Life's a Hoot: Chicago the Windy City

"You feel like an ant contemplating Chicago."

Welcome to the Windy City of Chicago: Home of the great Oprah Winfrey, Cubs, Bears and Bulls athletic teams, Obama, and the Magnificent Mile!

Evan and I had both passed through Chicago several times, but never actually indulged in its greatness. After visiting Chad and Chelsea in Indiana, we head to Chicago for two nice nights. We chose our hotel on Hotwire, which is a interesting concept. You are given an area and you must chose if you would like a 1-5 star hotel with price ranges. We chose a three star in the heart of the city. Let's just say the Inn of Chicago was a good location… :) Also, be aware that parking is not included with your hotel bill. Expect to pay mucho money!

We arrived late on Sunday night and decided to try the famous deep-dish pizza at Giordano's. We figured there would be a wait (about an hour), but didn't realize we were suppose to order the pizza while we were waiting. The reasoning is because the pizza usually takes 45 minutes to make. So two hours later we were stuffing our faces with the deepest of deep pies :)

We had four main goals the next day- Willis Tower, Millennium Park, Chicago Dog, and an Improv Show. We owned that day :) In movies you always see people walking everywhere. Secretly I always thought that was a lie, but it really is true. You walk and walk and walk. The insane thing is that people look good. If I lived that there I would probably wear Nikes everywhere with a scarf wrapped around my face. Chiago-ians are styling fools.

Some architectural sites...

The river that famously turns green at St. Patty's Day by dumping orange dye into it.

A 7-Eleven in the middle of town. I have never seen a connivence store without gas pumps!

Some guy feeding pigeons out his window.

Millennium Park

This park hosts an array of items. This former industrial wasteland was turned into a world renown park that hosts everything from an outdoor ice skating rink, sculptures, outdoor theater, and museums. Pretty spectacular

Entrance to the park - Wrigley Square and Millennium Park Monument.

Jay Pritzker Pavillion where many outdoor concerts are held...

Just imagine listening to an outdoor performance.

I wonder if they got their sound system from Best Buy :)

THE BEAN!!!!!! For whatever reason this was a major highlight for me. Maybe it was the shininess of it?!

Walk underneath….

Check out the skyline...

Or check out who is behind you….

Or beside :)

THE BIGGEST SOYBEAN!!!!

Willis Tower

This is still the largest "structure" in the world. Not building, but structure. The antennas on the top allows the Willis Tower to hold that record.

They had to build it with tiered levels to make it sturdy… even this Lego replica has to be built in tiers.

I thought climbing the Campanile 180 stair structure was intense each Friday with Melissa. However, I believe this trumps it. Each year they host this climbing event where people of all ages come and run the stairs. Check it out - here!

For 25 cents you could see this….

And this...

And this!

You think we would get different views in the background, but we didn't :)

Crazy how huge Chicago is...

Massive!

They also had this sky deck. Basically it is three areas that have glass that jet out and you get to walk in it. Talk about walking off a ledge! Yikes!

Just think if that thing broke :S

Held both of us up!

Evan is just so handsome!

After checking out the view, Evan gave a little hit that he wanted to find a Chicago Dog.

Lukes

Evan loves hot dogs. I would rather eat lutefisk. But how could I deny my husband the chance to devour a authentic hot dog. Check out Luke's 3-D wall art.

Hot peppers, onions, mustard, relish, hot dog and tomatoes. NO KETCHUP!

It is like Christmas Day for this guy. After this experience he wanted to bring Chicago dogs to his family reunion - which is about 60+ people! Not a chance :)

Sites and Sounds

I have no idea what these building are, but the features are cool!

This was an Opera House.

Railways are not just on the ground, but above you too!

This was a parking ramp. You backed the car up and people from the street could see the rear end sticking out. This was oober scary for me since you could back right off!

On the giant gerbil wheel!

CHICAGO theater!

The trains again!

Ice Skating at Millennium Park
Another cool activity is free ice skating at Millennium Park. You can rent skates or bring your own and skate from the afternoon until late in the evening in the middle of the city!