Saturday, July 9, 2011

Chicago

Second City. The Windy City. Chicago.  I only spent one day there, but I could easily see going back for a long weekend.

I checked into yet another Best Western (next night is free!) on the night of the 6th, and woke up the next day, catching the "L" into town.  I headed to Museum Campus, hoping to visit the Shedd Aquarium, but the line was all the way down the steps of the museum and continued for about a city block. Deciding that there are plenty of aquariums in other cities, including close to home, I decided to skip that and go to Sears Tower. Right next to the Aquarium, I caught sight of a water taxi that took passengers to Navy Pier, where they could connect with another water taxi right to Sears...I mean Willis...tower.  That sounded like much more fun than buses and trains, so I bought an all day pass and hopped on. The benefit was a great view of the city skyline.

I even managed to get a picture of myself, thanks to a nice gentleman from Ottawa.


Navy Pier was fun to walk around.  I played in front of the funhouse mirrors for awhile. 
Who knew how tall and skinny I was?  Then I caught a water taxi into the interior of the city. It was an awesome way to see the city, and very relaxing. 

By the time I got to Sears/Willis Tower, I was starving. There was a Giordano's nearby, a place famed for pizza, so I had my pizza. Unfortunately, by the time my pizza came and I ate it, it was getting late, and I didn't have time for the hour's wait to go up to the skydeck. Maybe next time!

I didn't have time because I was meeting a high-school friend for dinner.  We ate at the Chicago Diner in  the gay district of Chicago, apparently one of the first gay districts in the country. Chicago Diner is a vegetarian restaurant, and I had yet another amazing vegetarian meal, washed down with Goose Island beer, brewed in Chicago. Friend and I had a great time catching up, and the timing was perfect since he was leaving on a road trip of his own the next day...to the East Coast.  And I had an early start, since the next day I would make the 10-hour drive to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

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