Chicago: Day 2

Day 2 started off unexpectedly, but by the end of the trip it was a given. The night before Heather and I had these lavish plans of waking up early and getting a great start and.....we slept in. Alarms went off all the time. And we just kept rolling over in our beds; it was hilarious!

Still, it was nice waking up to such a nice view when we opened up the curtains :)
We took off from the hotel and just kind of wandered... We were a bit early for picking up our Go Chicago cards. Across the street was this neat-looking area.
I loved the views of the buildings from a lower level, especially with the bridges above.
In the same area they had a nice World War II memorial for our brave heroes and servicemen (and women)!
This was the view of the area with our hotel behind it. :) Not a bad shot, huh?
Then we headed towards the mall area to get our Go Chicago cards. Passed the old Chicago Theatre built in 1921! I wish we had found a show there...
After waiting for a LATE Go Card rep and then being out of cards....We ran over a few blocks to another hotel, then were yelled at for being upset that the company wasn't prepared. We were LIVID!! But, since it was late in the morning/early afternoon we decided to get a bite to eat.
By that time, I needed to go to the bathroom but they were locked, lol. You had to wait in line for a restroom "token". Hahahaha I can understand it...but just funny.
Then we headed over to Millineum Park to see the Bean! Very cool...
It was fun... Took way too many goofy pics, along with the other tourists there.
Right beside was the amphitheater which had a crazy cool set-up. They were JUST ENDING a free performance too, I was so disappointed! But I'll have to come back when they are doing an event. It looks amazing... (and probably 3-4 times bigger than the shot shows).
The Bean with the city of Chicago behind it :)
The water fountains in Millinium Park were really cool too. The graphics changed to all sorts of ordinary people.
Then we decided to hit the Sears/Willis Tower. We decided to take the L train... But it was kind of out of the way, and very confusing to figure out. It's clear they made the L design and tracks first before the touristy parts were built and confirmed.
Finally, walked upon this grand entrance! There was NO ONE there, I was so excited!
And what a BEAUTIFUL wall inside... "Ma'am, if you're looking for the Skywalk, the entrance is around the corner." Yep....that's just for the businesses. Walk around the corner? Ohhhhh a 45 minute line just to get in the door. :) That sounded more realistic!
You mean, we're going to walk on a piece of glass up THERE?!?
When we finally did get up to the top, 103 stories in the air, it was a pretty beautiful view... It took a bit to walk up to the window, though.
One of the highest gift shops I've been to :) I bought a TON of souvenirs! I hadn't bought any at all before that but I found all sorts of stuff! Lol
Some great views ..... truly. And such a beautiful day!
And a great view of the Hancock Tower... (which you'll see later in the trip) :)
And I'm proud to admit that I DID finally make it onto the Ledge. It took everything within me to walk on a piece of glass that was holding me up 103 stories. It was insane! Heather and I took lots of funny pictures and then we had one taken sitting on it... (ok, I was kneeling, I know, I'm a chicken).
When we finally decided to leave Willis Tower (aww I still like calling it Sears Tower) we headed to the water. As we were walking we were seeing all these people gathered and the street roped off. Ends up they were shooting a tv show. That was pretty cool. :)
Then we headed to Navy Pier for the night! We ended up taking the bus there, which Heather navigated very well, lol. We both work on our navigation skills continuously.
When we got there (later in the afternoon) there were TONS of people!
We went to the Stain Glass Museum. It was really pretty.
There was a good variety of pieces. I loved the historical ones, of course. :)
The religious pieces were, of course, very special.
I loved this one! Can I buy you, please?
And to all our brave men and women over sees, and all our brave men and women still with us fighting for our freedom on the home front! And to the victims of such a horrible tragedy. Love you USA! Love my fellow Americans and those that are peaceful friends!
At the end of the museum they had this small exhibit that I really loved for its symbolism. They took concrete with cracks and glued these pretty jewels inside the cracks. Made it very meaningful how we can all glorify our shortcomings and use them for good and beauty.
After the Stained Glass Museum we found a bench towards the parking garage where we charged our phones, lol. They were basically dead. When we came out into he night air of the Navy Pier we had such a beautiful view of the city of Chicago!
Along the pier were these travel markers. Thought it was really cool, especially since I love London so much :)
They had a Margaritaville on the Pier so I suggested we go there. Well: not such a good idea. It was like July 27 and my birthday was July 24. And my lisence expired on the 24th. It was valid ID for everyone else but noooooo, I was unable to be served. Therefore, I was not allowed to be served. So, after my jaw hit the floor (being 28 and not served in a bar) we left. Which, of course, ended up being the best decision of the night....look below.
Next door was the Billy Goat Tavern and Grill. It had a cute menu so we went with a Horny Goat which was a mix of cranberry juice and Sprite and something fun. Since I was traumatized at Margaritaville I can't tell you how better the night got. And the coolest part was...
We had great seats on the pier for the firework show!! Heather had checked the schedule and we loved the show. In fact, I think Heather said it was her first firework show. How cool is that!
Just some of my favorite shots from the show.... Thought that was pretty, although I can see how some others may see it as a bit Apocalyptic.
Yay! Another great shot... I spent most of the show working on my camera settings. :)
Then we headed back to the Billy Goat for some "Cheezborger"s. Named after the Saturday Night Live skit with John Belushi.
The cheeseburgers were actually really good! We stayed there at the Billy Goat til about 11:30 meeting people on the pier and sitting at the bar. But little did we know that the buses stop running at 11:00pm from the area. So, basically it was get into a cab or walk. My lovely friend Heather was like, it's a piece of cake, we can do this (with all sorts of strange people out and about on the streets) lol. So we end up lost as all get out, walking all over Chicago, for like an hour. Lol that's not what you need after being at the Billy Goat for 2 hours. But we finally walked all the way back to our hotel. The plus of that situation? Some amazing pictures of the city at night, LOL. Our hotel is the second building on the left, by the way.

And since we were laughing our bottoms off about the whole situation we ended up back at the hotel's bar until shutting it down watching some older women hitting on this young hotel manager. It was funny, though you may have needed to be there. Still, a fun way to end the night/day.

Chicago: Day 1

So, my friend Heather and I met on Facebook through mutual friends and we found out, through posts, that we are both in love with traveling. After getting together a few times for musicals, and cirque du soleil we decided to take a trip. I had always wanted to see Chicago and she loved her short trips so we decided to go. We left town at the end of July. My dad was still in his medicated coma but it was a nice time away from the stress that everything was causing. My gracious family decided to come stay with my dad and I took the chance to catch a breath.

Unfortunately, the trip started with a few hiccups. For the lower airfare we had to leave at the crack of dawn...but Heather's alarm didn't go off and I was too silly not to text her early so we missed our flight. Technically, we didn't! But since we checked in 15 minutes before it left, and hadn't gone through security there was no way... So, we ended up on standby for a few hours. Not fun, but definitely worth it once we got there! We took the train into the city and, with the help of a nice gentleman, we found ourselves just a few blocks from our hotel.
Just a view of our hotel, Hotel 71. Heather did some great research and found a cute, chic place to stay just on the water! It was great and the room was so spacious!
The beds were great and there was a huge sitting/office area where I was standing when taking the picture. And the view was amazing...

Standing at our hotel window was this view :) I know, right, be jealous!

Since we hadn't eaten yet we decided our first Chicago attraction to hit was Chicago-Style Pizza! So, after looking on my travel sites and books we chose Giordano's.

Who couldn't love a place that has the 11th Commandment posted??

Little did I know we were in Pizza Heaven o:) I'm so glad we ordered the small because our eyes were much bigger than our stomachs and one slice of Chicago-style deep dish is equal to 3-4 of regular Pizza Hut.

Oh, Cheese, how I love thee. If only you were as healthy as celery.... I'd eat you forever.
After our heavenly pizza assault we decided to walk it off and explore downtown Chicago. The buildings were amazing. I could just get lost in them....and we did....often.
We went back towards our hotel to the waterway. The Wrigley Building was really spectacular.
And I loved the Chicago Tribune building! Lol, it was like a kid in a candy store... I was so excited to see all the newspapers. Hello, anyone hiring travel journalists in there?!?
As we approached the Tribune building we saw this .... controversial Marilyn Monroe statue. Some Chicagoans appreciate the artistic side of it, but others find it distasteful. Any thoughts? I was a little annoyed watching the teenage boys standing under her legs pointing up, I have to admit. Not appropriate!

More of the Chicago skyline from the street.... Lovely!

And then we walked Magnificent Mile. Ahhhhhhhhhhh, shopping Heaven. The five story Pottery Barn almost did me in. And that was just our first store....

I got to go explore my first American Doll Store. I had never really been in one. I'm just glad my 12 year old self stayed inside. I would have spent a fortune if she had emerged. :)

In the same shopping center/mall was the Lego Store. Very cool display! I know a lot of second grade boys who could spend their life savings in that store with one bat of an eye.

The Chicago Water Tower is right in the middle of the Magnificent Mile. It's the second oldest water tower in the US. Amazing and very beautiful...especially at dusk.

After walking the Mile and prying Heather away from Tiffany's without spending her life savings we decided to go out for the night. We walked around to House of Blues but it was $20 to see Snoop Dogg and that wasn't really our thing. We eventually ended up at Harry Caray's (whom at the time we had no idea who he was).
It was pretty busy. We stayed in the bar area and had a few drinks and just people watched. Same people who go out in Houston, go out in Chicago :) I was most excited about the National Register of Historic Places designation. It claims it due to its building (not the wonderful reputation of the steak house, though). Then we headed back to get some rest for a busy day ahead!

Home to Houston: The Great Delta Debackle(sp)

So, we wanted cheaper airfare and thus, had to have a very early flight home. Yes, a flight at 7am. Which meant we were getting up at 4am and getting over to the airport. As the sun was coming up we were boarding our flight and looking forward to lunch with our families. But as we were about to leave the gate the pilot came on saying they had a error message going off and couldn't fly the plane. Thirty more minutes later our flight was cancelled and we were put on standby. We ended up being flown to Atlanta (if I remember correctly) and then having to wait on a plane to Houston. Finally, around 10pm we were in Houston. Needless to say, it was a long day. Full of $6 meal vouchers and grumpy travelers. But the fact that I slept in my own bed that night was nice... and we returned from a great, long trip just as happy as can be! When we were finally on our way home on the last flight it gave me time to start working on my Smash book, a funky, journal-style scrapbook that Kristi and I love. As you can see I had my gluestick, markers and Taco Bell so I was good to go. Lol, next up Chicago!

Day 7: Last Days of Boston

I was really, really excited about this day because we were going to be starting with a 2-4 hour whale tour! Unfortunately, the seas were too rough and we had to return. It was a good thing, though, because the motion sickness was really setting in and I took my dramomine(spelling?) way too late in the game!
I can't tell you how much I would love to see a whale... One day, I guess.
So, instead we used our Go, Boston cards and headed to the Aquarium right beside the dock.
The penguins exhibit was right when you walk in the door. It takes quite a bit to get in. They want you to take your picture and all these different lines are confusing but, it was whatever. The penguins were really cute...
We walked around to the outdoor area where we saw the walrus and seals. There wasn't a show performing but it was fun watching them swim around.
In the middle of the aquarium is the huge tank full of different species of fish. The tank is 3 stories tall, so you walk up to the other floors as you watch the fish. As I was walking a shark came along to say hi. "Hi, Sharky!"
The big sting ray was cool too!
After the aquarium we went across the street to Jose McIntire's. The lunch crowd was gone so we had the place almost all to ourselves other than a bunch of men having loud conversations.
The fajitas were sooooo good and I probably ate them all :)
Then we headed back to the pier to catch the trolley to take us to Paul Revere's house. The house is far from the main streets so we got off the stop and followed these concrete sewer tops to find it.
We came upon the Copp's Hill Burying Ground. It's on the National Historic Register and Casey loves cemeteries so it was a win/win stop to explore.
A little information for you on the hill. :) I believe if you click on this the picture should be rather larger...
To think that this headstone is 3 centuries old is simply amazing!
Then we kept following the Freedom Trail and had this beautiful view of the Old North Church while walking up to it.
We toured the church and got to see where Paul Revere was the bell ringer and helped warn the citizens that the British were on their way!
The family pews were really interesting to explore.
I appreciated the memorial they had representing the men and women who had died in Iraq/Afghanistan. We all offered up our coins to the memorial. They were all set upon the rocks. Thanks to our service members!!!!!
The gift shop was great and had a lot of book recommendations for me! Instead of buying so many books, now, I take pictures of all the books I want to order on Amazon for cheaper and then I don't have to lug them home. :)
The Paul Revere statue was in the Paul Revere Mall which was a cobbled-stone street with lots of plaques showcasing important Americans in the American Revolution. At the beginning (or end, from my direction) was this great statue.
Another shot with the statue and the Church in the background. :)
Then...the HIGHLIGHT of my trip...we arrived at Paul Revere's House!!!!
Once you pay your money this is the view of the house where you enter it.
Of course, no pictures were allowed inside but you got to see the entire house. It looks huge but it really doesn't take but 10-15 minutes to walk through it and look at the plaques. It's so touristy, though, that you're constantly waiting on others to move to see all the details. There's only about 2 rooms to see upstairs (master bedroom and childrens' room) and then the kitchen and kitchen downstairs. It was still AMAZING :)
Finally, the Go Card offered a Sunset Cruise on a Schooner that I wanted to go on. Kristi and Casey decided to get something to eat and get a good nights' sleep since our flight was so early. But I wanted to keep stretching my dollars on the card so.... I got my tickets.
While on the scooner I got to see the Salem's Friendship that I had toured a few days ago! That was really neat...

And I got some great pictures of the city and the Harbor. I also met a great couple on the boat who asked for this very website. Maybe they're reading? :) After the cruise I took the train to Cheesecake Factory and then back to the hotel... A great way to end the trip!