We slept in, got dressed at a leisurely pace and enjoyed a nap. It was kind of nice to have some quiet time like that. Very low stress! Any more than one day of this luxury probably would have driven me crazy.
In order to make the best use of time, I met Chad downstairs and we boarded the 5 PM shuttle to make our trek into the city. If he had taken time to run up to the room to change or drop anything off, we would have had to wait an hour for the next shuttle. He excused himself a tiny bit prematurely as it was.
After we got seated on the train and were waiting for it to depart, we studied a map and tried to figure out what stop to ride to and where to go after that. A guy behind us noticed our obvious tourist behavior and asked us where we were headed. When we told him we wanted to go to the Willis Tower (previously known as the Sears Tower), he gave us very helpful directions. I was glad he was so nosey and skilled at eaves dropping! We found the tower without any problem.
It's 110 stories high. That's a little bit taller than the tallest building in Eastern Idaho (and I don't even know what building that would be).
Proof that Chad was there. :)
The observation deck is on the 103rd floor. It was a very fast elevator ride and my ears popped the whole way up.
We were VERY lucky to have such good weather and great views from the top. It was impressive to see Chicago from such a height. What a big, beautiful city.
There are 3 glass balconies that stick out from the building and give you a look out to the street below. Of course, you are so far up, that it doesn't even look like anything. It didn't even seem real to me since it was so unrecognizable.
Here is a shot of my foot on the glass floor.
Chad got one of Sarah and I standing in the balcony. I think Chad was a little hesitant to step inside. He knows too much about engineering, I guess. As for me, "ignorance is bliss."
This is Sarah in the glass balcony as I leaned over from behind her.
Another view of the city...from the balcony.
I remembered this sculpture from the street near where we emerged from the train/subway.
And then I found it from 103 stories up in the air (top 1/4 of the photo, center). Perspective is an amazing thing.
When we finally came back down to earth, it was time for the 2nd attempt at finding a Thai restaurant. We asked the woman in the gift shop; she had no idea. We asked the guy in the lobby of the tower. He really wanted to be helpful. He didn't know where we could find a phone book, but did we have an iphone? No. (We have 6 kids and a few farm animals. We haven't made the leap to iphones yet.) We thanked him and set off to search for ourselves.
We did a lot of walking that night. We didn't find a Thai restaurant. We wandered into a shopping complex/mall and got a table at the only eatery still open: Mity Nice Grill. Find a review of it here. I felt a little windblown and under dressed, but we survived. Sarah got more smiles and comments/questions, further confirming my suspicions that there are no cute babies in Chicago.
I have to admit that my "worry wart" gene was in overdrive and all I could think of was making sure we ate fast enough to get out of there and walk back to the subway in time to catch the train back to the airport so the shuttle driver wouldn't leave without us. What a way to enjoy myself!
My feet were sore after all of our sprinting around. I was extra grateful for the restful day I'd had before!
By now, we'd had enough shuttle rides to become more familiar with our driver. His name was Octavio. It was his birthday this day...he turned 37. We were the same age. We asked him about where he was from, talked about his kids and shocked him with a picture of ours. He couldn't believe we had that many and we were only 36. :) We left him a b-day treat on his seat that night. I thought about him for several days after we'd returned. He was a nice guy.
Incidentally, courtesy shuttle does NOT mean free. The driver does expect tips. We didn't come prepared the first time, but we made up for it later. (Maybe that's why he got friendlier!) Some things you don't learn while feeding chickens. Good thing we're quick studies.
When we got back to the hotel, we went straight to the computers and looked up WHERE the Thai restaurants were and HOW to get to one. With our route for the next day planned, we headed up to our room. Again, we slept very well.
And then I found it from 103 stories up in the air (top 1/4 of the photo, center). Perspective is an amazing thing.When we finally came back down to earth, it was time for the 2nd attempt at finding a Thai restaurant. We asked the woman in the gift shop; she had no idea. We asked the guy in the lobby of the tower. He really wanted to be helpful. He didn't know where we could find a phone book, but did we have an iphone? No. (We have 6 kids and a few farm animals. We haven't made the leap to iphones yet.) We thanked him and set off to search for ourselves.
We did a lot of walking that night. We didn't find a Thai restaurant. We wandered into a shopping complex/mall and got a table at the only eatery still open: Mity Nice Grill. Find a review of it here. I felt a little windblown and under dressed, but we survived. Sarah got more smiles and comments/questions, further confirming my suspicions that there are no cute babies in Chicago.
I have to admit that my "worry wart" gene was in overdrive and all I could think of was making sure we ate fast enough to get out of there and walk back to the subway in time to catch the train back to the airport so the shuttle driver wouldn't leave without us. What a way to enjoy myself!
My feet were sore after all of our sprinting around. I was extra grateful for the restful day I'd had before!
By now, we'd had enough shuttle rides to become more familiar with our driver. His name was Octavio. It was his birthday this day...he turned 37. We were the same age. We asked him about where he was from, talked about his kids and shocked him with a picture of ours. He couldn't believe we had that many and we were only 36. :) We left him a b-day treat on his seat that night. I thought about him for several days after we'd returned. He was a nice guy.
Incidentally, courtesy shuttle does NOT mean free. The driver does expect tips. We didn't come prepared the first time, but we made up for it later. (Maybe that's why he got friendlier!) Some things you don't learn while feeding chickens. Good thing we're quick studies.
When we got back to the hotel, we went straight to the computers and looked up WHERE the Thai restaurants were and HOW to get to one. With our route for the next day planned, we headed up to our room. Again, we slept very well.
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