Wandering the Windy City

It’s update time again! It’s only been a few days but they were busy ones so I will try and get you up to speed. Matt left off his last post by giving you a pretty good picture of how bleak the drive from northern Indiana was. Luckily, things started looking a LOT better as we approached the Windy City. We had arrived at our hotel, which was located on the north end of the Magnificent Mile, too early to check in, but we parked our car, ditched our bags and hit the pavement. The walking tour was about to begin! First up, we meandered down Magnificent Mile – checking out the fancy shops but not daring to go into any before stopping in for some delish deep dish pizza and then heading to Navy Pier, an uber-commercial area that juts out into Lake Michigan. We embraced our inner tourist and took a ride on the Ferris wheel to catch a glimpse of the Chicago skyline before escaping the crowds to walk along the water back to our hotel. We strolled along an amazing lakeshore path that was rammed with runners and cyclists.

After a quick shower and change we headed out again to the John Hancock Observation Tower that was situated right beside our hotel. It’s a super tall building that you can pay to go up to an observation deck on the 94th floor. Alternatively you can go to the 96th floor bar for FREE as long as you buy a drink. We managed to snag a seat right against the glass and nursed our outrageously overpriced drinks to get our money’s worth. Check out the view from the ladies bathroom!



Next up we headed up to Lincoln Park/Old Town area for dinner at the Goose Island Brew Pub (a local Chicago brewery) and then over to Kingston Mines for an evening of blues music and dancing. We had a great time listening to two entertaining bands rock the night away!

The next day we were up and ready to go relatively early. We had a lot of things we wanted to check out and only a day to get through it all. We started by walking around the Loop in the heart of downtown Chicago. The buildings and architecture were unreal! From there we ventured to the Art Institute of Chicago. Matt was kind enough to follow me around as I entertained my childhood memories. When I was a kid we played an art auction game called Masterpiece and all of the artwork in the game is found in the Art Institute. I had a great time pointing out my favourites and Matt listened to my stories politely.

It was time for food, so we headed to the Taste of Chicago festival that just happened to be going on while we were there. We sampled some local goodies including Chicago hot dogs complete with all the fixings (but without, to Matt’s chagrin – ketchup). Finally we headed toward Millennium Park to take a picture of the Cloud Gate or “bean” that has recently become an iconic landmark of the city.



Our evening plans involved taking the metro to Bucktown – northwest of where we were staying to meet up with my friend Hilary from Queen’s. We played squash together for the Gaels but she has since left to do her PhD here in Chicago! It was lovely to see her again and she had devised a wicked plan for the evening. First stop – to the corner store to pick up a couple cheap six packs of beer to BRING to the restaurant without a corking fee. I was in heaven. Under a covered patio, we dined on Costa Rican fare and caught up while watching a storm roll in from the city. They hadn’t called for rain but it was obvious it was coming our way. And boy did it come. It wasn’t just rain but a full blown HAIL storm that rolled in. Gumball, if not golf ball, sized hail pelted the roof as the streets quickly filled with ice pellets. Car alarms were going off and someone shouted to a mother “GET THE BABY INSIDE!”. It was mayhem!



The server came out and gave us garbage bags that we could use as makeshift rain jackets because though we were under shelter, rain and pellets were ricocheting at us. We were supposed to go from dinner to a comedy cabaret gig but it had been cancelled because of the weather. Instead we found shelter at a pub holding a trivia night where we camped out until the end of the night.



This morning, we woke up early so we could quickly tour the Fields Natural History museum before hitting the road. It was an impressive building and hosts the world’s most complete T Rex skeleton named Sue. Pretty cool! We are now en route to Colorado. A long drive ahead through some not terribly exciting land in Iowa and Nebraska separates us from the rocky mountain state! We will send up an update once we arrive and secure a highly coveted campsite in the national park. Wish us luck!

Xoxox
Heather and Matt