Visiting Northwestern University...

Veronica was very excited about visiting Northwestern University as she’d already ranked it as her top choice before we’d even arrived. After visiting all seven colleges, Northwestern was still at the top of her list and she’s since decided that she will apply for Early Decision.

The views of Lake Michigan were gorgeous!

While Veronica took an environmental science class, Jimmy and I visited Block Museum of Art, which is on campus. Afterwards, we visited with a professor for a tour of his labs. After 1.5 hours of barely understanding a word, I begged off to join Ashlynn at the hotel; how impressive that a professor would take two hours of his time to talk with a prospective student about research opportunities.

I was originally nervous about the idea of Veronica going to college in Chicago because of the high crime rate, but fell in love with the school and the charming college town of Evanston. We felt it was safe enough that Ashlynn went to a movie and shopping by herself.

Millennium Park in Chicago with Dru...

We had a very early flight to Chicago. We opted to stay in Evanston for convenience getting to Northwestern. We planned to meet Dru, who I served with on the AWC Board for two years; her brother generously offered to pick us up to bring us to meet her at Millennium Park. Little Leah was an angel while we took a ridiculous number of photos of the Cloud Gate, otherwise known as “The Bean.”

I must confess that the below two photos were taken by Veronica, who has a better sense of composition than I do. 

Afterwards, Dru led us down Michigan Avenue, otherwise known as “The Magnificent Mile,” to Lake Michigan. It was great that she could join us for dinner at the infamous Pizzeria Uno, original home of the Chicago deep dish pizza. We did a little shopping, then caught a train back to Evanston.