Chicago: Day Two

Friday was simply a gorgeous day. Brilliant blue skies with lots of puffy white clouds, mid-70’s and to top it all off, it was Michelle’s birthday (which we had actually celebrated twice the night before – oh wait, don’t take that the way it sounds… you know on second thought, go ahead and take that however you want to). I wished her a happy birthday in two time zones (since back home it was her birthday and then when it became her birthday in Chicago) and cards for both.

Despite the late night, we headed out to walk the streets of Chicago and embrace the unplanned day.

Miracle Mile
What would a trip to Chicago be without a trip down the famous Miracle Mile. Shopping, shopping, shopping. I forgot how nice it is to be in the center of commerce. Granted we didn’t really go into a lot of stores and by anything, but it was just great to walk around. We did get the chance to stop at the Chicago Tribune building where they had a giant display in honor of the moon landing on July 20, 1969 (which just happens to be Michelle’s birthday) and so we snapped a few shots of her standing in front of the display.

Since we are coming back in a week with the boys (instead of heading to DC – longish story) we found where the Lego store was at and a few other things that we thought they might get a kick out of.

We did break down though and headed into the Apple store to play with the new iPhones and they were pretty awesome… and pretty expensive. The expensive part of awesome won out and we left the iPhone in the store and the $600+ in our bank account. But I was impressed with how thin and light they really were. Go apple.

We also had a chance to see the old water tower and the Lookingglass Theater (co-owned by David Schwimmer and that is certainly on my list now of places to go.

Museum of Contemporary Art

After looking at a few of the things to see in the city Michelle decided that it would be fun to head to the Museum of Contemporary Art . However by the time we had made our way to MCA we realized it was nearing lunch time and we had no idea what sorts of places we had available to use to dine at.

As luck and thoughtful planning on my wife’s part MCA had a Puck’s restaurant inside. However let’s just say that the fare they offered wasn’t something I normally ventured into. But being Michelle’s day and believe it or not I am normally open to trying something new, I dove head first. We began our meal with a watermelon salad with fennel, some green sprouty things I’ve labeled as lawn clippings and some provolone cheese. And I’ll be darned if I didn’t like it. Who knew? Then I tried some Amish pulled chicken Panini with a slew of other crap I wouldn’t put in my mouth. That too turned out to be good as well. Granted it wasn’t like I wanted to run home and stock the house with it, but no death or vomiting was had, so I count that as a good meal.

We looked around and picked up a few things at the shop including these cool string dolls (made out of a continuous piece of string) [I got Captain Bad and Michelle got the Little Angel].

Lake Michigan

Since we were about 4 blocks away from Lake Michigan we made our east along Chicago until we hit water. I forgot how relaxing large bodies of water can be to my senses. We walked along the beach taking in the sounds and smells that brought us some peace of mind and really took of the edge of a years worth work. We stopped to take some cool shots and played a lot with the reflection in Michelle’s glasses. It was just an amazing way to spend some quite funny time with each other.

Navy Peer

As we continued our way around the shore line we eventually found our way to Navy Peer. The place was crawling with folks. But we pressed into the throng none the less. We passed this really cool R2D2 mailbox on our way so if nothing else it was well worth it. We poked our heads inside the mallish part of the Navy Peer, but that quickly ended in an about face and heading back out into the masses. We made our way towards the end of the peer and a majority of the populace thinned down to tolerable. When we reach the Beer Garden there was some more live music playing (I loved the fact that every we went there was always great live music) and we sat and listened to Dave Tamkin and crew play a few songs. We took a few more photos down at the end and enjoyed the amazing breeze that came off the lake.

We made our way back towards the entrance, brought our customary [insert location here] magnet and avoided buying any elephant ears, but dang did they smell good. We decided to scout out a few things for when we return with the boys so we took a water taxi down to the Field Museum. I cannot honestly tell you the last time I was out in a boat in a lake, let along Lake Michigan. A side for a few rather large wake waves, it just continued to relax us as we got to enjoy the air, the sun and the water.

Grant Park

At this point in the day we were getting pretty fried (I still bear the red marks of my sun burn – back to that whole planning thing, no sun screen), but we went to see Buckingham fountain, took some more pictures and then decided to walk through the 100 foot mist that was spraying off the fountain as it went off.

Millennium Park

Our last stop of this walking tour was through Millennium Park were we saw the usual things you see there including the giant metal reflective bean and what have. By the time we got back to the hotel, my dogs were barking and my body was burnt. But it was a lot of fun.

Chicago at Sun Set

But the day wasn’t over yet. After a quick shower and a change of clothes we headed back out (much to the protest of my toes) and made our way down to the Wendella Boat Tours and caught the 2-hour sun set tour of the city. It was beautiful, breath taking and a bit nippy. Neither one of us thought to bring a jacket or long sleeved anything – I mean I didn’t plan on being out in the middle of the lake at night and come on its Chicago in July, it’s not going to get chilly. But it’s certainly something I would recommend.

Again because of timing we hadn’t managed to catch dinner, so we snagged some room service at about 10:30 and celebrated Michelle’s birthday with some chocolate chip cookies and ice cream.

All in all it was a great day.