I've actually had a couple of days off and decided to spend the time here in Chicago. So, I grabbed my camera and set out on a self-guided walking tour.
A few weeks ago, the weather here was amazing with not a cloud in the sky! One of the first things that I did, was visit the Sears Tower. This is an amazing building. Next, I was off to stroll down Michigan Avenue. I got some great pictures as you can see. Millennium Park is one of my favorite places in Chicago. It has the cool Crown Fountain
, the
Pritzker Pavillion (where the Chicago Symphony does free concerts during lunchtime), and also the best duck and fish tacos at the Park Plaza Grill. Millennium Park also has the "Cloud Gate",
but the locals call it the Bean. It is a great sculpture that gives you a dazzling reflection of the city.
The next day, my friend Bob and I decided to walk down the lake front of Lake Michigan. We walked by the Field Museum, the Adler Planetarium, and Shedd's Aquarium
. I am planning to visit these places on another stretch of days off, but really just wanted to walk around and enjoy the wonderful weather.
We then took a stroll along the harbor and down to Navy Pier
. This is a great place to take the family and enjoy some great food; take a Chicago Architectural Boat Tour or an even faster speed boat tour! By this time in the day, we were hot and tired. So we decided to go to my favorite movie theater to see a movie. It is the AMC River East 21. It is right across the street from what I consider to be the best gourmet grocery store in the city, Fox and Obel. 
They have a great cheese and wine selection as well as an awesome deli case and restaurant.
I still have a lot of things to see and do, but really enjoyed my days off! If you get a chance to get to this great city, check out some of the things I mentioned, or suggest some of things that you have done and seen, and I'll add those to my "to-do" list.
Comments
James,
The "Bean" looks like it is part of the "spacecraft" that was set down in the middle of Soldier Field.
Blog Boy
Ahem... WRIGLEY FIELD.
'Nuff said. :)
i love chicago. it's a great place to spend the summer. not sure how they survive those winters though. i loved your pictures. it's always great to see cool pics from someone else's vacation. everyone has such a different experience even if they are in a popular city like chicago.
JAMES,
Nice pictures... I promised myself i would never go back to Chicago.. I lot of bad memories.......... MY BOOT CAMP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WINTER, MARCHING IN THE BLIZZARDS, HAVING THE FLU IN BOOT CAMP.. After i graduated bootcamp my parents came up and we took a tour of Chicago. There is this pizza place right across from the sears tower... i am not sure what the place was called but it had the best pizza.. so besides boot camp and not being able to see the outside world for two months i am sure chicago is a nice place...
USS BLOG BOY
Help with Blackberry pearl..unable to connect to mobile.southwest.com with my BB pearl. Any suggestions would be a great help...really don't want to fly delta....
m.
question I ask SWA fans that I don't understand about SWA!. My question is southwest will be at washington dulles 1 year in fall so I ask swa fans this question what was southwest's purpose of going to dulles? was it to take united airlines down in a price war or what because why have we not seen any new destinations for washington dulles? I am begining to wonder I hate to say was it a mistake for southwest going into washington dulles airport?. Is united airlines to big for southwest to compete at washington dulles?
I LUV Chicago, too! I think it's a neat city. I also know someone who lives there, as well as someone who's from there. :)
James,
What a great post! It sounds like you enjoyed some well-deserved "down time" in the Windy City. I've really never spent a lot of time there myself, but I have some scattered memories of a few memorable trips.
My Dad used to travel there for conventions and so I had some opportunities when I was pretty young to travel along and do some family sightseeing. I can remember going to the Field Museum a few times as a small kid before I was ten years old, and then making a return visit in my early thirties with my own kids. Some of the same exhibits were still there, as I recall!
But, my most vivid memory is the one of my "big trip". Our Dad had this tradition that when his children turned seven, they got to go on a "big trip" with just him, anywhere we wanted to go. For reasons I don't really remember, I chose to go to Chicago. (due to the timing of one of my Dad's business meetings, he probably slyly 'suggested' that I'd like to go there...) So, on the day I turned seven, he came and plucked me out of my first grade classroom with great birthday pageantry, back in a day when youngsters were NOT routinely taken out of school by their parents unless it was a significant event.
We headed down to the Dallas train station, and boarded a late morning train for Chicago. I remember riding in the train and watching all of the scenery until it got dark. Following a fancy evening meal in the dining car, we retired to our cabin, where the porter had pulled down our beds. I can remember waking up during the night when the train stopped, and asking if we were in Chicago. But, it was only a nighttime stop in St. Louis. I went back to sleep and woke the next morning as we pulled into Chicago.
After a few days of sightseeing and hotel room service (this was the "big trip" after all), it was time for me to return to Big D. However, my Dad needed to stay behind for business (probably so he could write off the entire trip! LOL), so my next big adventure was to go to the airport and board a giant AAirplane (sorry, SWA wasn't around in 1963) for my first airplane flight, which also gave me my first opportunity to be an unaccompanied minor, another pretty rare thing back in those days. Sitting in the window seat and watching my Dad leave the plane after getting me settled, I saw him descend the stairs and stand alongside the wing (also pre-jetway days) waving goodbye.
So, my memories of Chicago go back a long way, but I know there is still a LOT that I haven't seen.
Wait a second, I just thought of something. I never got credited for those AAdvantage miles!! Oh no!! I guess it doesn't matter, they won't honor 'em past eighteen months anymore, so some forty-four year old ones would've expired by now anyway.
Kim
The Veteran Traveler :)
Greg,
I have already answered your question about IAD numerous times elsewhere in this blog.
And besides, United doesn't need SWA's help to implode:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2007-06-18-ual-service-usat_N.htm
I'll be going to MDW next wednesday. The people department needs my fingerprint.
Everyone of the bloggers is going to be at my interview.
Ding! boy
Joe
Post new comment