Girls Trip: Day's 1 and 2-Chicago

Okay, for all of you who keep checking to get the travelogue, here it is. I am sorry it is late in coming, but you know how it is when you get back from vacation, life goes back to being crazy busy. So here goes...
Friday, May 1, 2009
I flew from Charlotte to Minneapolis and met Tenielle there, where we had a two hour layover. It is always fun to meet someone in the airport. We flew to Chicago, where we met mom and Tristen. The miraculous thing was we were all on time and landed within a few minutes of each other, also our van was there waiting for us when we got there, well actually, they were waiting for someone else and didn't have us down for a pick up even though I called the day before, but it worked out great. Of course, we couldn't leave the airport without getting our first taste of Chicago, my favorite Potbelly Subs. Every time I fly through Chicago, I have to stop there.

So when we got to our hotel, we were a bit tired and relaxed and chatted a bit, before our friend Pam came. Pam drove from Kentucky in her dad's Tahoe. It was great to have the space in our travels. We went to Costco to get water, fruit and other snacks. Then we went to Giodono's for true Chicaco pizza. Oh, it was probably the best pizza I have ever had other than SLC's Pie pizza. Yes, you are probably thinking lot's of eating equals weight gain. Gratefully we walked a lot and that wasn't the case.

Saturday, May 2 we woke up early, in fact each morning we caught the train around 9am. We stayed in Burr Ridge, which was just a 20 minute train ride into the city. I wouldn't have had it any other way. I enjoyed the train ride. It gave us an opportunity to see the suburbs, which had some very cute buildings and streets. It was also an opportunity to relax at the end of the day. I know that sounds funny, but there is something relaxing about a train, except when you are sleeping and can hear it's loud horn in the middle of the night, which I sometimes do. It was amazing that five girls could get up and get ready with only one bathroom. We had purchased the Go Chicago Card, which I highly recommend. It allowed us to show our cards to get into every place we wanted to see. We headed to the trolley, where we boarded off and on all day Saturday and Sunday. It was a great way to see the city and gave us great transportation. Our first stop was the skyline of Chicago. The day was clear, which allowed us to get some great pictures.





We then took an Architectural Boat Tour. It was pretty awesome. I was pretty amazed at our tour guides. They all were great historians and knew their stuff. The architecture in Chicago is pretty amazing and very impressive. We boarded the boat tour at Navy Pier. We didn't do much touring there but got a few great pictures. It is mostly for children and I have heard best during the summer. It was a bit chilly in the low 60's that day, so we didn't get on the famous ferris wheel.




Of course we had to see Michigan Avenue. It was pretty neat, but we didn't do any shopping, it isn't like you can't find the same thing every where else in the country. We weren't there to shop, we were there to be tourists. We did go into the American Doll store, where I took pictures by the Kit Kitteredge displays, to share with my Kit Kitteredge friends the Mattingly girls. We also walked into and then out of the very large Macy's. We also went into the Gheradelli and Hershey store's without making a purchase.





We had dinner at Webber's Grill, recommended by Dr. McCutcheon. Oh, it was so amazingly delicious. I had this wonderfully tasting chicken salad. I don't know if we were just hungry or it was just pretty darn good. We then had to stop by the huge Marshalls, so that I could buy a jacket. I didn't bring a jacket and was cold all day. There weren't many to choose from, probably because all other tourist had the same idea. The funny thing is I didn't really need it the rest of the trip, but it did come in handy each morning and evening. By the end of the day, we were pooped. I haled a cab, since we were tired of walking. It only cost $10, which we thought was a pretty good deal. Of course we only went a few blocks to catch the train, but better than burning any more calories for the day. Back at the hotel we looked up churches to attend the next morning. Waste of time as we skipped out on church, not because we didn't want to attend, but because it was far and we wouldn't have gotten back to the city until late in the afternoon, secondary to the train schedule...blah, blah, blah, rationalizing. Stay Tuned...You know I can't do this all in one day. It is time consuming and I must get to bed, since I have worked the last two nights and have an early shift in the morning. The best is yet to come. PS. Here is a preview