Cold Tuesday Morning: Mini-Cation to Chicago

During the beginning of last week (Monday and Tuesday), I had a work conference in Chicago, and we got the idea 1.) for Nathan to accompany me, and 2.) To start heading there on Friday night to enjoy the weekend in Windy City.

First things first, how are we going to get there? Flying would be too expensive; Driving would be too dangerous (for people no used to driving in the big city) AND parking is ridiculous! So a train it is!

First, we drove to Carbondale to catch the train on Saturday morning at 3:30 am. I thought the train ride would be a bit more eventful, because, I mean, it's a train.... But since it was in the middle of the night, everyone slept. #adventure

Finally, we arrived and after several minutes of frustratingly dragging our bags around, we decided to get an Uber. I've ridden in a taxi before, but never an Uber. Because the Uber drivers are based around customer's reviews via smartphones, they are extremely motivated to complete a more than satisfactory job! Uber gets 2 thumbs up.

Then, almost immediately after dropping off our bags at the hotel, we walked to our first activity: a city walking tour. We chose Chicago Walking Tours: Free Tours by Foot. On our tour we got to learn and explore Chicago's downtown area, somewhat confined to the Loop. We learned the history of Chicago, traveled inside several significant buildings, saw the start of Route 66, and ended at Millennium Park (known for the bean). This is our 3rd destination where we have completed a walking tour, and this is one of our favorite traditions!

After our middle-of-the-night train ride and our (over) 2-hour walking tour, we were exhausted, so a nap decision was made.

Our next activity was going to the Cadillac Palace Theatre to see the Broadway musical, Pippin. This show... hmm, where to start. First of all, this was one of my all-time favorite musical experiences (which is saying a lot)! It was definitely NOT what I expected, but in a fantastic, give-you-chills, make-you-cry kind of way. It was basically a musical with comedy, magic tricks, and circus acts mixed in. At the end of the trip, Nathan and I both agreed that Pippin was the best activity we did!

On Sunday, we had tickets to a Cubs Game at Wrigley Field. Wrigley Field was over 6 miles from our hotel, so there was no way we were walking... SO, we got tickets for an 'L Train day pass. I personally love subway-type public transit, because it comes like clockwork. Plus, its way less hassle than driving yourself places, and then searching for parking.

Anyway back to the Cubs. I had gone to a Cubs game last year during the same conference, but it was a fun experience it with Nathan this time! It rained a little bit, but luckily many of the seats at Wrigley Field are covered. We had a good time.

Later that day, we took the 'L Train again to get to the Willis Tower Skydeck. I was pretty excited about going to the top, because I have never had the chance to go up. One trip to Chicago, I had planned to go, but it was so foggy, it wouldn't have been worth it. Anyway.... I had completely underestimated the popularity of this attraction! I was not expecting standing in line, or being crowded, but we soon found out. At the skydeck, the room was window lined so that people could see for miles in ever direction. It was pretty awesome. Then there was this ledge thingy you could go out on and look down as well. Nathan DID go out on this, even though his heartbeat sped up 15 bpm (this is no joke; we tested it on his Apple Watch). Anyway, he wasn't on the ledge long enough to take an awesome down angle photo with me.

On Monday, my conference started (it was a great conference by the way), so our Chicago activities were put on hold until 6 pm that night. That night, we walked to the Navy Pier to eat and relax. We ate at Harry Caray's Tavern and walked the length of the pier. My personal opinion of the pier is that it is fairly overrated...there's just not that much to it. Anyway, we rode the ferris wheel, which was a neat ride.

On Tuesday, the conference continued until 3:00, when we got another Uber to catch our train at 4:00 at Union Station. This ride was more enjoyable because we were able to talk, read, and fully experience the train ride. There was a person talking about how many times he had been in jail, which was, of course, annoying. Here's my question, if you've been to jail, why is it necessary to tell a bunch of strangers on a train? This is one of life's mysteries.

We had a great mini-vacation (I guess you would call it). The trip was just long enough to figure out how to navigate successfully around the city, and then it was over.

Oh, I almost forgot. Long Live Giordano's Pizza!