Peace Out West Monroe
I hope that I am able to put into words just how magnificent Chicago really is. Here it goes. Our trip in words.
Chicago Sky
We touched down around 10:30 p.m. in Chicago on Thursday night to an empty airport. I felt like I was alone in a horror movie. Why? Because I've heard so many bad things about Chicago but it wasn't going to stop me from visiting.
I downloaded the Uber app and selected my ride. He looked a bit scary but I didn't want my son to see my fear. He asked to see what the driver looked like so I showed him a picture. His response, "He doesn't look good." That's exactly what I was thinking but we continued anyway.
The driver arrived and still looked creepy as ever. I had my friend on the phone so she could hear us and who knows... fly to Chicago to help us should something go terribly wrong. I talked the entire time because I was honestly a little nervous. I asked him what he did for a living. He told me that he was an undertaker. I was like oh... cool... what's that? Then the words... "I'm a mortician came out of this creepy guys mouth." You are a what? That's what I thought in my mind. I immediately text my friend because I wasn't sure if she could hear.
He's a freaking mortician.
That's it. We were dead. He had already planned our death. This was the beginning and end to our trip.
Okay. Not really. We survived night one.
The view from our floor @ Home 2 Suites
It's not the typical ocean view but it's still incredible.
The first thing I did was download google maps so I could halfway know where we were at all times. My sense of direction is absolutely awful.
Chicago River
I was BLOWN away at the beauty of this river. WOW. This was my first time to actually see the river. I was a little more excited than Kendall but he was a trooper and took a picture or two or two thousand.
Also, I recommend bringing a backpack instead of a purse. That's convenient for any trip you take because you can store a little of everything in there.
Willis Tower (Sears)
We started our day with a trip to Sears Tower. The Willis is silent according to the folks in Chicago. We took a 60 second elevator ride up 103 floors to stand over the city in a glass box. I'd say my heart may have fluttered a bit but my fearless son enjoyed every single minute. This is a MUST if you visit Chicago.
My phone just couldn't quite capture the amazing color of Lake Michigan but you can see a little here how beautiful and endless it is.
After our flight down 103 floors, we headed towards Cloud Gate. I don't know how long it took us to get there because obviously I'm technology challenged on top of being directionally challenged. My son and I were both aggravated but on the bright side... We found Panera Bread.
I do believe we walked in circles for at least an hour.
Crown Fountain
We stumbled across the Crown Fountain. I wish we would have known that this was here so we would have been better prepared. But we found some nice guys to watch our shoes while we played in the water. The images change and the "fountain" only stays on for less than a minute. It could be a bit longer but who's counting. This helped our tired little feet tremendously. This was FREE and brought some giggles out of my son.
Cloud Gate
I think this is the only thing I knew to visit. "The Bean" or Cloud Gate. It was actually really neat and FREE. There is more to it than just taking a picture and posting it to social media but you'll have to see it in person to understand what I mean.
Panera Bread
What? BBQ Mac & Cheese. This was heavenly. We waited for over an hour to find out that they must have skipped our order but it was worth the wait. We sat outside and watched a LOT of crazy young folks that were headed to Lollapalooza. I actually felt like some of these people came straight out of New Orleans because of their clothes... or lack of.
Grant Park
This park reminded me of New York. The view was incredible and have I mentioned how clean it is in Chicago?
Agora
We stumbled upon these gigantic legs on our way to the Shedd Aquarium. Again, FREE.
Lake Michigan
By this time, our legs HURT. Bad. So we sat on a ledge and put our feet in the water. I was mesmerized at the color. I could have sat right here all day.
Shedd
The Shedd Aquarium was large but it wouldn't be on my "must do" list. It's HUGE but for the money and the exhibits we were interested in... It wasn't worth our time or money.
We did enjoy a cute little penguin walking down one of the walk ways and the adorable Beluga whales. It amazes me how these whales can do all these tricks and my dog cant even sit.
Lake Michigan
From the Shedd, we took a FREE water taxi to Navy Pier.
The water. The view. The wind. Being off our feet. Perfect boat ride.
Chicago River
We made our way to Navy Pier to catch a river boat tour. THIS. IS. A. MUST. Kendall even enjoyed learning about the history of Chicago.
I'm not sure why the water looks dirty here. Could have been a cloud hovering over us but the colors of the kayaks and flowers were pretty.
Views alongside the Chicago River
Our view from the ferris wheel @ Navy Pier
Navy Pier
Navy Pier is another MUST if you visit Chicago and FREE unless you ride the rides. It's definitely a tourist attraction but so much fun. It was a "party" atmosphere. Life is a party so why not have fun?
Oak Street Beach
I finally started to figure out google maps so we headed towards Gino's. On our way, we found Oak Street Beach. Once again, I wish we would have known to pack our swimsuits. I recommend to keep one on you at all times if you are a beach lover like we are. Oh, and a towel.
Gino's Deep Dish
I ain't gonna lie. We were starving but could have skipped supper because our legs were hurting SO bad. Had I known my north from my south... it wouldn't have been as bad but walking in circles will wear your tail out!
We ended at Gino's only to find out that it was literally a block away from our hotel. We were pretty excited about the short walk.
Chicago pizza DOES NOT beat NYC pizza. Just in case you were curious.
I fell onto the bed... I had blisters on my feet... I was tired...
That's the end of day ONE...
I know that I can't describe in words how amazing our first day was but I hope the few pictures I shared gave you a little insight into our trip.
Comments
Post a Comment