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Chicago....Day 1
Years ago, I started a tradition of keeping handwritten journals of our vacations. As I have said, we love to travel and it was a great way to keep up with fun things we did and have them to review later. Now, I can do the same on my blog and the whole world can have the joy of reading what we have been up to...
So for today... Katrina and I hit the Goodwill this morning. I had forgotten to pack her a jacket and the evening temperatures here are going to be a bit cool (plus, it is the windy city and we had some wind today). While at the Goodwill, I also found each of us a patriotic shirt to wear for tomorrow! I couldn't believe I was able to find one for each of us the day before the Fourth of July.
We left for Chicago around 12. I volunteered to drive in...whatever was I thinking? But our Garmin GPS directed us right where we needed to be. There was a bit of traffic of course, but we survived and I didn't cause any accidents:)
Our hotel is something else. The valet ran away with our car (which we are leaving parked for the duration). The bellboy helped get our luggage to our room. The concierge wasn't at her desk when we arrived, so she made a special trip upstairs to our room to introduce herself, give us some tips and give us four complimentary days worth of internet hookup....unfortunately, we had already paid to hook up by the time she came to see us...grrrr....
Daniel ordered Chicago Deep Dish pizza because he felt like since we were here, we should definitely sample that. Katrina and I found directions on google maps so we could head to Shops at Northbridge to get our Go Chicago Passes. On the way, we passed a Ghiradelli shop, a Hershey Shop, the Chicago Historic Water Tower, Water Tower Place, a Disney Store, Neiman Marcus, Macy's and many more. It was easy to spot the tourists...we were all looking up at the tall buildings and consulting maps to figure out where we were.
After we secured the tickets, Katrina and I marveled at some art work along the sidewalk:
We also listened to some fun tunes on a saxophone and watched a 'Tin Man' (guy painted in silver) do the moonwalk.
We took a couple of photos of the Historic Chicago Water Tower and the Water Tower Place Mall (which I have been told is a primo place for shopping).
This picture of the Water Tower would have been better if the trees and people weren't in the way! But it was the only way I could get a photo of the whole thing.
Then here is the Water Tower Place full of great shops and the Hancock Center in the background.
A closer view of another side of the Chicago Water Tower.
You can notice in the below picture that the combination of shorts, wind and shadows had Katrina a tad on the chilly side.
And then we stopped at the Hershey Store. Katrina just had to go in and see the 10 lb candy bar that was on display...As we walked in the door, we were greeted by a gentleman handing out chocolates. We were surrounded by the sights and smells of chocolate. We saw children going about with Hershey Factory Worker hats...well, the hats were free, but after watching the fun, I went on and paid for Katrina to get an id and a bucket of chocolate.
Katrina told me she didn't know we were coming to the beach. That's because she saw this view from our window...waves, water to the horizon...sure does look a lot like the ocean.
Another view from our window is a large church next to an apartment building with a pool on the roof. This church was probably built early in the 1900s...it is weird to see the smaller buildings interspersed with the really tall ones.
And here you can see some green rooftops on the apartment buildings next to us.
More pictures will be coming soon. Now we are settled in and will see what we can see of tonight's fireworks from our windows. There are more fireworks tomorrow night at Navy Pier and we plan to go see those.
Have a lovely Fourth of July!
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I use google maps all the time
The Water Tower is very impressive
yum that chocolate machine is calling my name
what views from your room what a long way up
we spent a week in Chicago last year... I wasn't a big fan of the city, BUT loved the dresses! My favorites were the Tiffany & Co. and the American Girl dresses. :)
Sofitel looks like a lovely hotel and I checked with expedia.com: apparently they were rated the best hotel in the world! Look out Charles V!
Did I mention I LOVE Chicago? Your pics brought back lots of memories -now I'm homesick for my home away from home. Glad you had a great time!