Chicago - High level overview

Before I start going over the individual attractions, I think it makes sense to go over the entire trip so you get the flow. From last week's post, you know that all we did Saturday night was get to the hotel.

Sunday morning we took a cab to Wrigley Field, and had him wait while we took pictures. We had wanted to take the tour, but it was closed for renovations. Then we had the cab take us to Lincoln Park Zoo.

As we entered the zoo and got our maps, the attendant mentioned that a baby rhino had been born, and we might want to go to the other entrance to see if he was out. This entrance was right near the Lincoln Park Conservatory, which like the zoo is free. I went through there, and then we did the zoo.

By the time we were done with the zoo it was around 4. We had been asking where to go for authentic deep dish pizza, and the same few places kept coming up, but one of them, Giordano's, was somewhat near the hotel. So we took one more cab to Giordano's, and then walked back to the Whitehall.

We started Monday out at the Shedd Aquarium, and then walked to the Field Museum. Both are located on the Museum Campus, which has some great views. Also, you can easily see Soldier Field from here.

One reason we had picked Sunday for Wrigley and Lincoln Park is that they were in the opposite direction of Soldier Field. There was a game Sunday, and apparently the traffic gets horrible, where a lot of cabbies try and avoid it. That was not a problem on Monday.

(We had considered going to the game, where they were playing the New Orleans Saints, but it was just not economically feasible.)

From the campus we grabbed one more cab, and again, we had him do multiple things, first stopping for a photo opportunity at Buckingham Fountain, and then taking us to the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) for the Skydeck. We took in the view from the top, stood on the ledge, and then went back down, where we tried our Chicago style hot dogs.

Tuesday we started out at Navy Pier, and signed up for an Architecture tour on the Chicago River. With a small amount of time to kill, we also checked out the McDonald's of the Future. After our tour, we went back to the Pier, had lunch, checked out iCandy and some souvenir shops, and made our way to the Smith Stained Glass Museum, another free attraction.

Done with the Pier, we grabbed a taxi to Millennium Park, and explored a bit there. We then walked up to the Magnificent Mile, and then walked along the mile, ending at the Disney Store. This was easily our biggest walking day so far, and we were all tired, but at this point we were not far from the hotel, so we kept walking, stopping for dinner (just fast food) along the way.

Those days were pretty full, but by getting everything else done, we only had to worry about the Art Institute of Chicago. We needed one more taxi, this one to take us to the hotel to grab our bags, then on to the airport. Oddly, no one minded the extra wait time, that all went well for them.

The iconic Chicago food item dinners will get blog posts, and lunches were generally on the site of wherever we were, and will be mentioned in those posts (Shedd Aquarium, Navy Pier, and Art Institute). You may be wondering about breakfast.

We sought no variety there. The hotel was close to a McDonalds's, and the hotel had no wifi. I get up earlier than my sisters, and get ready sooner, and I do not have a smart phone like they do. Therefore, every morning I got up, went to McDonald's, logged in and posted the day's blog, wished the appropriate people Happy Birthday on Facebook, and glanced at Twitter, then ordered breakfast and took it back to the hotel. By Wednesday morning, they recognized me, but then we were leaving.

Okay, I did not use the wifi at McDonald's every morning. The first morning I was having a hard time finding the McDonald's, so I logged in at Starbucks to check the address. I meant to order something from them to make up for it, and I got in line, but it was so long! I do feel guilty, but I can't change it now.

There were several Starbucks, but there were even more Argo Tea Cafes. In the immediate area, which covered just a few blocks, there were two Starbucks, but three Argos. I was surprised.

I was also surprised to see that the McDonald's had a drive-thru, which you usually don't see in the city. However, it was very practical. People are in and out, and parking is limited. By the same token, the Chick-Fila right next to it had a curbside pickup spot.

I mention a lot of taxis. The one thing I would have done differently is start with the trolley tour. I talked to someone about it at the Pier, and they give you three days, which would have been perfect. Most of the attractions we had visited were stops on the tour. Some of the things we did together, we did to allow us to walk more and taxi less, but there can be good reasons for not doing the Shedd and the Field together, as that can be pretty overwhelming. Of course, cramming everything that we did into the time we did could also be pretty overwhelming.

http://www.chicagotours.us/

What we totally did right was getting the City Pass. Julie got an additional discount through Intel, but even the regular price would have been a steal for what we got, and in addition to covering most of what we wanted to do, it gave us ideas for other things. Highly recommended.

http://www.citypass.com/chicago