Results tagged “Chicago”

Well, it has taken awhile for me to write about the last two days of our trip, mainly because I have been busier than an ice cream man on a hot summer's day. But that's a different blog post...maybe;)

On our last day in Chicago, we (all four of us this time) grabbed a bus and headed to the Museum of Science and Industry. We had not been able to see this on our previous trip in Chicago and had heard it was definitely the place to visit. We were particularly interested in seeing the Harry Potter exhibit.

We left our room at about 9 and ate at Houlihan's for the breakfast buffet. Awesome omelets. By 10, we were on the bus. Unfortunately, our bus had a technical difficulty on the way there (some access panel on the side hadn't been locked down, so it was popped out and posed a hazard to driving. We had to wait about 30 minutes for a supervisor to come and lock the panel so we could continue on our way. At least it gave us a chance to chat with other passengers!

We decided to see Wild Oceans, the Omnimax presentation and got tickets for the Harry Potter exhibit. Now, let me tell you, we love Harry Potter, but we were not happy when we found out that the cost of the tickets just for that exhibit were between 15 and 18 dollars each! You already pay about 20.00 for entry to the museum, and then they have several other exhibits where you have to pay extra to see them (for instance, seeing inside of the U-505 or visiting the Smart House). But all complaining aside, we really enjoyed our visit and wished we could have stayed longer, but I developed a migraine headache in the afternoon and we had to go.

Well, today we slept in a little, then we headed out at about 11:00. First we ate lunch at McDonald's, then we headed for the subway/El. It was our first time ever riding it and we were excited and nervous.

After about an hour which included figuring out how to get our passes for the subway and the ride, we arrived at our transfer point - the Rosemont Station. Then we got on a bus and headed to Woodfield Mall. And lastly, we took a trolley and were delivered to the front door of LegoLand Chicago Discovery Center.

It was really cool and you see photos of the amazing sculptures we found there by visiting my flickr page.

We saw a miniature Chicago made with Legos:

We rode through a medieval castle in a dragon car:

It was a cold and stormy day...well it was! Honest!

So, we survived the massive amounts of rain and enjoyed our time at the Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum. The lake almost looked like an ocean yesterday as the waves were a bit on the high side. We did enjoy eating lunch at Galileo's Cafe in the Adler Planetarium and looking out over the lake. I am sure it is an absolutely gorgeous view on a clear day.

I only took a couple of photos yesterday and no video. So it is words only this go round. We enjoyed the telescope exhibit at Adler. I particularly enjoyed looking at the old books on display (where scientists had drawn pictures of their idea of the galaxy) and the lovely old telescopes. My favorite was one made out of ivory and if anyone wants to talk to the Planetarium and see if you can get it for me for Christmas.... haha...only kidding! We enjoyed seeing how old we would be and how much we would weigh if we were on other planets and we had a good time trying to make 6 planets orbit the sun for 20 seconds...not as easy as you would think. We watched two shows...one called Cosmic Collisions and the other was Skywatchers of Africa. Both were very good, though the one shown in the planetarium left me with neck strain.

Yesterday we went to visit Shedd Aquarium...in the rain. Yep, we have hit some major rain here in Chicago. In fact, looks like it will be raining again today...

But, since we drove and have the Xterra, we are prepared. I have rain ponchos stored in the back! After breakfast, we found our bus stop and headed to the Museum Campus. We were delighted to be riding on a Clean Air Hybrid Bus which was recently purchased by the city of Chicago with stimulus funds...our tax dollars at work! It should make a huge difference in the air quality here in Chicago as well.

We spent the day at the Shedd Aquarium enjoying the sights of the lovely fish.

It's always fun to see the videos and get moment by moment action...so here are three from yesterday! Enjoy!

Well, we left Virginia yesterday before 8 a.m. We had a pretty uneventful drive. I drove in the morning and Daniel drove in the afternoon and evening. A highlight of the day was we took an exit looking for a promised BP station. We never did find the BP station, but we drove through a beautiful section of Kentucky and saw some amazing homes and beautiful horses. I don't believe I have ever seen such magnificent homes outside of Newport, Rhode Island.

We stopped in Indiana so Daniel could get a haircut (didn't want him looking shaggy for the conference) and we had dinner. We later stayed at a Holiday Inn Express and I tell you that staying there is a great deal for the money. Free internet. Free breakfast. Clean and comfy rooms.

Today we drove the rest of the way into Chicago. I was thinking about driving us around here for the places we are to visit. The drive in was enough to convince me to forget it. I am not qualified for city driving! After we got settled in, we are staying at the Hyatt Regency where the conference is, Daniel went to the conference, and we walked a bit south for a McDonald's (and found a food court). After lunch, the kids and I walked North up Michigan Avenue (also called the Mile with tons of great places to shop). We were headed to the Hancock Tower and saw many strange and wonderful things along the way.

I believe I enjoyed our time at the top of the Hancock building more than the Sears Tower last year. We enjoyed a complimentary cup of coffee (courtesy of our Chicago Passes) and we bought a couple of items in the gift shop and just really enjoyed learning about Chicago. We were up there for about 90 minutes, or maybe 2 hours, I wasn't really keeping track. It wasn't very crowded and the audio tour was awesome! I chose to listen to the kids version because kids' tours always give the best information.

While at the top of the Hancock Tower, we enjoyed looking at the beautiful Lake Michigan and it was neat how small Navy Pier looked from our vantage point.

Off to the left of Navy Pier and the filtration area, there was this roundish looking building. I wanted to know what it was, but it wasn't mentioned on the tour. I zoomed as much as I could, but couldn't really get a good picture. It looked to me like a Merry Go Round out in the middle of the lake (Katrina thought the same thing, separately from me). Finally I went up to the desk to ask because I just had to know...

It is a pumping station that goes with the water filtration area. It pumps water out of the lake for the people of Chicago to drink. I like my idea better. Wouldn't it be cool to have a Merry-Go-Round in the middle of the lake that you could only get to by boat???

As we were getting ready to leave, I couldn't find Katrina (this is a frequent happening) and I about had a heart attack when I did find her...

She kept pointing that it was a long way down as she worked hard to clean those windows!

We left there and stopped in Borders (it is the first time I have been in a Borders and I was really amazed!!!!!). We picked up the newest Daniel X book, then headed to Hershey's. Well, we had to go after we ran into the Kiss out on the Mile. Then we headed to the Chicago Tribune building.

We had learned while on our tour that reporters used to bring back pieces of places they had visited (i.e. a piece of the Great Wall of China, a piece of the Forbidden Temple in China, a piece of the Berlin Wall...). And these pieces are embedded in the outside of the building. It was really cool!

So, now we are back in the room and it is dinner time. More later...I have some videos to share too:)

When we booked our trip to Chicago, Daniel used Expedia. He wanted a top notch place to stay in the Windy City and let me tell you, he definitely found it.

The Sofitel Water Tower is located at 20 East Chestnut Street. Many wonderful things are within easy walking distance including: The Historic Chicago Water Tower, Water Tower Place, The Hancock Building, Navy Pier, Michigan Avenue (Magnificent Mile), and McDonalds (for those picky eaters).

The accomodations are luxurious. We had two rooms, one for the girls and one for the guys. Katrina and I had a king size bed with the softest mattress and pillows you could imagine. There was a desk and chair. And a bathroom with a shower and a bath. Instead of the tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner that one usually receives, there were larger containers that lasted our entire vacation. There was a mini bar/refrigerator, which we didn't make use of. A flat screen television. Robes to wear, a safe and plenty of closet and dresser space. There were magazines and information on places to see in the Windy City.

Daniel and Jack's room had a bath that was the same as ours. Daniel had a king size bed and his bedroom could be closed off by doors. Then there was a living room type area with television, sofa bed, computer table which we also used as a dining table, a coffee table and chairs. Plenty of space for us to spread out in, relax in and eat in.

Sorry that I didn't blog yesterday, but I was just too pooped to pop last night and I had a killer headache...but I am getting ahead of myself...

For those of you who want just the pictures, here's the link to the photos that I took yesterday. Enjoy!

Now on with the story...

Yep, folks, you heard it here first! NASA has announced the next astronauts that will be heading to the moon. You can see their picture here. NASA has decided that a family would be a great choice for the next mission and I am sure you will agree. Of course, the fact that the family had all recently gone on a shopping spree at the House of Blues was what clinched NASA's decision.

"This family is on a mission from God," one NASA spokesman reported.

Today was long and busy and I am pooped.

I was up around 6:30. I showered and then read a bit before spending over 1/2 hour trying to wake up Katrina who was very, very tired... We went and had breakfast at Starbucks...just what I needed to jump start my day!

Then we got hooked up with the Gray Line On/Off Trolley/Double Decker tour. It is a two hour tour of the loop and we were tickled to be on the top of the bus...though Daniel now resembles a lobster due to his fair skin.

We had a great guide who told us all about the architecture of the area. We rode the whole tour without getting off, then we got off in the restaurant district and went to the House of Blues for lunch. It was neat being there and since we love the movie, The Blues Brothers, we went a little crazy in the souvenir shop...you'll be able to see what I mean tomorrow... Then we got back on the trolley (we were glad to be out of the sun). We went to the Field Museum. Way too much stuff to see in the 2 hours we had. We did make a point to see Sue, the T-rex, the Egyptian exhibit, and an exhibit where we were shrunk down to less than 1 inch in size. I loved the Egyptian section, particularly the mummies, the artifacts and the fact that part of the exhibit was made of actual stones from an actual 5000 year old tomb. That was absolutely amazing!!!!!! The art work on the walls....it was just incredible! Unfortunately, it was too dark for any of my photos to turn out.

Then we got a trolley back to the beginning and headed home. It is 9 pm and we are going to sleep and get ready for another busy day. You can check out photos from our Chicago Tour at my Flickr account.

And for all of you who are commenting, thanks so much. I spend time this morning answering, but then realized that even though I am on the internet, my emails are not going out of Outlook. Don't know why. Daniel is having the same problem. But never fear, all of those emails will get sent when we return to Bloomington! I am glad you are enjoying reading about our trip.

Well, we saw the fireworks. Actually, they were a bit disappointing. They started about 15 minutes early and lasted for about 10 minutes. As we were walking home, we saw other fireworks in the distance...maybe we attended the wrong show....

Because things had ended so early, we treated ourselves to a 30 minute horse carrige ride. It was absolutely wonderful and made Katrina's night.

For photos of our evening, you can check out my Fireworks Set on Flickr.

It is hard to take pictures of fireworks, but my camera has a fireworks setting, I had to try it out...It was fun and some of the effects were very cool!

First a couple of moments I forgot to mention yesterday. We ordered Deep Dish Chicago pizza for supper! They sure make it different here...and one piece is a meal! I would never say that back home. A corn meal deep dish crust. Then comes a layer of cheese, then veggies or whatever toppings, then the sauce. It was about an inch thick and it was awesome!!!! Also, as it was our first night here at the Sofitel, we were surprised with trays of milk, cookies, chocolate covered strawberries and bottles of water from Norway. Very neat!

Last night Katrina, Jack and I watched the fireworks from our bedroom windows. It was cool, even though we couldn't see them completely for buildings. Tonight we are walking to Navy Pier to see the big firework show.

Today we got up a bit earlier than planned. I told Jack that we would try and leave by 9. Well, at 7, I was still in bed, thinking about getting up when a knock came at our door. Jack couldn't believe we were still in bed. He thought it was 9! He had just woke up, looked at the clock on his computer (which said 8 a.m. because it is on East Coast time). Instead of subtracting an hour, he added an hour and viola...it was 9!!!! He got up and dressed quickly, let me tell you.

We spent about an hour waking up, then headed to McDonald's for breakfast.

Years ago, I started a tradition of keeping handwritten journals of our vacations. As I have said, we love to travel and it was a great way to keep up with fun things we did and have them to review later. Now, I can do the same on my blog and the whole world can have the joy of reading what we have been up to...

So for today... Katrina and I hit the Goodwill this morning. I had forgotten to pack her a jacket and the evening temperatures here are going to be a bit cool (plus, it is the windy city and we had some wind today). While at the Goodwill, I also found each of us a patriotic shirt to wear for tomorrow! I couldn't believe I was able to find one for each of us the day before the Fourth of July.

We left for Chicago around 12. I volunteered to drive in...whatever was I thinking? But our Garmin GPS directed us right where we needed to be. There was a bit of traffic of course, but we survived and I didn't cause any accidents:)

Our hotel is something else. The valet ran away with our car (which we are leaving parked for the duration). The bellboy helped get our luggage to our room. The concierge wasn't at her desk when we arrived, so she made a special trip upstairs to our room to introduce herself, give us some tips and give us four complimentary days worth of internet hookup....unfortunately, we had already paid to hook up by the time she came to see us...grrrr....