Chicago Travelogue!
August 15th 2005 by cybertoad in travelWe’re back and we had a wonderful time in Chicago!! It was much hotter and muggier than we had anticipated but we survived.
> Our hotel, The Amalfi, was awesome. Free breakfast, super comfy beds, free wireless hi-speed, turn down service, double-headed shower, great decor and wonderful location in Downtown near a Red Line station.
> Navy Pier: Visited the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows, went into the maze, rode the ferris wheel and the swings and just had a blast. With the setting sun and lovely views, I also took some of my best shots.
> Museum of Science & Industry: This place is huge! Highlight for me was seeing the Body Worlds exhibit.
> Museum of Contemporary Photography: small but they had two good exhibits.
> Millennium Park: The Crown Fountain and the “Bean” were favorites (despite the “Bean” being mostly under a canopy while it’s cleaned up/polished).
> Took a tour of the Glessner Home.
> I wandered Chinatown on my own and as a group we wandered up and down the Magnificent Mile as well as through the Market Days Street Festival on N. Halsted.
> Went up to the Hancock Observatory (in the 2nd tallest building in the USA) in the evening and then went up the Sears Tower Skydeck (in the tallest building in USA) during the day.
> Went to the ImprovOlympic and saw a couple of shows: “Whirled News Tonight” and “Cupid has a Heart On” by The Cupid Players.
> Saw the Blue Man Group our last night in town. Amazing as always.
> Took the Architecture River Tour.
> Also took the 4-hour “Frank Lloyd Wright by Bus” tour and visited his first home, his design center, Unity Temple as well as took a walking tour to see some of his first homes.
> Ate some good food – these are some of the restaurants I can remember: Shaw’s Crab House (the *best* clam chowder), Paisano’s Pizza, Ann Sather, Rockit Bar & Grill, Weber Grill Restaurant, Johnny O’Hagan’s and Big Bowl Cafe (amazingly refreshing homemade ginger ale).
August 15th, 2005 at 10:34 am
It was great to see you yesterday! You’ll have to come over for dinner/movie one night soon!! I’m glad y’all had a great time & the pictures are great!
August 15th, 2005 at 11:32 am
Wow! Those are AWESOME pics!
August 15th, 2005 at 12:08 pm
I am glad you guys had a great time. I have been to Chicago physically, but I have never really “been” there.
August 17th, 2005 at 1:22 pm
Chicago… hehe… I was born and raised there!!! It’s neat to see you write about places that to me were as familiar as Westheimer, downtown Houston, the Galleria, or even FM 1960! My grandmother used to work in the Hancock building, and I used to get to go up to the top every Friday when my mom would drop me off at her workplace to spend the weekend with them. I have some really old and cool booklets from when the Hancock was first built, given to me by the building management (they all knew me as a kid, it seems). The Museum of Science and Industry and the Field Museum were two of my favorites: did Kenny get to see the U-505? I hope you had a great time… I wish I could go back up there soon! I still have lots of family and friends up there that I haven’t seen in too long!
August 17th, 2005 at 8:18 pm
Great pictures Elaine!!!
August 21st, 2005 at 5:25 pm
Ah, yes. Chicago can be rather muggy. But it is so beautiful – you almost forget about the muggy feeling. I’ve never been up in the Hancock building; I’m glad you got to see the Science museum. I love that place!
I really want to go and visit Chicago now! Even more than before! Your photos were fabulous!
August 11th, 2010 at 11:14 am
Hi i just thought I should leave a comment as i very much admireyour site its so interesting, keep it up!