Friday, September 24, 2010

Chicago, Days 2 (sorry, I'm behind)

We walked so much yesterday that I thought my legs would end in stumps inside my shoes when we got back to the hotel. It started at the Chicago Temple, where we ate our breakfast of Dunkin' Donuts by the fountain.
After that we headed to the Field Museum down town. I just want to say that I am so glad that 1) Nik is driving on this trip, and 2) that we got the GPS system with the rental car. We would NEVER have figured all this out with just the courtesy map we got at the rental agency.

This one is for you Mom.

The Museum is hands down the coolest museum I have ever been too. They had so much stuff! And it was all so well displayed. Loved it all. But my feet were well beyond done for the day before we finished. Then we kept going.

After leaving we walked around Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears. It is a beautiful building. Lots of flags.

We made a trip to the Aquarium (while we were still paying one price for parking) but decided not to stay because they closed in an hour. But we rested and cooled off for a few minutes before heading back to the car. On the walk back we decided to hit the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) to walk out on the Sky Deck. We pulled out the GPS to see how far the Tower was, and thought, oh, its only like a half a mile, we should just walk and leave the car here. Great idea!! NOT. Turns out is was more like half a mile to the first change in direction. Total distance: 2 mi. Great. Then 2 miles back. Even better! But all that aside (and forgetting how much my feet hurt before we started this), the tower was really cool. The view was more than I imagined it would be, and the Sky Deck (a glass box/platform that lets you look strait down to the street) was much scarier than I expected it to be.

The walk home was much easier, and we made a pit stop at the Chicago Library, which is the most spectacular library in the world! Well, maybe just better than anything we have in SLC. The Children's section alone was about the size of the Calvin Smith location by my house. Hear that Talina? Just the children's section!! I thought of you, and of Lou, while we were there.

We expected to hang out at the pool when we got home, only to find out that it is under construction. So no pool for us.

Some things I have noticed about Chicago:

* The drivers are MUCH more courteous than Utah drivers, but they like to honk.
* The humidity here is off-set but the wind.
* They weren't kidding about the wind.
* We have not gone anywhere that we weren't given excellent customer service (except the hotel people here, they suck). It's a very friendly town.
* The "down on their luck" people seem to think that if they approach us civilly, and tell the truth, that we will be willing to give them lots of money. I'm sorry, just because you are nice, doesn't mean I have money to give you. If you won't accept the change I am giving you. Stop following me.
*

4 comments:

Amanda said...

You are a brave woman Lena. I didn't think you would do it.

Talina said...

The Sears/Willis Tower thing looks awesome! I can see how it would be unnerving though. At work, one of the building has floor to ceiling windows on the 5th floor and it's weird to see the ground so far below you right next to your feet. I can't imagine walking out onto 'nothing' so far above the ground!
I'm very jealous of the museum and the library. It all sounds awesome. I'm glad you are having such a great time!

Vivian said...

That video was awesome. I would feel the same way you did. It seemed like Nik wasn't all to fond of it either!

I remember feeling that stump-feet way on our Asia trip. By the time you get home, you'll have super legs!

Unknown said...

You did it! I'm so proud of you!