[Chicago / Champaign, IL, Mar 17-20, 2024]

We woke up to much cooler temps – 30s vs 50s the day before. We still braved the cold and walked to a different section of the river, because when are we going to see a green river again?

We then picked up our rental car and drove south to Champaign, IL, where my conference would take place over the next few days.

The conference starts with a welcome reception on Sunday night. Each campus takes this opportunity to showcase a popular spot on campus or in town. In 2019, that was the Big House – University of Michigan’s famous football stadium. In 2023, it was the Ice Sheet at Ogden, which was Olympic games venue. This year, it was Memorial Stadium, which was the University of Illinois’ football stadium. It was not quite the Big House, but it was a great venue!

The next couple of days were busy with conference sessions, but luckily, I was able to carve out some free time. On a couple of the days, I went out on early morning walks despite the cold temperatures, which continued to get as low as 30F overnight. I was lucky to catch this sunrise on one of the mornings.

There is always a fun run on or near the campus of the hosting university on Tuesday night. This year’s location was the heart of the University of Illinois Campus. The walk began at the Alma Mater statue, a bronze statue by sculptor Lorado Taft. It is a beloved symbol of the U of I. The statue depicts a mother-figure wearing academic robes and flanked by two attendant figures representing “Learning” and “Labor” from the university’s motto.

We also walked by the quad, where students were enjoying the sunny day and much warmer temps compared to the morning. I really enjoyed seeing the campus, especially since I’ve been working fully remote since the pandemic and rarely step foot on a college campus any more.

I had two excellent meals in Champaign, a bit to my surprise. I didn’t have high expectations for a small college town in the Midwest, but I was wrong! On Monday night, I chose Nando Milano from the list of restaurants the conference organizers had booked for us to visit. I laughed when I arrived and realized the place has an outpost in Manhattan Beach, CA of all places! That must have been what drew me to it. I had a great meal there with several other conference attendees.

On Tuesday, after the campus walk, Ash and I had a fantastic meal at Hamilton Walker.

And on Wednesday, I had a little bit of free time in the afternoon since the conference finished at noon. I first went to Meadowbrook Park. It sits on what was formerly a farm and it features paved and unpaved walking trails, a sculpture garden, a tallgrass prairie and playgrounds for kids. I really enjoyed my walk there.

I also enjoyed my visit to the small art museum on campus, The Krannert Museum. I really enjoyed the African masks from the their permanent collection.

With the conference now over, I just had a half-day board meeting separating me from the personal time off I had added onto this trip to visit some national parks in the vicinity!