Lake Forest, IL, to Winnetka, IL, to CHITOWN

 We love Chicago. MADELYNNE'Z BIRTHDAY LFG!!!!! Lets ROCKKKK!!! LETS FREAK OUT!!! Anyway, we arrived in Winnetka this morning to a kitchen full of local Winnetkians and hugo spritzz with a special surprised for Madelynne--a candle! Hooray!!!

Francie GHOAT

All we know about today is that we are not allowed to put ketchup on our Chicago hot dogs or we will get jumped. We also took Corinne out for a test drive. We like her. We will keep her. We also informed her that she is credited for this blog and our about me page that is only slightly concerning. 

Francie's girl friends and one boy friend? We cannot really remember his name but we liked him. He came with me to buy my new hat, more on this later. He definitely wanted a girlfriend so bad. Anyways, on our way to the train station we passed by this temple, and there is only one of them per continent:

Ambiguous Temple

I don't know what temple it's for. I think it might be entirely insignificant but it's right here and it's very big. Then, we got on the train, before getting off ten minutes later and bribing the ticket guy with a $20 to let us into the bathroom (authorized personnel only) and would you look at that, he took the bribe! (the world is so corrupt these days). Back on the train, a few JUNIORS in high school got on (heavy emphasis on juniors) that Francie used to babysit, so she said "OMG are yall graduating 8th grade now???" to which one of them, flying up with a hip pop and starbucks pink drink (100% spiked, no one drinks those they are repulsive and also uncaffeinated) "I FEAR we are JUNIORS" and after that, things just got tense. SO awkward. We needed to leave. I am terrified of high schoolers they are evil. We should consider sedating them. 

Once we got off the train, we walked by some janky bar, the Dugout, and Corinne told us that is where she went the day before and everyone was at max 16 and bought all of her drinks. Life hack. 

We enter the game, an hour and a half late, we don't notice. We love baseball and hot dogs.

Baseball players doing baseball

Girls watching baseball players doing baseball

Louisa was ecstatic about her new hat purchase. She texted her aunt immediately. She was also ecstatic. Unfortuneately, Louisa's country upbringing prevented her from proper hat etiquette. 

THIS IS FALSE I was sitting their inhaling my hot dog and Francies ONE BOY FRIEND started yelling at me to flip my hat inside out or we would lose. SO, being the team player I am, I DID THAT. I did NOT realize NO ONE ELSE WAS. 

Even more unfortunately, the Cubs still lost. And Louisa still looks like an idiot.

Louisa putting shame on her family name

At least she tried, though.

Now that we're all putting each other on blast, here's Madelynne singing. 

that wasn't even that embarassing. I hate you.

Time to go out!

So cute. Zooweemama.

Music scene outside Wrigley Field

We first popped over to a lil spot with red horns and sparkly Pink Pony Club drinks in mason jars. Louisa would like a kitchen of strictly mason jars. All was good, especially this one guy who kept reappearing, and in his final appearance he just showed up to our table with a long string of straws he had stuck together and just poked it at Corinne until she would grab the other end. She did not know what was going on. Then again, when was the last time you got a straw sword waved in your face. But it was an invitation to do the LIMBOOOOO. Highlights included when someone yelled make it lower, so that it was a foot off the ground (possibly 3, MAYBE 4), and Francie took on this challenge. 

No comment.

I'm not even going to lie and say this was a success. But we are impressed by the perserverence nonetheless. But after this act, we needed to see ourselves out. So we went to go to the local favorite (for every high schooler in Chicago) THE DUGOUT. What exists at this bar you may ask? A retired high school teacher on the piano, a posse of his students in costume and props that keep spawning out of nowhere, a random taxadermy wolf???? and various young couples hiding in the stairwell to suck face (and when we exited, pretended to be lost and locked inside and suffering...."You saved us!!!" From what? Sin? GIRL. I hate to break it to you but we are NOT in Cin-city (sin city))

High school teacher shredding The Devil Went Down to Georgia

Taxidermy zombie wolf in stairwell with bike.

Girl posing outside of bar

At this point, we bid Corinne and boy friend farewell, and he bought her many tiki hut Cutwaters and just dished out the goss. The rest of us headed over to Al's for a cheesy fry. Louisa found her long lost chili cheese dog, and that's when she knew, she would need to live here (insert immediate text to roommate Libby to look into study abroad programs in Chicago).

You want a piece of this.

This would be the beginning of a series of meals. We soon went home, to order a pizza and salad. Then we went back to uber eats to order another pizza and pasta to the tune of The Proposal (new favorite movie) and Legally Blonde. Even better we got to dish out even more juicy goss with Francie's fam.

Griffin

Griffin about to bite off Louisa's pointer finger.

Chicago, you never fail. Your food shaved years off our lives, and we do not regret it. 

Indianapolis, IN, to Lake Forest, IL

 WOOT WOOT WE WOKE UP!!! And now we're in Lake Forest. We tuned back into our new favorite book that we simultaneously absolutely despise, The Teacher. We drove by quite possibly the largest field of wind turbines we have ever seen. Let's go clean energy.

Sponsored by Clean Wind Energy

Today was probably our most wholesome day thus far. A comeback from punch-bowl gate yesterday. Upon arrival, we parked across my aunt's driveway so that she could not escape from her home if she wanted to. We drove over to Lake Michigan and Louisa's mom's childhood home (hi, Mom— popcorn and Rombauer just don't taste the same without you). Then we strolled around downtown and explored various shops. 

Flowers YAY

Tomato sign YAY

Soon after, we met up at Louisa's Mimi's house for a dinner at the PUB. We got to hear all the lore about Susie being the most difficult child, which made Louisa feel much better <3. I always appreciate mom mom gossip. Afterwards we popped over to Elewa farm across the street where Louisa's aunt used to live in a small cottage. We needed this walk. 

Walkie

Afterwards, we went to get ice cream. And back again Louisa's worst nightmare, aesthetic high schoolers. God, they are the worst. They are so much cooler than me and make me insecure. On our swift exit from the ice cream parlor, Louisa made us walk the long way out so that we would not pass these girls again. Some man was walking in as we were exiting, and tried to make a joke "Y'all must like ice cream." YEA we do. That's why we're in an ice cream parlor and I do not have time for this shi*t I'm running away from eighth graders. But once we escaped, our ice cream evening was enjoyable to say the least.

Ice cream cures all woes.

We sat on the park where Louisa used to chase her shadow as a kid while eating bugs. Afterwards, we went home to cuddle up before our big day tomorrow. Tank you Lake Forest, lovely as always.

Charleston, WV, to Indianapolis, IN

THIS IS FOR REAL!!!! Not embellished. Hey guys. It's us again, this time listening STRICTLY to Wallows (the sound of the summer). We woke up in West Virginia and were heartbroken to leave that city. We peeled back the curtains to reveal the fuel for our journey, Starbies. Madelynne took the wheel. Queue up Rihanna's Shut Up and Drive. 

Louisa need help.

We gunned it and now we are here!! The end!!!

haahahahahahahaha JOKING.

We went ahead and made our first stop in Cinci, the city with no buttons. Ohio has no state sign. They must hate themselves. But here is our five-minute trip through Kentucky:

The Kentucky Sign

Now we find ourselves in CINcity (Sin-city) (hahaahahqhahahaha). I'm experiencing writers block, and will need to take a temporary matcha break. 

Life of a scorned writer

 (note: I swear to God Abby and Pender if you make a pen and paper joke here I will fly home and I will eat you)

We popped over to Maplewood Kitchen and Bar and accidentally asked for five orders of salmon. And overdosed on pickled onions, which apparently are very gut healthy (we're gonna fact check that one).

Lunch was AWESOME I don't know what Grace's problem is.

Then we beep bopped over to the Ohio river and friendship park. And still no Ohio sign. But we did find this other large sign, that wasn't as good, but we'll take what we can get.

Just a couple queens in queen city😂

Next up, these queens decided to pop into the second-best history museum in the country (US News), the Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Our passion for history is great, but after an economic pow wow and financial meeting, we decided to pass. We instead got our kicks at an authentic Cincinnati CVS where Madelynne revived herself with Pepto Bismol chewables. Louisa wants to try them. They look like pretty pink candy. I'm going to try them. Off to Indi we go!!

On the road, we decided to start a thriller podcast about Madam Lalaurie in New Orleans by some guys who were difficult to follow since they would switch between talking about sadistic murders in the Reconstruction era and balls jokes. After an hour of that, we found a thriller audiobook called The Teacher, about murder and like four different affairs. It's the worst book we've ever read (or heard?). But like a car crash, we cannot look away. The entire premise of the book is that one character is obsessed with shoes so she makes out with a shoes salesman and some high schooler has hairy legs (the author harped on this for many beats too long) and is in love with all of her teachers and poetry. I will say, Madelynne is the only one that actually heard the first seven chapters because Louisa and Grace RUDELY fell asleep while she was driving. AT LEAST Louisa tried to keep her left eye open and position herself so it looked like she was staring out the window, contemplating life and super sad, so that no one would disturb her. Grace has no excuse. She tucked into a quilt and just went to bed.

Believe it or not, we made it!! WOW!! We parked the car and checked in to learn that there would be no water. 

Dramatic picture of Madelynne discovering there would be no water, and that we would suffer.

I didn't really care. Showering is so boring. The whole point of a road trip is to skip on the hygiene. Madelynne and Grace accept me for who I am (no, we do not). 

Trying to shake our sea legs, we went for a walk in the local park, White River Park. Suddenly, we saw a long line of alternative girls with their one alternative guy friend who definitely has a secret crush on them. We realized it was the Wallows practicing for their concert that night. I felt like eighth-grade me just might explode. WALLOWS???? (or, as Grace says, the Wallow). We will be attending this function this evening. We noticed a bridge in the distance, and it might be the ugliest bridge we have ever seen in our lives. Like this bridge wins the national ugly award. Louisa mimicked a vomiting spell, both out of disgust for the bridge and in a clever attempt to get her hands on Madelynne's yummy Pepto Bismol. But Madelynne saw through her facade. 

Next up on our walk, we passed by the NCAA headquarters. HOW COOL IS THAT???? Madelynne and Grace got a jolt for athleticism and demonstrated their moves outside the building.

Lacrawesome.

There are no funny puns for soccer. But they're playing soccer.

They nearly got a full-ride scholarship to the collegiate institution of their choosing. However, they passed because of their dedication to ranch life (please give us a bonus if you're reading this). After working up quite the sweat, we retired to our waterless home to get ready for a big night on this here town. That, by the way, is literally OBSESSED with abrahama lincoln. Like, his face is plastered around this city, and he's not even from this state, so I don't really understand what the deal is. Whatever. 

Back in our humble house, we popped open our neon pink Moscato and clinked our glasses together for girls' night. 

Visual proof of excitement for girls' night.

We popped over to Punch Bowl Social for $5 margaritas, forgetting that it is 8 pm and no happy hour on this entire globe extends that late. Alas, we ordered a punch bowl (after asking our waiter if this was the most economically efficient option), and set aside our sorrows. After a few scoops of this punch, which reminds me of prom, it started to feel like love was in the air.

So Louisa went ahead and dumped the rest of the punch bowl into her teacup. 

Louisa did not have the same loving experience. 

We ordered boneless wings, and we've never experienced more judgment from the waiter. YEA we want chicken nuggets, whatcha gonna do about it??? FIGHT ME. 

We pulled up to the Wallows concert excited, and we also forgot that Grace never had a Wallows phase like the rest of us. What a treat! We missed the general age groups, since there were mainly moms with their tween daughters, like a lot of tweeners, and then us. Like those tweeners, we had massive crushes on the main singers; they were stunning, and we are in love. However, unlike them, we have a chance because we are incredibly attractive and of the right age. S*ck it, high schoolers. 

The voice of an angel.

After the concert, naturally, we decided to go out on the town and try to find the other college peeps. This was a struggle and took a couple of tries, and I'm not really sure we were ever successful, but we finally found ourselves in "Hoosier Country," where the only beverage they served, according to the bartender, was forty different flavors of Long Island Iced Tea.

As you can see, we're in "Hoosier Country"

We are so attractive.

I'm a little bit confused, though, because when we looked around the bar, no one else had one. Upon sitting down, a game of heads-up commenced, and Madelynne either cheated (I did not cheat) or has a God-like talent for charades. Soon, the teas started tasting like a Taco Bell Crunch Wrap Supreme, and conveniently, we live next to Taco Bell. On our walk, we got invited to a party at someone's house above Taco Bell, and when we politely declined, they threw a can out the window, and it almost boinked Madelynne in the face. But it's okay, because we still got our crunch wraps and D*NG, they were good. As we settled into our comfy beds to the tune of Cinderella Story free on YouTube, we slipped into slumber and dreamt about the adventures to come in the great state of high taxes and baseball, Illinois.

Madelynne was ready for beddy-bye.

Indianapolis, you treated us right. We thank you. See you in another life. 

Charlottesville, VA, to Charleston, WV

  Hey guys, it's us. Today we woke up on Louisa's couch and went to food with Gus and Brooks at the local sandwich restaurant, Ivy Provisions. I wish we took pictures of our food. Louisa got what Brooks got because I feel like he must eat a lot of sandwiches, so I trust him. Anyway, while Grace did jump squats on the leg press like always (get a grip), Madelynne and Louisa got so excited for their trip!!!!!

I just hit my head writing this lol lol lol ow ow ow. Ok, so we made a quick stop in Robert E Lee's old stomping grounds -- Washington and Lee in Lexington, VA. We got yummy coffee at Pronto and went into Walkabout Outfitters before remembering that we don't have money. Then we took a pic on the cannon (featured below)

Awesome sauce!

Next up, after Louisa's mom texted her: 

We got on the road. I'm not sure WHO let me be the first driver, but it was awesome!!! We got up on Blue ridge parkway and suddenly i could not see anything. Grace said it only got worse, so I equipped myself. She was lying. It wasn't funny.

ANYWAYSSS after a while we got into Buzzfeed quizzes while we ate our chomps (#chompaisn #sponsored) and started out strong with an Italian brain rot quiz. This was Grace's character: 

It's amazing how accurate these quizzes can be. Fyi, this guy, tung tung tung sahur, is a natural-born leader and fierce competitor according to Buzzfeed. For my disney princess quiz i got mulan, which meant i have a personality disorder according to buzzfeed. Madelynne was tied to the roof at this time, so she didn't get to take one. We jumped the border ...

We here b*tch*s!

This was supposed to be the only scenic picture, and it is blurry. But it was really pretty, we swear. Taken on iPhone.

We are in West Virginia!! YAYYYYY!!! This road was long, but once we got into the mountains, it was gorgeous. Grace read us some articles about West Virginia (look into stories about the shadow people and the ghost wolf that guards a farm), which definitely framed the area well, and we will all be sleeping in one twin together tonight (so scary eek!!). Lots of abandoned buildings, but very green, I don't think any of us have ever seen such a green area, and the mountains were gorgeous (might move here lol). We found out that West Virginia is known for pepperoni rolls and coal, so we're going to try one of those before we leave tomorrow. 

Madleynne was entrusted with finding us a restaurant to fill our bellies after a long day. We went to an italian restaurant because well pasta sounded really good (i cant stop thinking about olive garden, which is completely irrelvant but i hope we go at some point) (grace and madelynne just looked at each other and it not only made me feel isolated but also angry) (we're going). 

A little snippet from dinner.

Our waitress was so nice, and we were just staring at the walls while she gave us forty fresh plates for each new dish. We also had dinner with a show. The dirty birds of Charleston, WV, were playing a little game of stick and ball in the stadium next to us. They have Christmas trees and Christmas lights everywhere in the stadium and lots of seating. I wish we had gotten tickets. Next time. After a good dinner, we walked back to our car and drove along the river (Charleston, the city that straddles the river) and decided that West Virginia is gorgeous.

I've never seen Madelynne take a good photo. I'll wait. Also, what is Grace pointing at? Although, I'm sure Madelynne's just trying her best. Aren't we all? God, I can be really mean sometimes. I wonder if i ever hurt my roadtrip partners feelings. Food for thought.

I didn't write that.

im a lover not a hurter.

We got in the elevator at our hotel with another couple who were kind and grace told them goodnight and madelynne got out of the elevator with them and responded to grace, "you as well!" as if this was it for her on road tripping and was just going to bunk up with these two lovebirds. Bye, Madelynne, it's been real! 

So we're watching Bravo Network's The Valley and preparing to drive to Indi tomorrow ✌. We are so excited. We're so excited to have this new blog and will have even more content to come in the futurrreeeeeeee. We're still deciding what we want to title our subscribers, but it'll probably be something along the lines of .... .... ... .............. hm.