I had seen Celtic Thunder for the first time on WTTW Channel 11 last year during their March subscription drive and of course for the St. Patrick's Day celebrations. It was interesting to see the total opposite of Celtic Woman which I had see at the historic Chicago Theatre. OK, I'm not Irish but love the music. When I received my events email from the Genesee Theatre that they were coming to Waukegan, it was a no brainer to order tickets.

I asked my husband to go since I'm always trying to broaden his horizons and it's a date night for us. So Steve went along with not even really knowing who they were and what the show was going to be like. As the show started and the performers came on stage, it was a riot to hear the female response. I thought "he's going to think I came just for the guys". However, the drums started off and the thunderous (pardon the pun) first number and he was hooked!

The stage was set like the recorded show on WTTW with stone steps, background visuals, lovely nymph-like ladies on the strings and handsome men in kilts on percussion, guitar and keyboards. And the talent of Damian, Keith, Ryan Paul and George - so each very different in range, style and looks that appeal to a wide audience. Even the mom-in-law was there with her friends and they loved it. It was a perfect mix of traditional Celtic and contemporary songs. I personally loved Nights in White Satin since we had seen The Moody Blues at the Genesee a couple of years ago. Ireland's Call had everyone on their feet and Paul's version of I Wanna Know What Love Is simply took my breathe away.

There was a little play with the audience when Keith yelled out "Hello Waukegan!" Paul hiked up his kilt a little to get the ladies all stirred up. And Damian is growing up right before our eyes. We really enjoyed ourselves and the Genesee Theatre was the perfect venue to host this concert; it's so beautiful. I hear that the performance was sold out and I hope we see more shows like this in my hometown. By the way, Steve bought the show CD's and now we're listening to them in the car. Celtic Thunder has a new fan. Visit http://www.geneseetheatre.com for all their upcoming shows.

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This year for Spring Break we decided to stay home and take day-trips with the kids. One trip we were looking forward to was the Harley-Davidson Museum in downtown Milwaukee. I logged onto their website prior to our visit. I was impressed by the quantity of information and the things to do at the museum and on the website. I printed the directions and we were on our way!

It was a very easy ride to the museum. Traffic wasn't bad and there was plenty of signage along the road leading us to our destination. I really didn't even need to bring directions or a map. Parking was great - plenty of open spaces and it didn't cost a penny, a very pleasant surprise in the city. The museum from the outside has a very cool, hip, industrial design. We went inside. The lobby is pretty cool, almost like walking into a huge warehouse or garage, lots of steel and industrial like design. The people working were very friendly. We picked up our tickets and were instructed to go to the desk on the other side of the lobby for a kids pack. A very pleasant man gave me two backpacks, one for each of my children, and showed me what was inside. Included were some word games, clipboard, colored pencils and a scavenger hunt game. We had to read the clues and find the corresponding motorcycles throughout the museum. It was a lot of fun, the kids had a blast trying to find the right cycle to fit the clues. At the bottom of the paper was a hidden message, can't answer unless you find all the clues! At the end of our visit we turned in the scavenger hunt paper and the kids each received a special prize - can't give it away, but it was pretty neat.

We walked up a flight of stairs and were greeted when we arrived. Did I mention how very friendly and helpful the staff is? I like that, we felt very welcomed. We started our tour on the second floor and worked our way to the first floor.
The museum itself was very clean and well organized. I was so impressed by the condition of the bikes, especially the very first motorcycle Harley-Davidson made - it looked mint! It is about 105 years old and looked like it was made yesterday. That made me curious, how did they do that? How could a 105 year old "barn" quality bike be restored to such great condition? A visit to the third floor satisfied my curiosity. On the third floor is a storage room (with 100 bikes just waiting to be restored) and some of the equipment they use to restore the cycles. You could actually hang out and watch the masters at work - how cool is that?

My favorite room was the 'engine room'. Honestly, before my visit, I knew very little about combustion engines, valves or even motorcycles for that matter. I learned all about it here. The first thing I noticed was the holographic image on the wall of two engines rotating. It was hypnotic. There is a great hands-on display for the combustion engine and how it works. My kids had a blast watching it. On the opposite wall are pictures of all the engines Harley-Davidson has and does now use on its cycles. That was very well done - I didn't even know what a twin-engine was before, I do now! You can even press a picture of the engine and it will make the start up sound for you - the kids had fun with that!
On the first floor are displays of bikes from 1960s until today. The choppers from Easy Rider were on display as was a video screen playing motorcycle clips from movies. The cycles from the 60's and 70's were more custom and some pretty flashy! My daughter just loved the rhinestone cycle! There was also a pit area with a large screen showing motorcycle stunts and some of Evil Knievel's stunt bikes overhead. That was a lot of fun to watch, I think I watched it about four times? Also, we had a great time designing our own motorcycles. There was a wall with video screens and key pads where you can design your own cycle and e-mail the photo of it anywhere you want! We sent ours home and printed them. My son has them hanging on his wall in his room, he loved it! There is a similar program on their website too.

We then made our way to the area where they show prototypes of cycles, how they are created and how they test cycle parts for durability. The final part of our tour is just past this area. On display are about a dozen motorcycles you can actually hop onto and pretend you are riding. There is a huge video screen showing a beautiful countryside. you can just imagine the wind in your hair and riding your Harley through the country - very cool! Next to that is an Indiana Jones photo area. They have leather jackets, hats and accessories for you to wear for your photo-op!
We had come to the end of our visit. The museum is well worth the ride to Milwaukee and it is a must-see. Even if you're not a motorcycle buff, it is still a very cool way to spend the afternoon. I would highly recommend a visit - great staff, fantastic displays, very clean and well organized. You won't be disappointed!
Next, the gift shop and dinner was our destination! There are many very nice items to take home. We bought a puzzle for my son and a stuffed Harley dog and pet carrier for my daughter - very cute! Now we were hungry and wanted some dinner. There are two places to eat, one is a cafe style and the other a sit down restaurant called Motor. We decided to eat at Motor. It was very nice inside. I could see myself sitting at the bar area one night having a few drinks with friends.
There were nice leather club chairs for a more intimate conversation and a nice size bar for a group or meeting new friends. The bar was full of people laughing and having a good time. We were seated by the windows overlooking the river. The menu wasn't huge but it had a good selection. I liked the kids menu, my son had two 'sliders', small hamburgers that were handmade. My daughter had the mac-n-cheese, this wasn't your out-of-the-box-Kraft variety. It was wide elbow noodles and in delicious creamy cheese sauce - it was good. She also had a drink from the Indiana Jones menu called Swamp Water - it looked like swamp water, kind of brownish green with gummy worms, the drink was good. My husband is a big fan of fried chicken and loved the Chicken Schnitzel.
By this time we were exhausted and it was time to head home. I was concerned, downtown Milwaukee traffic at 5:30pm on a Thursday...but there were no delays and traffic moved along really well. We made it home with no delays.

Overall, we had a great visit to the Harley-Davidson Museum. We loved it!

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It has been a long, cold and snowy winter this year. Cabin fever set in at our house early this year. However, one of the activities that helped get us through this winter was going to the Gurnee Library.

The Gurnee Library is huge and has a great selection of books, movies, magazines, CD's, ect. The children's area is great because it is closed off so the kids can read out loud, or be read to and you don't have to worry about disturbing others. We spent hours in this area over the past few months reading books and deciding which ones we wanted to check out. Reese loves that all the shelves are low enough that she can reach the books herself and decide which ones to pull out to read. The other fun activity they have in this area of the library are two phone booths. The kids can pick up the phone and listen to a story recording.

Last Thursday night I took Reese to Family Story time - I had been planning to check it out for awhile and finally had the chance to do so. This is unregistered story time so anyone can come and you do not need to sign up in advance. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was and how much the kids seemed to love it. The gentleman who did the reading was great with the kids and really kept their attention throughout the 30 minutes. There was a variety of different aged kids, however all seemed to enjoy it just the same.

He started out with the welcome song. Many of the kids knew the song and sang along. The song included different instructions for the kids to follow along with like clapping their hands, stomping their feet, jumping up and down, etc. After that we heard the first book. Each book had a little activity that went along with it after he was done reading. One of the books was about colors and flowers, so after we finished hearing the book, the kids had to take magnetic flowers that were hanging on the wall and bring them up and put them on a board in front when he called out a color there were wearing. The kids had fun with this.

The other great part about story time was that they incorporated a lot of music into it. The person leading it had a guitar and sang several songs with the kids that were tied to the different books he read them. We learned a new song that has really stuck with Reese - Little Bunny Foo Foo. She has been singing this song since Thursday night!

This is the last week for Spring Story Time. It goes Tuesday and Thursday nights at 7pm and Saturday mornings at 10am. There will be a break and than Summer Story Time will begin again in June. We are planning to continue going since we enjoyed it as much as we did.

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If you like the atmosphere of an Irish Chicago pub, you HAVE to go to Timothy O’Toole’s in Gurnee. The doors opened about a month ago on Grand Avenue, just across from Six Flags Great America. It is fantastic.


From its entrance, you have the option to eat in the dining area which is a little quieter or join others in the bar. There is plenty of seating; both at the bar and in booths alongside. There is even an area of the bar where you could gather a larger group of friends to listen to the entertainment.



O’Toole’s boasts of 19 beers on draught, daily drink specials, great burgers, affordable prices and they deliver. Kids 11 and under eat free with a paying adult on Tuesdays after 5pm. They even have a balloon artist to entertain. Wednesday night is karaoke night. I may have to gather some of the girls and run by to sing a few.


Every Saturday, there is live entertainment so we decided to go this past Saturday night to see Soul Acoustic. The band played from 9pm until midnight. It was a great three person group playing anything from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Men at Work…unbelievable. They even played a couple encores.


We were there a little later in the evening so we decided to try some of their appetizers and a couple of their draught beers. Timothy O’Toole’s, in the city, is known for their wings, so we had to try a couple different types of those. The traditional buffalo and the chipotle BBQ were quite yummy. We also had to try their Irish Nachos. I had never heard of them before; but they sounded too good to pass up. How can you go wrong with French fries topped with melted cheese, bacon, and scallions? And oh, don’t forget the sour cream on the side…Mmmmmmm!


If you want more information, visit http://www.timothyotooles.com/. It is the website for the downtown location; the Gurnee branch’s is under construction; however this will give you a good idea on menu, etc.


Just a heads up, the live entertainment for April is 4/11 Anthony Calderisi, 4/18 John Metzger and 4/25 Gypsy Acoustic. Don’t miss this new place to meet up with friends. It is really worth it!

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I went to see the College of Lake County's Gospel Choir concert on March 29. What an inspiring experience! I was impressed with the stamina of the choir and their director, Dr, Clency. The Gospel Mass was absolutely beautiful and the other pieces either had me in tears or on my feet clapping and swaying right along. The soloists were amazing and had such a range of talent. I was thrilled to see such a diversity among the participants.

The Gospel Choir will be performing again with all of the College of Lake County's choirs on Sunday, April 19. I like to support our local performances as they are close by, no parking fee and the admission is very low and sometimes there is no admission at all. CLC and Gospel rocks!

For information on future concerts at the College of Lake County, visit http://www.jlcenter.clcillinois.edu.

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