Chicago Day 1

We spent two fantastic days in Chicago over fall break.  Had I but known how much we would like Chicago, we would have stayed a third day.  We had such a good time. 

 We stayed at the Ohio House Motel, and it was just perfect for us. The location was great and it had free parking.  We arrived late on Monday.  After checking in, we walked about two blocks to eat at Portillos- which was recommended to us by a co-worker of Brian's.  It was really good. 

 We got up early on Tuesday and headed to the Shedd Aquarium.  We purchased the City Pass, so we were able to do a number of attractions for a discounted price.  We were among the first at the aquarium, so we were able to enjoy it before it got too crowded.  We've been to a lot of aquariums.  This is definitely a top-tier one.  We especially liked the sea life show presentation which featured belugas and Pacific white-sided dolphins.

 After leaving the aquarium, we hit up a hot dog stand and then went next door to visit the Field Museum.  This was a very large natural history museum, and we were not able to see it all.  We looked at a map of the museum prior to our trip so that we could prioritize which exhibits we wanted to see.  At the top of the list was the "Evolving Planet" exhibit.  It was so good.  It went through life on this planet from microscopic organisms to today.  Included in this area were the dinosaurs including Sue, the most complete T-Rex skeleton ever found. 

 While we spent the most time in the "Evolving Planet" exhibit, we did visit some other areas.  We saw the rocks and minerals exhibit, the indigenous cultures of the Americas exhibit, and the Egyptian exhibit.  The last area that we visited was the area with all of the taxidermied animals.  We really wanted to see the Tsavo lions (aka the Ghost and the Darkness). The kids love the movie about these lions and seeing them was at the very top of their list. This was the highlight of the museum for them. 

 Upon leaving the Field Museum we boarded the Lake Michigan water taxi which took us from the museum campus to Navy Pier.  We enjoyed a nice cruise with city views from the lake.

 When we reached Navy Pier, we switched to a different water taxi which took us down the river from Navy Pier to Willis Tower.  We enjoyed looking at the fantastic architecture of the buildings in the city as we cruised. 

 We did go up to the Skydeck at Willis (Sears) Tower, but it was too cloudy to see much.  We probably should have done this the next day, but the weather was scheduled to be very windy (think Gales / Squaws), and I was not going up a tall building in that weather.  The swaying would have freaked me out. 

 

 After leaving the Willis Tower, we walked a considerable distance to get Safehouse, our chosen restaurant for the night.  This is a spy-themed restaurant and it was really pretty cool.  I don't want to give away too much about the experience (What kind of spy would I be if I did?), but it was definitely unique.  The kids LOVED it.  What I can say is this:  you don't enter and leave via the same way, you don't stay in your seat because you are exploring/looking for clues the whole time, there is a magician, and there are surprises around every corner.  The kids said that this was their favorite thing that we did all day- definitely a great way to wrap up Day 1.