First of all, we are staying with my Aunt Jenny in the suburbs. No hotel for us this leg! We got in a little late on Monday night so we decided to sleep in on Tuesday. We headed out around 12:30 and got lunch at Corner Bakery to go! We ate our lunch on the train!! We took the Metra into the city from the burbs. We were like real commuters (except that we left on the 1:20 train). It was really easy. You have to purchase your $5.75 ticket on the train going into the city but you can buy tickets in the city for your return trip.
When we got to Union Station we went up to street level. We were headed to Willis Tower (old Sears Tower) to go out to the Sky Deck. It took us a few minutes to figure out where to go and this nice gentleman on the street overheard us talking and pointed us in the right direction. So thankful for nice people. We walked ONE block and were where we needed to be. Did you know that tickets are $18 to get up to the top?? CRAZY expensive. So we decided to get the City Pass. It is good for 9 days and it is $89. You get VIP entry into 5 of Chicago's top attractions. It is worth the money. At the museums you get one or two of the movies included in your ticket price. I highly recommend this option!
We rode the elevator to the 103rd floor and this is what we found! You could see so far away!!
Even if you are afraid of heights I would do the "Ledge". I did not look down the whole time so it wasn't too bad!
Our next trip was to find the "Bean" in Millennium Park. We took Adams Street all the way down to Michigan Avenue and turned left in case you want to find this awesome touristy thing! It was a hot and humid day so excuse the glow we have!
After spending time with the Bean we headed back up Michigan Avenue to Michigan Bridge. This is right at the Magnificent Mile. It is one of my favorite parts of the city!
After looking at the map, Navy Pier was not too far away... so we walked there! Just take Illinois all the way to Navy Pier. You get to go under Lake Shore Blvd! It was really cool! The first thing you come to is the shore side. Closest thing to a beach we have seen this trip.
Here is Navy Pier!
After Navy Pier it was about 6:30. Time for us to head back to the suburbs. We mapped our route we took this day and we estimated that we walked about 6 miles! After being in the car for so long it was nice to walk around. Our feet hurt but it was worth it. We were early for the train so we ate food inside Union Station. I have to give a shout out to the Cajun place I had. It was like mall bourbon chicken food but the people were so nice! Day 10 came to a close with us getting on the train and resting for the hour commute back to our "hotel" for this leg.
Day 11- We only used 1 of the 5 places on our City Pass yesterday so we had to budget our time and get in the other 4 museums today! We left on the 8:05 train to the city and caught a cab to the Science and Industry Museum. The cab ride was about $24 which included tip. We were dressed a little more fancy today because it was Book of Mormon day so we didn't want to get sweaty. This museum is so fun and a must do especially if you have kids (or you are a big kid like us). They have demonstrations and workers everywhere to answer any questions you may have. We saw the film "Space Junk" which was fascinating! I learned a lot about objects orbiting Earth. Here are just a couple of the fun things you can see/do inside the museum:
Giant Hamster Wheel!
Did you know there is a difference between the southern and northern stage coaches?
Big Tractor in the Farm section of the Museum
We found this cool misty wall thing
I found this so much fun! What sports fit your personality/preferences?
We went into the gift shop and found this amazing shirt. I did not buy it and I am kind of regretting it... Next time!
After hanging at the museum we took another taxi over to Adler Planetarium. A very kind worker snapped this picture before we walked into the building.
This place was not as interactive but we still made our own fun!
A short walk away is the Shedd Aquarium. I love this place and so will you! Make sure to see the Beluga Whales and the Penguins. We were hungry at this point so we stopped in the cafe and had Grilled Cheese sandwiches. Totally hit the spot. It was very warm inside but we rehydrated and looked at some animals.
This exhibit was pretty cool. Jellyfish are so weird!
I thought this picture turned out cool. That is a beluga whale that looks green. Celeste is sporting items from the 3 places we have been so far.
We left the museums around 4:40 to start our leisurely stroll back to the city. It was time for a Starbucks run. Thank you Starbucks for our caffein fix. We would not have survived the rest of the night without you! We ate dinner at Flat Top on Wabash (off Monroe). It was so tasty! We ate with my Aunt Jenny and her friend Bob. We had a great time and great conversation. We then headed to the Bank of America theater to see The Book of Mormon. I have no words to describe this musical except that it was Stupendous! I am not a critic so I will not write you a review but I loved all the songs and it made me laugh a lot tonight.
Our two days in the city were fantastic! I can't wait to see what adventure we go on tomorrow. Thanks for reading!
You can check out Celeste's blog here: http://34justme.blogspot.com/
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