My spring break in the Midwest was one of the most stressful but enjoyable trips I have ever taken. For starters, I flew alone. I had never flown on a plane by myself, and I was so nervous. A good thing is that I had flown through DFW airport a couple of times, so I was familiar with it. The only issue was my anxiety because I get anxious about everything. What if they yell at me? What if I have something dangerous that magically appeared in my suitcase? What if I can’t reach the overhead storage on the plane? Aside from my brain questioning everything, my flight got delayed like five times. I was so annoyed and hungry. I finally boarded about an hour after I was supposed to, and to my surprise, I had a whole row to myself. I quickly forgot why I was mad and enjoyed my peace and silence.
Instead of going to the beach for spring break like everyone else did, I decided to visit the Midwest. I left for Indianapolis first to visit my best friends. One goes to Butler University, and the other flew in from Virginia. No shade to the citizens of Indiana, but what do y’all do for fun? I was there for three days and all we did was eat and shop. My friend who goes to Butler did have class, so my other friend and I gave ourselves a tour of the school in the meantime. I liked the campus, but I did not like the journey to the parking lot. It’s a whole adventure in some woods. We did become besties with a bus driver, though. Like TCU, Butler has their version of Froggy 5-0. Instead of a golf cart, they have an actual van. Since we would stay out until dark, we called the driver to take us back to the dorms. He was an interesting man with a lot of jokes. I did have fun hanging out with my friends that I hadn’t seen in months and meeting her new friends. The best part of Indiana, though, was leaving. Kidding. The most fun I had there was going to a party and buying vending machine pizza. Yes, their dorm hall has a vending machine for pizza. According to my friends, it was the best pizza they ever had.
The next day was our road trip to Chicago. On Saturday morning, we got into my friend’s roommate’s car and headed on a three-hour drive to my favorite city. This was my third time in Chicago, and it definitely won’t be my last. We stopped at the Wicker Park neighborhood and did some shopping. The vintage stores had so many cool clothes, but my broke self didn’t buy anything. We also visited the Barnes and Noble there. It is the prettiest Barnes and Noble I have ever been to! I didn’t buy any books, though, because I have a lot at home I need to read. After that, we had to visit the Bean. We took a couple of pictures there and then headed to get pizza. After extensive Google searching and asking my brother who lives in Chicago, we decided to get pizza from Giordano’s. I really wanted this pizza to be the best I have ever had, but it was okay. We got a pan pepperoni pizza and a deep-dish pizza with sausage, meatballs, and basil. The deep dish was way better than the pan, but I’ve had better pizza in Texas. Once we left the restaurant, we headed to the underground parking garage. Except we got lost. We forgot how to get down to the garage. We entered through the wrong entrance and then went to where we thought we parked but saw an empty lot. We realized there were different garages, so we went back up and asked a cop for help. That is when he pointed to the staircase in the middle of the sidewalk. We felt like idiots but laughed it off and headed to the correct lot. We finally found the car and left.
My friends were going to stay in an Airbnb for the night, and I was going to go over to my brother’s house. I was so nervous because I was going to take an Uber by myself for the first time. My brother lives in a suburb outside of Chicago. It was about a 30-minute drive, so I was a little worried about being in a car for that long with a stranger, especially in a city I was not familiar with. I eased up once my driver started talking to me. He spoke Spanish and asked me if I spoke Spanish. I told him I do, and we conversed about random stuff for most of the ride. I survived and made it to my brother’s home. I was immediately greeted by his energetic dogs and wife. We spent some time catching up and talking about college. The next day was busy for us. They took me to get breakfast at a place called Buttermilk. It was literally so amazing. This was my second time going there, and I ordered the exact same meal I did back in 2021. If anyone likes crepes, get the banana Nutella ones there. Best crepes I have ever had. I also got an iced chai, and that was bomb as well. The only bad thing about this restaurant is that it is so popular. It gets busy like crazy, and they don’t take reservations. They told us that it would be a one-hour wait, but we got lucky and found three spots at the bar. We ordered and ate before our table was ready. We left to drop off his wife at home and then headed to the nail salon. My brother likes to maintain good hygiene, as everyone should, so he gets pedicures and manicures. We both did that, and I got my nails done, too. Honestly, I need to get pedicures more often because they are so relaxing. We ended the day with more shopping! We went to his home for a bit to get his wife then headed to the Fashion Outlets of Chicago. I loved this place because they had name brands and designer goods for a very discounted amount. I ended up getting my 8th pair of Converse, a Gap jean jacket, and a Coach wallet. I need to get my money up and go back there.
Finally, it was time to go home. This is where it got heated. So, my flight was at 7:50 am, and I left for the airport at 5:45. I got there a little after 6:00 and found the TSA line. I was greeted with the longest line I have ever seen. I spent 45 minutes there! I checked my watch, and it was 6:55 when I started walking to find my gate. To my luck, my gate was all the way in the back of the airport. My flight began boarding at 7:05, so that meant I had no time to get food like I had planned. I made it just in time to board, but I was starving. Here is a tip: don’t fly Frontier. Yes, the tickets are cheap, but that is how they get you. You have to pay extra for a carry-on, and you have to pay for snacks and drinks on the plane. American Airlines would never. I didn’t feel like buying their snacks or drinks, so I decided to starve. I wanted a matcha from Starbucks and a croissant, but oh well. The flight itself was good, and once my dad got there to pick me up, I asked him to take me to Whataburger.
Overall, I enjoyed my time in the Midwest. It was a great experience, and flying solo is not that bad. I think I prefer it now; it makes me feel all grown up. Next spring break I am definitely going to a beach, though.