This blog is a continuation of the one below! I had such a great time in Chicago and I want to share all the details, but I don’t want each blog to get too long to read in one sitting… So I will highlight my trip in installments! Here is the second part of my adventures in Chicago!
Day Three (Monday), started off with Dad having to go his conference, so it was just the 5 of us that set off that morning. After breakfast at the hotel, we went to a Starbucks down the street and lingered there a while. One of the highlights of the trip for me was the amount of times we went to Starbucks. In fact, upon returning home, I do believe I experienced withdrawals! I’m not a coffee drinker, but I had a fair share of hot chocolates and caramel apple spices while I was there. Another exciting thing was since we were in the city, the stores opened early and stayed open late! It was a nice treat compared to our store that close so early!
Okay, I’m done with my “I love Starbucks” monologue! Our first stop was the Shedd Aquarium. In true fashion for the entire trip, we arrived early. This allowed us to explore the museum campus and walk the waterfront of Lake Michigan with the skyline in the background. It was going to be a warm day, so we changed our plans so we could be indoors with our activities. Even though our walk around the campus was before 9:00am, you could tell it was getting warm. The Shedd Aquarium was the highlight of my Monday and possibly the highlight of my trip (other than all the good food I ate)! The exhibits at the aquarium were wonderful, but the best part was the beluga whales and dolphins. We caught the belugas while they were training and the it was a very enjoyable sight! They seemed so happy as they swam around their tank and responded to their trainers! We thought we were going to miss the dolphins because the “show” they were in was about to start. We didn’t pay the extra to see the show, but we did catch an amazing show in the underwater viewing area. The lower level was not blocked off during the show, so we were able to watch the dolphins from down below! It was an awesome sight!
Once we had seen all there was to see at the aquarium, including the gift shop, we moved on to the nearest museum right down the street. The Field Museum is a museum of natural history and is named after it’s prime benefactor. We had lunch at the Corner Street Bakery and Cafe inside the museum. The panini I had was very good, but the best part was I got a free cookie for giving them my email address. I had been eying the cookies while ordering my sandwich, so I was tickled pink that I got one for free! My favorite part of the Field Museum was the fossils and the ancient Egyptian exhibit. They had a lot of mummies in the Egyptian exhibit and it took me by surprise. It was a little freaky, but also very interesting. I also learned something new about myself at this museum – I’m not a fan of stuffed animals. Not the cute, cuddly ones you find a gift shop, but the ones that are dead, stuffed and made to look live. The museum had a large collection of them and it felt like a dead animal zoo. I know that’s not a very cultured things to say, but that is how I felt!
The last activity on the schedule for Monday was a trip to US Cellular Field to watch a White Sox game. I think we all would have preferred to see a cubs game, but they were out of town while we were in town. I will admit that I’ve been spoiled by Safeco Field. The game itself was quite good, but the ballpark left me disappointed. They have a strange rule that was created because of a one-time issues, where you can not go to a level where you are a ticket holder. That means that you stuck on whatever level your seats are. The whole group was really excited to explore the ballpark and then we realized that we would only be allowed in a small section of it. Also the food at Safeco Field is a lot better. This may seem silly, but I’m not really a sports fan, so I lot of my ballpark experience revolves around food. I was disappointed with the selection for both meal and dessert options. The White Sox ended up losing to the Detroit Tigers (by quite a lot)… the best part was the view of the skyline at night after the game finished. With an L ride back to the hotel, we all went to bed very tired from a long day of walking and sightseeing!
Stay posted for more Chicago adventure stories coming soon!
Amy Scott's Thoughts 