Move over Tina Turner, you’ve just been replaced as my “Favorite Concert Ever.”

Last night was an evening with the one & only… Sir Paul McCartney!!!
Yes, the Living Legend himself played at Wrigley Field last night. For nearly 3 hours straight!!!
No breaks. No theatrics. No costume changes. Just incredible songs from his immense library.
And it was magical. So endearing. So enduring. My best evening at Wrigley Field ever!!!

So we got to Wrigley Field and the place was a buzz. The entire neighborhood was crowded
and quickly turning into a huge block party! Although it was still quite hot & humid, there was
a nice breeze blowing through our section of the stadium. For awhile…

And then the crowd went crazy as a wonderful collage of McCartney memorabilia began
to scroll down the enormous LED screens. Everyone thought that the show was about to start.
Little did we know that it was going to scroll for about 30 minutes!

And then the show began… and Paul McCartney was wonderful.
He came out with a sport coat on, but with the heat & humidity, that quickly came off.
He made light of it and rolled up his sleeves to get down to business. Sweating through his
shirt, he never stopped. No costume changes for this guy. Just great music!

Endless songs. One classic right after another. All of the McCartney classics.
Many from Wings… and more than I expected from The Beatles. Every one a classic!
Every time a new song began, I was giddy with excitement. Especially when my all-time
favorite Beatles song began… just a few noted in and I was screaming for “Obla-Di, Obla-Da.”
They just kept coming… I never stopped singing… with a silly childlike smirk on my face. The
evening was incredible. He sounded great, looked great and was so personable & endearing.
Great stories shared with the crowd. Great interaction. So incredible to hear the 40,000 people
all singing along with his classic songs. Imagine how that most feel like for him?!
And then the fireworks began… with “Live And Let Die.”

So, after three hours of performing, the 69-year old finally finished his show.
Sweating like the rest of us, and not a single break for a drink of water?! Plus two encores
of three songs each. I didn’t want the evening to end… and with his extensive collection
of songs, I’m sure he could have gone on forever. And I would have been thrilled.

Sir Paul is playing at Wrigley Field again tonight. If you have a chance to score a ticket,
by all means do!!! You will be so glad you went. A chance to see the Living Legend.
I’m even considering going back tonight to camp-out just outside of Wrigley Field for
a “free” concert… another night with Paul McCartney?!!! Could it get any better???

Amazing… simply amazing. And now… my favorite concert ever!!!

The silhouettes are incredible at this time of the morning. With the sun peaking over
the horizon – creating beautiful shadowed reflections in the water. I especially love
how the sun is streaming through the windows of the building on Northerly Island.

And while I was down there already…
I thought I might take a quick trip around Soldier Field. To get a closer look at the
“alien spaceship” that they plopped down on top of the traditional stadium when they
renovated several years ago. Yep… still not a fan!

So there I am, pedaling along the lakefront past Oak Street Beach this morning
and making the stretch down towards Ohio Street Beach. A nice straight-away.
The sun slowly rising. Minding my own business. Having a beautiful ride.

When all of a sudden… somewhere up ahead in the center of the bike path
there was a strange lump. Something too big. Something that shouldn’t be there.
But it was… and when I got close enough to really see it… Imagine my surprise!!!

I’ve had a couple people ask if it was one of those “flying” Asian Carp fish
that they’ve been talking about “invading” the Lake for years. I think there’s
a pretty good chance… but I don’t know for sure! Could it really have jumped out of the
lake and landed about 25-feet away only to become breakfast for the ravens & seagulls?

The storms continued this morning… luckily, on the other side of the lake!
So the sunrise was very striking… lots of clouds, lots of colors, lots of LIGHTNING!!!

As I continued south, the sky lightened up a bit… and the sky turned a beautiful
shade of blue with very dramatic clouds blowing through. And I especially love how
you can see the rain actually falling across the lake.

So there I was, pedaling south… cruising around the corners, watching the “sky show”
all around me. There was a lot of debris on the path from last night’s hail storm. Lots of
leaves, twigs, branches and TREES!!! Yep… there were trees down covering the bike path!

And then… after all of the “obstacles”… the sky continued to get lighter…
but the lightning continued all around. Making this morning a very cool bike ride!

And very “STRIKING.”

As I turned around and started back from Burnham Harbor, I made the bend,
went under the bridge at Solidarity Drive and the Shedd Aquarium was all aglow
with the sunrise reflecting in their windows. Beautiful…

Knowing that I will be returning to the Zoo in just a few hours,
I stopped by anyway for a quick preview. Then home for a quick shower
and off to camp… onto the bus & back to the zoo with my summer campers!

Generally my morning ride keeps me on the North side of the city.
But today, I got to go further south… all the way down to Northerly Island.
Which I realized ironically that Northerly Island is South of the city?!!!
Even if the name doesn’t make sense… at least the view was incredible!

Heading south, I made it through the city and stopped off at Monroe Harbor
as the sun was just cresting the horizon. It was stunning. So quiet. So beautiful.
So glad I got up a little earlier and go to pedal further down the lakefront.

It was a very strange morning along the Chicago lakefront today!
Dark. Foggy. Misty. Hard to see just two feet in front of you!
If you look closely… you “might” be able to see the North Avenue Beach House
just past the row of street lights! I swear it was right there… I swear!!!

And then when I turned around to head home…
it looked as though there was a hurricane blowing in off the lake?!
Is that even possible in Chicago??? Seriously?… it was crazy!!!

So the weather seemed to take a turn for the better today. A little cold & cloudy
in the morning, but the afternoon became sunny and a tad warmer. So I couldn’t
resist… as I head out for a wonderful afternoon bike ride along the lakefront.

And the forsythia were still in bloom – adding a sparkle of yellow along the way!
I love how the Spring colors change from week to week. Different flowers seem to appear
out of nowhere… making the lakefront a never-ending natural palette.

So it was a beautiful ride… and now I seem to have a little sunburn as a little souvenir.
Err… maybe that’s more windburn than sunburn?!