chicks agreed to participate in this exercise with me. Carmen was especially helpful in organizing this. Susan, Becky. It agreed. You know, was all set up. Sadly, one of the security guards did not share our passion for this project until this. The video that I wanted to shoot would be disrupted at the museum. But Carmen and her daughter Ellie came to the rescue. We shot some stills of a different scene with one of the famous statues from the movie. So it was still a success in the end. But I definitely really appreciated how everyone was willing to. To to participate.

Beckett

The dinner cruise is a long standing history Chicks field trip tradition. And at the dinner cruise, locals are invited to come join us. And we had almost as many people join us as had been on the trip in the first place. So our group doubled on the boat.

Mary

It did.

Susan

And it was a whole bunch of new people that we got to meet and talk with. There's quieter places, but one of the main draws for this group is the dance floor. So it's active. If there's music being played, there's dancing going on. And on this particular boat, it was topside. The dining was down below and the dancing and the bar were up above.

Beckett

We benefited from a municipal activity that happens every Saturday. We were on the boat in Lake Michigan when the Saturday fireworks went off. It was the most beautiful sight to be on the water, see the skyline all lit up. And then the sky lit up with the glorious fireworks coming, I believe, from Navy Pier. Yeah, and it was nice. Everybody on the water came to kind of a stop and angled their boats properly and watched the sky and our music. He played Katy Perry's Firework. It was the best. And so everyone around us got to. It was like. It was kind of meta. It was really neat. So I really loved that a lot. It was nice to meet so many new people. And the people that were already on the trip integrated right in until we were one big family.

Susan

Yeah.

Beckett

And I love how that happens.

Susan

Me, too. Me, too. People just absorb, like, okay, you're one of us. Let's go get something to eat. Or, can I get you a drink? Or, oh, look, you know, Madonna, let's go dance. I found myself dancing a lot more as dinner cruises go on. I don't know why. I guess I'm getting less inhibited. I don't know. It's like, oh, dance music. Yes.

Denise

Hi, my name is Denise, and I'm from Atlanta, Georgia. Chicago was my fourth trip with the History Chicks. As usual, I had a magical experience with Susan Beckett and my other 52 best friends. It really is hard to pick a favorite, but I think it would have to be the dinner cruise on the Chicago river in Lake Michigan. Chicago is an architecturally beautiful city, and to get to look at that skyline while hanging out with the best people and dancing our hearts out was sublime. Thanks, Laura, for putting together another great experience and for Susan and Beckett, for inspiring the great adventures. My heart is full. Can't wait to see you in Loire Valley.

Laura Hart

Hi, everyone, it's Laura Hart. I just want to thank you all once again for coming on the tour. It's always such a pleasure to organize these tours, and I always hope that you guys have the absolute best time. And I know that when I had the absolute best time, it was our dinner cruise out on Lake Michigan and the river. It was such a delight to be out there with all of you. I felt like we had perfect weather, we had great food, and the dancing and fireworks were just the icing on the cake. It was also so great to meet the local Chicago fans who came in for the dinner cruise. And I actually think this might be my favorite dinner cruise ever. So thank you all for being there, and I can't wait to see you on a future tour.

Susan

Hello, this is Dana. And while my favorite excursion was to the Chicago Institute of Art, I'm going to talk about something a little different and closer to home. Our hotel, the Palmer House Hotel, was spectacular. What a wonderful place to return home

Deanne

to each and every day.

Susan

But even better than that was every morning, starting off with breakfast with your fellow traveler and getting to know them, getting excited about the day and recapping the evening before. It really was such a special time each and every day. And as for the one thing maybe that I learned, it's much harder to dance on a boat than you would think.

Laura Hart

Thanks.

Beckett

So we all got off the bus and blocked the sidewalk for a long time with all the hugs and tears and the promises to see each other next time. The WhatsApp group stays open. The group from it was 2020 when it opened and we didn't go till 2022 because of COVID But the original London group is still active and hanging out. Some of them even travel together. And so it was not goodbye. It was see ya later for all of us. As we drifted in, some people met in the bar, couldn't let it go. We had some more cocktails before we went upstairs. Cocktails and conversation, shaking of hands, swearing of true friendship. I mean, it is amazing how deep the friendships can get in a matter of four days.

Susan

Yeah, these weekend ones, the domestic weekend trips are. It's four days, it's packed with activity, but you still are able to make those connections that you would make on the longer trips.

Beckett

To that end, we still have some spaces left. We will be going to the Loire Valley. It is not in the south of France, but it is south of Paris. I would say the. The midsection where there is a vast system of castles that we will be visiting. It is chateau, chateau, chateau. There will be wine, there will be fromage, there will be castles. Evidently there's going to be tiaras. And there may in fact be a side quest. Riding a hot air balloon across the countryside in France.

Susan

I know that sounded spectacular.

Beckett

Now, keep in mind, that is a side quest.

Susan

Oh, yeah, that is a side quest.

Beckett

It's not required to participate. Also, I do not know if there are any spaces. I would say check and at least get on the wait list. For our trip to Italy, we will be in Rome, we will be in Florence, we will be in, in Venice and Parma and Modena and Siena, we get a wide swath of the highlights there in Italy. And that trip will happen in October. Now, if, like most of us, you need to do some planning, some preparation, lay some spade work, you know, next year we are going to go to Japan, to Scotland, back to Paris, and then our domestic trip will be in San Francisco. So if any of those appeal to you, keep an eye on likemindstravel.com for details. Those last four will happen in 2027, but this year we are still going to be going to the Loire Valley and we will be going to Italy.

Susan

I'm so excited for both of those trips. They're just, just. I'm just so excited. I'm excited for all of that. We will announce when the trips for 2027 open at the very beginning of a show, whenever they open up. So we'll let you know through this particular medium. Paris is gonna be in April, Scotland will be in late June, San Francisco is in September, and Japan is in October. And that brings us to almost the end of this episode. We're going to go out with some of our fellow travelers talking about, about their special memories of the trip as a whole.

Beckett

So we'll be back in two weeks with another episode covering a woman from history. Thank you so much for listening.

Nancy R.

Bye.

Joan Bankston

Hey, this is Joan Bankston. This is my second trip. I went to Paris in 24 and just have nothing but wonderful things to say about all of the women that are involved in this. The visitors and, and the friends I met and renewed on this trip and new friends I made. I just had such a wonderful time. Especially like the Tiffany glass windows at the Second Presbyterian Church. I also really liked the dinner cruise last night. So beautiful to see the Chicago skyline and all of the just beautiful nighttime stuff that we had so much fun. Beth, Sully and I went to a fabric store around the corner from the hotel and had a hard time deciding what to buy. Again, thank you so much. It's a wonderful trip and wonderful women and I certainly enjoyed it. Thank you.

Sally

Hi, it's Debbie. The field trip started with the cocktail party on Cindy's rooftop. It was fun to see old friends and meet new ones. The bus tour showed us a lot of Chicago's beautiful architecture. The rain didn't stop our walking tour of the museums and we got a special drive by of the Obama section. The dinner cruise and fireworks on the lake were a great ending to the trip. Thanks, Susan and Beckett.

Nancy R.

Hello, this is Cynthia. This was my eighth field trip with the History Chicks. And when I first got home and thought about what I wanted to say, I loved the whole trip. And I couldn't think of one thing that stood out to me. I really loved the stained glass windows. I was astounded by the Art Institute and I even made in a couple side quests. Caught a Cubs game at Wrigley Field and went on a ghost tour. But when I started thinking about what I like the best about this trip, it's the people who go on it. You make friends you see your old friends, you make new friends. These are incredible women and some roosters to travel with and they all have like minds. So if you're listening to this podcast and you've never been on a field trip but you're considering it, you should should do it. It's a wonderful experience and so bye.

Beckett

For links and photos of what we talked about today, head to our website thehistorychicks.com Field trip information will be at likeminds travel.com the songs in the middle are Extra Fries by the Fly Guys and Old Chicago by Chester Malone, and the song at the end is the Belle of Chicago March by John Philip Sousa, who wrote this just ahead of the 1893 World's Fair. Some people were grumpy about it at the time. It's too exuberant, too full of power, one of its critics wrote. The maiden who inspired it would seem to be a giantess whose motto might have been I will make a noise. To us, it sounds like women going places and making things happen, which is a good theme for both the show's subjects and our field trips too. See you next time.

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