I've been to Chicago before, including a trip all by myself last summer, but Aaron has never been there. And he wanted to do "touristy" stuff. Our hotel was directly across the street from the Hancock Center (4th tallest in Chicago, 100 stories...) so we started there...
Wednesday I dragged Aaron up and down Michigan Avenue, but we only spent about $7 at Walgreens - on travel size baby wash and lotion for that bath we never got around to giving Adam. Thursday Aaron headed to his conference, and I headed out to buy some of that stuff we saw the day before. Adam got pushed around a LOT and had many admirers, his mother among them.
The American Gothic statue is in front of Ruth's work building, near the Loop. We met Ruthie there and then walked to Millennium Park and picked up some lunch. (Those of you familiar with downtown Chicago may be getting an idea of how much I walked - for the rest of you, it was a LOT.)
We liked The Bean! Officially known as Cloud Gate.
That afternoon Uncle Tim walked us down to Navy Pier. He and Aaron took on the flying swings, but we decided that the biggest Ferris wheel I've ever seen would have to wait for a clearer day.
Supper that night was the famous Chicago-style pizza at Pizzeria Due (the 2nd of Uno's Pizzeria, founder of the chain). As Aaron said, most of our touristing revolved around food. And walking. At least for me. Which is how I justified eating most of our Ghirardelli banana split that night.
The overcast day lent itself to a Batman-esque effect over the Hancock.
Friday was a much sunnier day and we made the most of it with a light lunch at The Signature Lounge on the 96th floor of the Hancock building.
I did even more shopping, but not much buying, and after the conference wrapped up, we headed up to Ruth's office again to meet her and Tim. Aaron got a quick tour of Millennium Park, and then we headed to the Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. I'll have to post that photo another time! There was tons of cool costumes and props from the HP movies, but we weren't allowed to take any photos. However, there WAS a display outside of a certain car...anyway. We had dinner at a family-style restaurant in Chinatown, and then headed to Ruth and Tim's apartment, our home base for the rest of the weekend.
Saturday was more relaxing - we had the morning to ourselves, making our way (unassisted!) to Gloria's Cafe for Colombian food for lunch. Ruth and I did some secondhand/vintage shopping that afternoon and then a Thai restaurant for dinner. (See what I mean about the eating? Pretty much nonstop.)
Sunday was our day of departure, and Ruth ran/swam/biked a triathlon! Tim took us to the farmer's market in their neighborhood (Logan Square) that morning and thankfully Ruth made it back in time for a quick goodbye before we had to run off to the airport.
Adam was very nearly perfect the entire time - sleeping on the plane and whenever he got hungry and I couldn't feed him. He slept much better at night, probably because he was going to bed several hours later than usual. I even got to sleep until 9am two mornings!
All in all, it was a great vacation. We were happy to spend some time with Ruth and Tim and see the world they live in. But Oh! are we glad to be back in ours, including those two other kids, who got some awesome time with Grandma Claudia and Grandpa DJ.
More posts to come!
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6 comments:
yay chicago! it's amazing that you both were still awake and with working intestines by sunday.
the chocolate crossaint was amazzzzzzing. thank you!
This post, as well as your pics on FB, were so hilarious! Looks like you had a great time!!!
And next time Aaron is in Chicago, he will have lunch at the American Girl Place just off Michigan Avenue with Leah .... ;-)
So, Lyz, would you have gone to the Museum of Science and Industry if it didn't have the Harry Potter exhibit?
Actually, I have been to the Science & Industry museum before, when I was in middle school with my grandma. And some of those exhibits are still there now!
I like museums, but the admission fee is pretty steep, so Mr. Potter was my sole motivation.
Ruth asked about Leah's interest in American Girls. I think she'd be into the books, but she's not much of a fan of dolls in general, so I don't see that being a big draw. We did go by the store many times, and I even walked through it, just for the experience.
I would have loved that stuff.
Lyzard, this post was my favorite, and the pictures are hilarious.
Also, my Da says "hi." He asks about "leezard" frequently.
There is a "Chicago Card" which provides significant discounts to attractions and also has the great feature of priority ticket purchase. Was nice to walk to the front of the line at Shedd Aquarium a few years ago. We didn't have time for Adler Planeterium or the Field Museum.
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