Chicago Is My Kind of Town......

Chicago Is, My Kind of Town, Chicago Is, My Kind of Town, Chicago is, My Kind of Razzmatazz, and It Has, All That Jazz........

Last weekend, John and I were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel to Chicago to meet a few friends from Arizona that we hadn't seen in quite a while. We were also lucky to get to travel there, just the two of us, without any children for a couple's weekend! FUN! Our friends, Chris & Mary, were going to be kid free as well, so it worked out really well. They were going to visit Mary's dad, also John, who is contracted on a job in Chicago until November. Everything seemed to go pretty well. John & I drove, while the Standages flew in from Phoenix. We hit some weather on the way, but just a bit of messy rain. Unfortunately, the rain & the traffic made a trip that would normally be 5-1/2 to 6 hours one that ended up being 8 long hours in the car! Whew were we glad to get to our hotel and relax! Due to weather and whatever else the airline could conjure up, Chris & Mary's flight was late, and they didn't get to the hotel until about 1:00 A.M.!! After John and I got to the hotel, we were immediately upgraded to a room with a jacuzzi, because our sink was drained in the first room. It was a nice upgrade. Then, we headed out for dinner, in the RAIN, and off to Gurnee Mills to walk off our dinner. What fun! John LOVED the Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World, and I LOVED the Archiver's Scrapbook store! WAHOO! After browing those wonderful shops, a few others and Borders bookstore, we grabbed a hot beverage from Starbucks! What a perfect end to a fun night!

The next day, we hooked up with Chris and Mary and went to Navy Pier.

What a neat place. The weather was pretty overcast the entire day, but it never rained, and the temperatures were great! It was neat to see Lake Michigan, and stroll the boardwalk. From there, we headed to the Magnificent Mile on foot. I was exited to shop on this infamous boulevard. However, John didn't share my excitement, and stated that, "Window Shopping is the same thing as shopping." WHAT? What is wrong with him? It is NOT the same! Anyhow, we just did it his way, and went about our afternoon! Downtown Chicago is beautiful and so clean! I was very impressed by everything. And, there is some really beautiful architecture there. Along Michigan Ave., we ventured into the John Hancock Observatory, traveled up to the 94th floor (in 40 seconds flat) and got a bird's eye view of the city. Very beautiful! I never knew how many rooftops had swimming pools and grass! LOL! Hillarious! Chris, Mary and I did our best to re-enact a scene from Ferris Bueller's Day off by placing our heads against the glass and looking down. John decided to do it to, but his version was solo!


One of the funniest things that happened on top of the John Hancock Observatory was this little kiosk where you could "pretend" that you were window washers of the observatory. In one photo, Chris pretended to be "falling" which looked pretty real. But, then, he and John got in there and acted really silly! Note the picture of them "washing" John's head. It never looked shinier! Hee hee! Good job guys!!




For lunch, John insisted he HAD to have an authenic Chicago Hot Dog. Well, he got his wish that first day. He was pretty excited about it! I was a bit repulsed by what the hot dog concoction looked like, but he LOVED it and would go back again he said! He pointed out almost every Chicago Hot Dog opportunity he came across. Whatever makes him happy!

The next day, we went to Six Flags Great America. Not the best place to be if you're a non-rider like me, with 4 other sadistic RIDERS. But, everyone had a good time. John, Chris, Mary, and Mary's Dad, all rode and rode rides that I wouldn't THINK of riding once, let alone multiple times. One of these rides, was Raging Bull. Quite the roller coaster!!! This is only one tiny part of the roller coaster. The rest is behind this view. There are probably 2-3 more parts. This picture doesn't do it justice. Believe me, I don't think this ride is for the faint of heart! My husband rode it twice, and our friends rode it 3 times! What Freaks!!! LOL!

After an hour and fifteen minute wait for their first ride, Superman, they all decided that they would invest in a Fast Pass. This wonderful little device is a pager that you tell which ride you're interested in riding next. You enter that information, and basically make a reservation to ride that ride. The pager then tells you what time you will be up to ride it. The waits were only like 10 minutes, which gave you time to get from one ride to the next, and then upon arriving, you only had to wait about 10-15 minutes. It saved alot of time and enabled them to ride a bunch more rides than they would have without the pass. Chris thought he would be funny and cover up a sign that said, "FLASH your PASS here and save". As you can tell, he made his own funny, and tried to "do as the sign said".

In the end, it was a really fun day! I even rode a few rides, but that is for a blog for another day! Let's just say, there was a lot of WATER and A LOT of SCREAMING, and that was coming from my own body. I think Chris said that he was more terrorized by my scream than the actual ride itself! Oops! No fast past was necessary for THAT thrilling experience, I'll tell you! LOL! I'll try to blog more about my experience on the few rides I did ride, and the last day of our trip as well!