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Published: November 16th 2008
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View from the ground
The Hancock Building I've decided to continue our travel-blog if not for you all than for us! We found this a great way to share our lives with friends and family and our blog from New Zealand, Australia & Fiji became a great way to preserve the memory and photos of our travels.
Since returning home to the US in early 2008 we have continued living in Hoboken and made a few trips up and down the east coast and Kevin has spent the last several months commuting to Chicago every week. Last month I had the opportunity to join him and explore this great city. We hope you enjoy a re-cap of our latest adventure!
Thursday, Oct 9th - After experiencing the 2 hour flight out to Chicago that Kevin experiences twice a week I hopped in a cab and made my way to the W Hotel on Lakeshore Drive. Shortly after arriving at the hotel Kevin was able to skip out of work and began showing me his home away from home. We walked up and down Michigan Avenue which is Chicago's famous shopping district and also is known as the "Magnificent Mile". We came to the John Hancock Building
- Chicago's very tall building 2nd only to the Sears Tower - and paid a small fee to go the Observatory Floor and get a great view of the city. It was a really clear day and Kevin was able to show me the lay of the land and point our various neighborhoods throughout the city. From this vantage point you can see four different states - Illinois (obviously!), Indiana, Wisconsin & Michigan. We stayed through sunset enjoying the views and then decided to seek out some of Chicago's famous deep-dish pizza. We ended up at Giordano's in a section of Chicago known as the Gold Coast. The pizza was ridiculously good and so far Chicago was living up to its great reputation. We decided to end the evening by visiting Navy Pier - a pier next to our hotel that is home to many shops, restaurants, a botanical gardens and a large ferris wheel. Unfortunately it was pretty much closed down by the time we arrived (8 or 9 pm). We headed back to our hotel and crashed.
Friday, Oct 10th - Kevin headed into work for the day and I spent my morning walking along Michigan Avenue.
Window washer
Kevin hard at work - notice the intense concentration I walked far enough south to get my first look at the Chicago River and continued to be impressed with the city. It has a ton of really tall buildings and the amazing architecture and old churches somewhat remind me of Europe. Kevin finished work and met me for lunch at a cafe on the river. We finished up and headed back to our hotel to pack up and check-out and then head to our hotel for the next three nights - the Four Points Sheraton (just a few blocks away). We got settled and had a few hours to rest before heading to dinner. We ate at Hugo's Frog Bar on Rush Street which was about 10 blocks north of our hotel. We got a table outside and the weather was perfect (as it has been since I arrived) - 60's with a nice breeze. Hugo's Frog Bar is famous for its seafood but also shares a kitchen with Gibson's, a well-known steakhouse, so steaks are also available. We had one of the best meals of our life while enjoying all of the activity and people-watching going on in front of our eyes. We wandered back to our hotel
Gorgeous day!
A view of some of the buildings on the river. and did some window-shopping along the way and I continued to be really impressed with this city!
Saturday, Oct 11th - Our friends the Vianna's arrived in town and we met up with Mr. & Mrs. V while Christine met up with a friend and prepared to run the Chicago marathon the next day. The four of us walked up and down Rush Street, browsed in a Lamborghini & Bentley Store, walked to the Chicago River and over to Millennium Park. At the park we found the "Bean" which is a large sculpture that shows the reflection of the city behind it (pretty cool) and we also stumbled upon a tech exhibit which was also cool but a little strange. We had worked up an appetite from all our walking and grabbed lunch at Weber's Grill and then continued our self-guided walking tour of Chicago by heading over to Oak Street Beach. It was such a unique spot where you can enjoy all the amenities of a beach while still being in the heart of a major city! For dinner we headed to Tufano's where Christine and the other marathon runners prepared for the next day by eating some
Oak Street Beach
Look how close you are to the heart of the city while right on the beach! pasta.
Sunday, Oct 12th - The city was abuzz for the Chicago marathon! Christine completed her first marathon in a great time and didn't even look worn-out afterwards! The 5 of us enjoyed a nice dinner outside at The Kerryman and congratulated Christine on a job well-done.
Monday, Oct 13th - Kevin & I booked a 90 minute cruise up the Chicago River through the Chicago Architecture Foundation. We learned all about the history of the city and got a lesson on all the different types of architecture that Chicago is home to. We passed the Merchandise Mart and Sears Tower among many other buildings. We switched hotels for the 3rd time (don't ask) to the Westin River North which was the best of the 3. We took the "L" up to Lincoln Park and walked around both the neighborhood and the park. We ate dinner at the House of Blues which was right across from our hotel and called it a night.
Tuesday, Oct 14th - Kevin headed back to work, Karen headed back home. Chicago had definitely lived up to all the hype!!!
Random facts - There seemed to be a lot of
Lake Michigan
Hard to believe it was October in Chicago . . . homeless people and they weren't asking for money - just food
- The tax in Chicago is the highest of any US city
- All of the pictures were taken on my camera phone
Next major stop (that we know of) - Vancouver & Whistler/Blackcomb Mountain, Canada - Feb 2009
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Stacy
non-member comment
So glad you loved it...
We miss our "2nd Home" and so glad that you guys loved it like we do. We need to visit together and we'll show you some of our old hangouts and favorite places to grub! Can't wait for the next installment of your travel blog. Very cool. Stace