We started our day early, because we were up anyway, and wanted to take advantage of being in the heart of downtown Chicago near the lake. So we had a bite of breakfast and set out on a 6-mile walk that took us to the pedestrian trail along the lake, and walked south to the planetarium on the tip of the Field Museum “campus” and then back, enjoying the view of the Chicago skyline and the people watching–lots of runners, bikers, the first walkers, and some people paddling, swimming, sailing, and fishing, too. We stopped for a coffee and croissant break at a lovely French coffeehouse and bakery, but were otherwise just outside and took in the city and the lovely weather–not a cloud in the sky and no wind in the Windy City!
Then we took a bit of a break in our hotel room and had our remaining picnic food for a DYI “room service” lunch; I practiced my paper one more time and ironed my blazer, and at 1 pm went to my conference panel on Charles Chesnutt. Small audience right after lunch, but great papers, and a good discussion plus business meeting of the Chesnutt Association right afterward. Mark in the meantime walked some more (he’ll have tired feet!) and came back with recommendations for the river walk and some serious people watching. So we went back outside, found ourselves a very early dinner at a I am sure Chicago is always very busy, given its size, but between a HUGE music festival (the “Latin Lollapalooza,” Sueños), a Memorial Day parade right down the street our hotel is on, and a bunch of other Memorial Day happenings, plus the glorious weather, everything was thronging with people!
We ended the day by connecting with friends at the conference reception, and then called it a day. Mark got more miles in than me (about 14 miles to my 8!), which is unusual–but both his and my feet are a little sore.