Allyson and I went with our friends, Valerie and Kim, to the American Girl Place in Chicago. Our trip was planned around their 1st Anniversary event for the American Girl Club. We left for Chicago on a Friday morning, stopping briefly for coffee before hitting the highway. You can see me here with the brew! The drive was long, but we were so excited about our “girl’s road trip” that we hardly noticed. We got into Chicago around 4:00 Friday afternoon. We checked into our hotel, the Holiday Inn Downtown, and freshened up. We were on the 17th floor and the view was awesome! Val had promised an authentic Italian restaurant. We had to walk, which excited Allyson no end. We mingled olive oil, parmesan, and ground pepper to our liking and nearly stuffed ourselves on the crusty Italian loaf. Everything was delicious. We all had a wonderful dinner.
The following day we had brunch scheduled at the American Girl Cafe. Brunch was delicious. If you’ve never been to the Cafe at the American Girl Place, you would not understand how adorable the whole thing is. They have the tables set with white linens. The napkins are held by ponytail holders of black and white stripes. The chairs are hot pink polka dots on a black background and tied in the back with a huge hot pink button. The lamps above the tables are covered in hot pink daisies. There are doll-sized chairs that attach to the tables and doll-sized dishes are brought out for each doll guest. It is just too cute to describe. It’s like the ultimate little girl tea party.
After we ate, they gave away prizes. Allyson and Kim both won a new American Girl game. They got to have their picture taken with one of the stars of the American Girl live show that is performed in the theater. After eating came shopping. We shopped ‘til we couldn’t carry any more. Then we had to carry it back to the hotel. After dropping off our bags of goodies, we headed out to see the city. We took in the sights, the shops, the Starbucks.
We took a horse and carriage ride downtown near the lake. It was very relaxing. The horses name was Big Al. While shopping in the Hershey Store, Allyson got the opportunity to be an official Hershey Worker. She got a badge, worker hat, and got to use the candy machine. It was lots of fun. Before heading home, we had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and then (again) stopped for coffee before hitting the highway. We didn’t get in until nearly 2:00 in the morning, but it was a whirlwind trip full of fun just for us girls!
We got the chance to tour 
Once the tour of the cave was over, we all gathered to try our luck at panning for fossils, cave rocks, gemstones and “gold.” Everyone got a can of sand which they poured into a wooden sifter. You can see Allyson using hers in the picture to the left. The sand quickly melts away to leave behind a dizzying array of quality “gold” nuggets and other treasures. We all got rich our first time out. If real life were so simple.
Uh… Did she open something? I can’t see for all the girls. Amid the prairie dog popping up and down of 6 little giggling girls, I took pictures of American Girl doll clothes, My Scene Barbies with all their accessories, handmade cards and Fur Real Bunnies.