Saturday, September 22, 2007

I'm back!

Before I talk about my trip, I want to thank Aaron for being a guest blogger here and more importantly thanks for doing such a great job with the kids, the house, and all the daily responsibilities that goes along with that, all by yourself.  You did such a great job, I just think I may have to plan another trip away!  I love you Aaron and thank you!  I guess I can let you go to work tomorrow without the kids...hey it's Sunday and maybe you can relax without too many calls.


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My Mom and I got back last night from a great vacation to Chicago.  Still love that city and vow now that when Aaron and I hit it big on the lotto one of our three residences will be in Chicago.  :-)  We did and saw so much and yet there was still so much we could have done and seen.  I'll try to give a brief recap of what we did and as always, I've got lots of pictures to share! 


Tuesday--we left early in the morning and headed to the Sacramento Airport.  Had an uneventful nonstop flight to Chicago.  We landed in O'hare and took the El Train into the city.  I so love the subway.  Not being sarcastic at all, I truly love the subway...particularly the Chicago subway system.  Literally everything about it fascinates me.  So we checked into the Tremont Hotel, which was so conveniently located next to the John Hancock Building.  At the ground floor of the Hancock, is a Cheesecake Factory.  Because it was so conveniently located and delicious we just had to go...LOVE the fish tacos.  Some cheesecake to go and we headed back to watch the Big Brother finale (great timing). 


Wednesday--Headed to the Navy Pier.  While there, we signed up to take an Architectural Boat Cruise through the city.  We would highly recommend that.  We got to see Chicago from a different perspectiveP9190866
and learned so many little tidbits and facts about the city.  Not to mention got a chance to really appreciate the different styles of buildings throughout the city.  Also during the day we explored and viewed various outdoor sculptures throughout the city and did window shopping and a little real shopping at Marshall Fields (now actually a Macy's), The Magnificent Mile, and Water Tower Place.  Later in the evening we had dinner at Giordano's, and had THE BEST STUFFED PIZZA---EVER!  I would go back just for the pizza.  I'm serious.  The atmosphere was really fun too.  In the bar they were playing a Cubs game (home game, Cubs were playing just a few miles north of us) vs. the Cincinatti Reds.  It was tied when we got there, but I waited to the Cubs to score and gave Aaron a little call.  The Reds is Aaron's favorite.  Cubs ended up winning.   


Thursday--Today was the Oprah show!  Can't go to Chicago without seeing a taping of the Oprah show.  Well we almost did, but a last minute call from the show on Monday giving us 2 tickets was pretty much a miracle.   We lucked out and actually got to watch 2 shows being filmed.  100_1324
Both shows had the 'famed' doctor Christiane Northrup, M.D..  The first show was all about women's health issues for those over 35 and the second was basically an audience Q&A.  Not the most exciting of shows but it was still a great experience and fun to do.  The first show will air around Oct 15 and the other one sometime after that.  Afterwards we headed to the Art Institute of Chicago.  The place was enormous and houses many famous works of art.  Next door is the Millenium Park which has some incredible sculptures and art pieces.  My favorite was the Cloud Gate, though I prefer "The Bean."  The images you could get with the buildings reflected in it are amazing.  At that point I really wished I'd brought my Canon Rebel! 


Friday--We went atop the John Hancock Observatory and saw some awesome views.  VERY high up obviously and a bit nerve-wracking for both my Mom and I, but something we had to do none-the-less.  Around lunch time we had to head back to the O'hare so we hopped aboard the blue line for a final time. 


Such a great trip and thank you Mom for experiencing it all with me!!! 


CLICK HERE FOR 'ALL' THE PICTURES!

2 comments:

Stephanie McClung said...

What beautiful architecture!!! And yes, the pizza looked heavenly! Looks like you guys had a great time!

Angela said...

I'm so glad you went on this trip, Lisa! I love The Bean pictures--you know I would have been salivating all over myself to get the chance to take pix there! Chicago is so great--haven't been there since the early 90's, but we are thinking of holding our next Girlfriend Retreat there...I'm thinking, after your pictures, we REALLY should! And, BTW, your luck with show tickets is truly freaky...lol!