Day in Chicago

We did it! A loooong but satisfying day in Chicago.
Train ride is 2.5 hours each way from South Bend. First stop was the Shedd Aquarium. We'd been there about 8 years ago and I remembered the beluga whales fondly. They made me happy once again... and the dolphin show was very fun. We also enjoyed the Wild Reef exhibit. (Grabbed lunch in the food court -- chili dogs & Italian beef sandwiches -- before leaving.)

A short walk over to the front of the Field Museum (which we skipped this time) to get on our bus tour. (It's one of those hop-on-hop-off things that work really well when you are in a big city for the first time and want to get the lay of the land and see a lot in a short amount of time.) Hopped off at Navy Pier which this time of year isn't all that exciting but was fine for us! Walked the length of it (very very windy!) and looked out at the lake which was a gorgeous aqua/teal/blue color yesterday. Back on the bus in about an hour... and after winding through the city streets a bit we got off at the Hancock. Up, up, up we went (quickly! -- it travels 95 floors in under 40 seconds! -- to the Observatory. Very cool.

Back down again and after a short walk we got back on the bus to complete our tour. Downtown Chicago (at least on a gorgeous, PERFECT, April day) is quite attractive. There is some construction going on but not enough to make it ugly, and the Chicago River cuts a cool, green swath through the city. Plus, you only have to go a few blocks and there is the beautiful Lake. Our tour was mostly about the buildings and art with a few stories thrown in here and there... it was interesting and I do feel like I have more of a feel for what the Windy City (at least the downtown part) is all about. Certainly a lot of very tall buildings.

We got off across from the Art Institute (which we skipped) and walked several blocks, looking for a place to sample Chicago-style pizza. Thankfully we stumbled upon this restaurant pretty quickly (this was the only unplanned part of our day!) and got a great authentic deep-dish pizza dinner for a really good price! After eating we had a bit of time before our train left so we quickly explored Millenium Park.

Back on the train for the looong ride home. (It's 9:15 and younger dd is still asleep.)

I'm so grateful for the awesome weather and how everything pretty much went as planned! (You just never know how things are going to go when you venture forth...)