Sandburg's poem makes somuch more sense now.
Day Two in CHi-town was proving to be much better than Day One.
It was almost 60degrees and sunny! Hurray! We were planning on visiting the Sears Tower and thought it best to take one of those trolley/double-decker bus tours to see the city & be able to get on and off as we like. We hopped the first bus at 9:30 and were whiksed all the way to the opposite end of the city for that first stop. Which would be The Sears Tower.
On the way, we saw all sorts of sites pointed out by the guide. I convinced Mom to sit up top for just this portion of the trip so we could see things better. They were predicting rain for later and I wanted to do this once while we had the opportunity. I had a great ime up there & loved ducking so that I wouldn't lose my head on the traffic light fixtures. OUr guide, Brad, was so funny. He told us such interesting facts & really bad corny jokes. But he kept it interesting.
We hopped off at the Sears Tower at 9:50 and went inside. The first run up to the 103 floor was at 10 and my mom thoguth we may be too early, as the lobby of the building was empty. But we took an elevator down two floors to go through security and begin the tour and were met with a line of 100+ people. Still, we didn't stand long and got to see a movie about the building's hostiry and how, when finished, the Sears Corp. was only in there 14 years before they had to sell it off. So sad!
We got in the elevator and were delivered to the top in no time flat. My ears popped only three times on the way up. When we exited the elevator, I was expecting to be inside but have the opportunity to walk outside too. Nope. The entire viewing floor is indoors. Here I was thinking Eiffel Tower and Empire State Building but this is nothing like those. It is 100% enclosed.
Because it was a clear day, we could see up to 50 miles away. So cool! And the Chicago River and Lake Michigan were right there, too. Loved it.
We went back down and waited for a bus to continue the tour. This next bus we caught was not as intersting as our first host. This guy told us some facts, but he was so flat about it that I didn't find them interesting. Stop 2, for us, was Millenium Park, where we saw the Amphitheater and "The BIg Bean". "The Bean" is a silver, massive sculpture that reminds me of a kidney bean. But HUGE. I took some cool pictures of it and the city and blue sky reflect off of it into the shot that it is so pretty. I even took a picture of it with my mom & me in the reflection. Nice!
We hopped onto another bus and somehow got our original host back! Yippee! He took us past the Museum of Modren Art, where he said its better known as "I could have done that". I laughed so hard when he said "They paint three lollipop sticks orange, glue them into the shape of a tirangle on a big white board, and then hang it up. When I ask 'What's teh meaning of this?' hey sao 'Oh. It's too deep to explain.'" He was hysterical.
We drove past the Chicago river....which flows backwards. Apparently, they used to dump waste into the river....................all waste..............and never thought twice of it, even though the river was their water supply and drank from it. When people began to get sick, they decided that they had to build dams and levvies (spelling?) and were sending he water into the Mississippi to St. Louis. St. Louis tried to block the movement, but didn't do it in time and Chicago scored one. St. Louis got them back. According to the guide, they bottled that water at their Budweiser plant and sent it right back to Chicago. Nice!
On to Navy Pier. It was so cold walking down by the Lake and we tried to stay inside as best as possible. Here's where I had my first taste of Chicago's famous barbeque. I had a pulled pork sandwich that was pretty darn good. And I don't even like pulled pork. Go figure!
We grabbed a trolley from there to finish our tour at the opposite end of the MAg. Mile from where we werestaying. We passed the Wrigley Building along the way and heard even more cool facts from our new driver/guide. We got off and began the walk. The architecture of the buildings was so pretty and classic. I enjoyed the detail and how it varied from one structure to another. They ahd a sculpture of a moose on the street that was made from the bumpers of cars in accidents in that area from last year. Cool moose!
We wanderd back to the hotel around 7 and went to dinner. I had the classic Chicago Pie (pizza). I also had the fresh berry crepe with hazelnut chocolate (nutella...but they didn't say that on the menu).
It was a bit windy out but not yet raining so we took a walk to the stores on the Mag. Mile and got some souveniers for people. I really couldn't find much but I did find this great chocolate shoppe in the middle of the 900 Shops. It's called Ethels and they sell chocolate pieces and even make desserts, coffee drinks,chocolate drinks, and fresh fondue right there. Like a chocolate Starbucks. I bought chocolates for everyone! The pieces were a bit pricey, but I got each person 2-pieces. They were from the cocktail collection and are to die for. I already ate my two and if I don't give the others their pieces, I may eat them as well.
Day Two ended with another run for a cup of tea and collapsing.
