Chicago - Navy Pier

http://www.navypier.com/

There is a lot to see and do and Navy Pier, and we did not come close to doing all of this. The web site has a map, and if you are planning on going, consulting with the map first is a good idea.

We had two specific objectives, which were taking an architecture tour of the city and visiting the stained glass museum, so we mainly focused on those. We walked the entire pier in the process of doing that - which was something we wanted to do in itself - but did not go into everything.

There are many attractions there which seem like they would be popular with natives. They have a children's museum, IMAX theater, and carnival rides, and it seems to host a lot of events. However, it is also a central place for tourism. Tours by bus and boat book here, and there is a trolley stop, and while there are multiple spots for bike rental, this is a good place for it, with easy access to a park and paths.

We entered under the sign, and had tour booths on our right and the buildings on our left. The boats you see on the right are for tours on Lake Michigan. The boats for Chicago River tours depart from a different spot, but can be booked here. We booked our tour and had about an hour to wait, so made our first entrance into the Family Pavilion.

Specifically, we were checking out the McDonald's of the Future. We actually found that a little underwhelming. The futuristic part is that they do a laser light show every hour, but either they did not do one while we were there, or it is not that exciting. Also, there was a separate section of counter for a Dessert Bar, which was closed, but did not seem to offer anything different, or that you could not get at the regular counters. So, it would appear McDonald's is going to remain pretty consistent for the future.

There was a lot of seating, which was also available for customers of the food court restaurants. We did end up eating lunch there after the tour, and we all ate from different places, which was our first time in a food court setting in Chicago.

Many of the shops are tourism themed, so we bought some postcards and magnets here. I bought a carved baby elephant from a stand, which has nothing to do with Chicago - it is just cute. That and the Mold-A-Rama Lincoln were my only two souvenirs.

As the stores are not that distinctive, this may be why the Pier's web site does not really highlight them. However, we did really enjoy one specific store, so I want to call that out. We had a fun time in iCandy Sugar Shoppe.

There are two iCandy stores. One is in the Mall of America, and that one seems to have a stronger web presence. We enjoyed this one a lot. It was a little like Sweet Factory, in that you could fill from different bins, but there was also salt water taffy, and there was also a lot of harder to find candy. We had Valomilks on the correct side of the Rockies, and saw Sky Bars again. A lot of our appreciation for that comes from reading Steve Almond's Candyfreak. There were also cute related items, like plush Nerds. Well, they had two, and now Julie and Maria have them. So, there was a lot of nostalgia looking around, and the staff was very helpful; that's a definite place to check out.

http://icandysugarshoppe.lovefromcompanies.com/

I don't think the Amazing Chicago Funhouse Maze was open while we were there, but there were some mirrors in that area to give a feel for it. I will write about the Stained Glass Museum in its own post, but the main point I want to make is just how much there was. We walked a long time to get to the museum, to where we wondered if we had missed it, and then we were amazed by how long it went. And even then there was still the grand ballroom.

So it feels like the Pier is very long, though it is really only 3300 feet - less than a mile. There is a lot there.

Chicago - Mold-A-Rama

Our first encounter with Mold-A-Ramas, affectionately known as MARs, happened at the Lincoln Park Zoo, in the Primate House. We are used to seeing souvenir penny machines everywhere, and we saw some of those too, but this was different.

A child looking for two dollars alerted us to the machine, and we were puzzled by it. Wondering aloud, an adult there with his girlfriend said "It's the best thing ever!" and he did not seem to be sarcastic at all.

The machine has a mold, and for two dollars it will send liquid into the mold and it will harden into a blow-molded plastic figurine. Our helper told us that there was also one at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Well, we had to try it. Maria put in two dollars and got a green gorilla. We could smell the hot plastic, and feel that it was still warm when it came out. It was pretty cool.

Our next encounter was at the Skydeck. As we were leaving we found two more MARs. I opted for the blue Abraham Lincoln, though  I could have gotten a model of the Willis Tower as well. That is my main souvenir of the trip. I have not had the gorilla and Lincoln duel each other, because Maria took the gorilla to her classroom, but still, they could.

While this may not seem like much of a Chicago thing, it was a part of our trip. Also, it appears that there are only two companies making them, one of which is in Illinois (the other is is Florida) so that this was the first time we have seen the machines is not a coincidence.

They do have quite a following, with web sites listing where people find them and what they have. The mold and the colors can be changed out, and people will update that when Christmas figures come in, or zoo animals change to dinosaurs. It's pretty fun.

I will be keeping an eye out for more; we have a lot of places we want to go.

http://mold-a-rama.com/

https://www.facebook.com/MoldARamaLocations

http://www.moldamania.com/current-locations

Chicago - Chicago Dogs

Different foods are associated with different places, and so when you are there it makes sense to try them, and get the full experience. You can get gelato in Portland, but you need to get it in Italy. We knew we needed to try Chicago pizza, and asking around everyone had suggestions. We knew Chicago also had a specific style of hot dog, and no one had any suggestions for that.

We also asked about other foods. A lot of what people mention is the different kinds of ethnic food, especially Polish, but there were no concrete suggestions, and we did not have endless time and money, so we did not pursue that. Someone suggested steakhouses and barbecue, but that did not sound like it would be a specifically Chicago thing, so we held off on that too. The hot dog remained a goal, but without any suggestions on where to go, how would we know we were getting a real one?

Riding the elevator down from Skydeck, we found ourselves in the gift shop.

Clearly this was a place where they took it seriously. They also served food.

Speaking to the employee, my sisters had some trepidation about getting the full thing. They just got regular hot dogs, with ketchup, mustard, and neon relish. I suppose the fact that the store was willing to put ketchup on a hot dog is just a concession to tourists, but if there is any place in Chicago where you would need to make such a concession, it is probably here, even though it might also be the place with the most philosophical opposition. The service industry is full of such compromises.

But I was there for the real deal, and that is what I got. One all-beef frank on a poppyseed bun, with mustard and bright green relish, topped with chopped onions and celery salt, and served with tomato slices, peppers, and a dill spear. Tradition indicates it was created during the Great Depression, providing a full meal for a reasonable price:

How was it? Okay. My deal is that while I never do put ketchup on a hot dog, I also never put mustard or relish or anything else on a hot dog. I like them plain. I wanted to try the flavor combination, and I did, but when the second pepper fell off, I did not retrieve it, and I could easily go the rest of my life without ever putting condiments on a hot dog again. I like dill pickle spears, but I don't really associate them with hot dogs.

Some things you just do for the experience, and then once is enough.

I probably am more awesome than my sisters.

Chicago - Skydeck

http://www.theskydeck.com/

Chicago has been very important in the history of architecture, including the history of skyscrapers, so it makes sense to have a very tall building there.

Skydeck is an observation deck at the top of the Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower. Yes, that is all about corporate naming rights. I know when we were planning the trip, we were thinking that we needed to see the Sears Tower, and as I looked up the address it looked familiar, and I saw that it was the same as Skydeck, thus we already had tickets through our City Pass. That may indicate some branding issues.

It is nonetheless very popular. The place was packed, and I am pretty sure that will always be the case. I suppose it is something that you have to do. I totally recommend the City Pass, and not only does that include a ticket, but it is an Express Ticket, eliminating some wait time, so you totally should do it.

I guess that is sounding like faint praise. You do get a get view, and it was interesting seeing all of those places that either we had just visited or were going to visit. You can see four states, and Lake Michigan, which is at least interesting. It's just sort of that there is all there is.

Looking at the photos, the most disappointing one is on the clear floor, pointing straight down, and there is no real sense that it is that high. That may just be me, because I think I felt similarly about the CN Tower in Toronto. It's not that it's bad; it's just that I kind of look and it's down. Some people feel the same way about the Grand Canyon.

I don't really have any photos of the building from that day, because when you are outside you are too close to get a good shot. We thought about going to the John Hancock Observatory, and we might have been able to get a good shot of the Willis Tower from there, but we did not end up having enough time.

http://jhochicago.com/en/

The Willis Tower is a regular office building, with business being transacted. Skydeck is kind of its own thing. It has its own entrance at street level, then you go down one level where you can get tickets, go through security, and take the elevator to the top. You return to this level after coming down, and there is a gift shop, restaurant, and small displays of items from Chicago's history, like Lincoln Logs and items that survived the Chicago Fire.

The next few posts are going to take place in that basement level part of the attraction.