6 short days in the Windy City

As if two days was long enough to get settled into our new house, TEC and I packed our bags (make that backpacks), left the kiddos in the hands of two sets of grandparents, and boarded a plane for Chicago. We had 2 weeks before TEC was to start his new job in Salt Lake...our big chance to enjoy a vacation just the two of us.

"How light can you pack?" TEC asked me. We had to figure that for part of the trip, we would need to carry our luggage with us during the day (thus, the backpacks). But I must admit that not having to fill a bag with diapers, wipes, bibs, enough changes of clothes for mishaps, snacks, etc. was liberating.

Here's a little (or maybe a lot) about the trip...we'll see how it goes.

Thursday:

We left early in the morning. Grandma Bushman arrived at our still very unsettled house to start her shift with the kids. RVC and TLC woke up just as Grams (Cundick) came to pick us up and give us a ride to the airport, so we got to say one last goodbye.

The flight to Chicago allowed us two things we usually don't get to do when we fly: read and sleep.

Once in Chicago, we made our way to the city trains and purchased a couple of 7-day transportation passes that served us on Chicago's "L" (elevated) mass transit system. We then made our way to downtown and the Magnificent Mile and hoped to find some good food for a late lunch/early dinner.



We walked past the famous Water Tower, which was one of the only structures to survive the Chicago fire. This made our first official photo of the trip.

After a bit of walking, our hunger got the best of us, but we were lucky enough to look down a side street and find a Gino's East pizzeria, where we enjoyed a Chicago-style deep dish pizza with sausage. It was, as they claim "worth the [45 minute] wait."

We checked into the Old Chicago Inn Bed and Breakfast, and got cleaned up a bit. Then we found our way over to the Art Institute of Chicago. On Thursday evenings, they stay open a bit later (okay, and we couldn't pass up the free admission either). Sitting by this painting made me want to start singing "Putting it Together" from Sunday in the Park with George...or at least start quoting lines from Ferris Bueller's Day Off... It really was incredible to see the real thing up close.

We had tickets to see Wicked that evening, so we left the museum and walked past the Millennium Park fountains and even caught a pretty good glimpse of the Chicago skyline reflected in "The Bean." Then it was off to the Emerald City. The performance was great and I was proud of myself for figuring out as much about the show as I had just from the music. But it was fun to see how everything all fit together, too. If I were to see it again, I would definitely try for seats close enough to see more of the facial expressions.

Friday:

Our main plan for the day was to see the Pirates (okay, and the Cubs) play at Wrigley Field. The Bed and Breakfast was pretty close to the stadium and fans were heading up that way first thing that morning. It turned out that it was a good thing we had bought our tickets ahead, because it was getting to a point in the season where Cubs tickets were hard to come by. Even the couple we met that morning at the B & B, in town from Pittsburgh, said that they had had to settle for a Reds game earlier in the week because they couldn't get tickets for the weekend.


Before the came, though we took a bus over to the Lincoln Park Zoo and walked around for a couple of hours. It was strange to not have a small child in a stroller in front of us to whom we could point the different animals, but it was fun. I had a bit of a close up with this giraffe (a favorite zoo animal of mine) through the window.

As we made our way back towards the stadium through the sea of Cubs fans, it was hard to believe that there were people in Chicago not at the game. And we were definitely among a very few Pirates fans present. I tried to get this picture of TEC before we walked in, but the Pittsburgh flag didn't quite cooperate. It really was a fun game. I can't claim to follow MLB all that closely, but seeing Wrigley kept us on track for seeing a new stadium each year of our marriage. TEC pointed out the old-style concession stands and the organ-piped music--very cool.



At the end of the game (poor Bucs), all the fans stayed at their seats to sing this song...we were later told that it's a song written by a folk singer from Chicago...apparently his ashes are buried at home plate?

After the game, we went to Navy Pier where we found a bike rental place and game tandem riding a try. I think this was likely one of my favorite parts of the trip, which is funny because we didn't need to go all the way to Chicago to do it, but oh well. It was a great way to see the waterfront and some good views of the city as well.

Saturday:

We set this as the day to fit in a few more of the touristy things. We purchased the one-day Go Chicago card, which included a book full of possible things to do; we took advantage of the following:

• a very informative Architectural Shoreline Cruise (complete with historian/harmonica-playing tour guide)
• admission to the Hancock Observatory (not quite as tall as the Sear's Tower, but a better view, we're told)
• Shedd Aquarium
• Field Museum (home of "Sue" ...not Lucy:)...the T-Rex)

We also managed to fit in a quick stop at a hot dog stand for a "Chicago hot dog" topped with onions, peppers, tomatoes, celery salt, a pickle spear (TEC passed on the pickle), and mustard. After all, when in Chicago...


There was definitely more to see, but we were due to pick up our rental car by 4PM and make the drive up to Michigan, to spend a couple of days with some of our law school friends.


We stayed with the Stemples at their home in Greenville, north of Grand Rapids. It was fun to see them again and hear about their lives. We had to wait until the next day to meet their cute daughter, Dannielle.




Sunday morning we attend an early sacrament meeting at the Greenville Ward. Then, after lunch and nap time, we drove down to Holland, MI, where our friends the Wyatts were just home from the hospital after having a new baby girl.

On the way, Justin gave us a quick driving tour of Grand Rapids, where he practices.

Here are some pictures of Corie and the kids--Emily, Noah, and 2-day-old Ellen.



We left mom and baby and headed to Tunnel (?) Park, for an afternoon of toe-dipping in Lake Michigan followed by a few sandy kids needing baths (but not ours!).

Back at the Wyatt's we had dinner and visited some more before driving back up to Greenville. It was good to see these friends again. We talked a bit about getting the library "table" group together for a reunion in 2009, which will make it 5 years...here's hoping.












Monday morning we drove back to Chicago. That afternoon we visited the Alder Planetarium and saw a couple of shows/presentations. We also checked into our hotel and final accommodations for the trip, the Buckingham Athletic Club Hotel. Wow, what a place. Very fancy and the view was fantastic--downtown Chicago and lake Michigan.

We had dinner (and dessert!) at the Cheesecake Factory and then returned to Millennium Park to walk around some more. We also walked over to the Buckingham Fountain, which we had been able to see from our hotel room, but it was all lit up now. We were tired and stuffed, but enjoying the last evening of our vacation. Several photographers offered to take our picture there (for free, I'm sure), but we passed.

Tuesday morning, we took advantage of the complimentary passes to the Athletic Club and enjoyed a swim and sit in the steam room before breakfast. Then it was off to our final day of sight-seeing (yes, still more sights to see). We had saved the Museum of Science and Industry in Hyde Park because it was their free admission day (you know us!). We knew before that we would only be able to see a small part of it, but the time really did go too fast.

Some of the highlights:

-German U-boat exhibit

-coal mine, genetics, and pre-natal exhibits

-testing our balance and coordination on the "segway" (TEC's speed exceeded my photography skills)



And that really was it. Phew! We raced out of the museum only to have to wait for a Metra train (we were expecting a more regular schedule, more like the "L" system, oh well). Then it was on to the Blue line and back to O'hare airport. The kids had a great time with grandparents and grandparents survived okay (so they told us...maybe they're really wishing we were back in Texas!).