Chicago!

Chicago is one of my favorite cities. It was beautiful, had so much stuff to see and do, and I felt safe even at night in the city!

Thursday night Dean flew into Midway airport in Chicago to go to an all day meeting on Friday.

Friday night I flew into Midway. We took the L train (or "el" for elevated) to our hotel. We stayed at the Hilton Chicago. It was in a great location and we got a really good rate on the room!

Saturday we got up early and found the bus that would take us to the Museum of Science and Industry. This place was huge! It had everything from chemistry to genetics and tractors to farm animals! We spent several hours walking around checking out all the exhibits in the museum. We took the bus back to the Grant Park area and walked along Lake Shore Drive checking out the lake and boats! We got our first Chicago Dogs. Mine wasn't a true Chicago Dog, but it was still yummy. We walked and walked and walked (probably around 3 miles!) until we finally made it to Navy Pier. There was so much going on at the pier. There were lots of boats docked along the side, a ferris wheel, mini golf and shops. We walked to the end of the pier to get a good shot of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse!! On the way back down the pier, we stopped in the food court and got some Garrett's Popcorn. We got a bag of cheese popcorn and a bag of caramel macadamia. It was sooooo yummy!! We then took a bus to Sears Tower. It's now called Willis Tower, but Dean refuses to call a world landmark by anything other than it's traditional name. We waiting in line for 2 HOURS to get to the top of the tower, but it was worth it! We even walked out on the glass floor!! I didn't look down at first. The second time we went out on it, my sweet husband decided to dance a little jig to which his wife responded by grabbing him in the side. He might still have a bruise there, but he deserved it! After watching the sun set from the tower, we went back down and ate at a very yummy Chicago pizza restaurant. It was really really really good. We walked back to our hotel and promptly fell asleep from exhaustion.

Sunday we slept in a little, but then headed to the Adler Planetarium. We saw a lot of space exhibits and watched a 3D movie of some really awesome cosmic pictures. Afterwards we set outside by the lake and waited for the bus to take us to the train to take us to...Wrigley Field! I was concerned when we started seeing trains packed with what looked like fans going away from the stadium. When we got there, the game was over! But...my wonderful husband found a way to get us into Wrigley. He might have stretched the truth a little, but he said he did it out of love. It was awesome to be at the iconic stadium and I got a ton of great pictures. I do have to say (being totally unbiased) that I like Turner Field better. Go Braves! After fighting our way back onto the train, we made it to Millennium Park. This park is home to lots of interesting architecture including the Big Bean! We took lots of pictures of our reflection in the bean and the reflection of the city. We had another Chicago Dog and walked over to Grant Park to see the huge Buckingham Fountain. We decided we had enough sunlight for one final outing. Dean got on his swimsuit and we went back to the Planetarium where there was a little beach. Dean swam in the slightly too cold for me lake while I took lots of pictures and waved to Dean from the shore. The sunset was so beautiful over the city! We ended the day with yes, another Chicago style pizza.

Monday morning we woke up at 4am to pack up and head to the airport for our trip home. My stomach was definitely mad at me for not eating healthy all weekend. On my way into work I picked up a huge salad and ate every last veggie!

Dean and I feel like we are still recovering from the whirlwind trip. It was so much fun and we have wonderful memories, but boy was it exhausting. Now it's recovering and preparing for our next trip! We head to Topsail, NC on the 8th and I'm looking for a week of relaxing and especially, NO WORK!