I'm home!!! Part 1

This is going to be very very long so if you only have a few minutes you might want to read this when you have a little more time..LOL. I got back from Chicago yesterday evening! I'm glad to be home although I do wish I could've stayed a couple more days. I really wanted to go to to the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, and the Lincoln Park Zoo but there just wasn't any time left. I did get to do and see a lot of things that I wanted to. I know Mike and the kids would really like those things I wanted to do but didn't so we'll probably head up there together some time. I have a lot to tell and a lot of pictures, so here goes!

I left home for Chicago at 4:00 a.m. on Thursday. We got in to DFW with no problem. It was too early for very much traffic so we got there at about 6:20. Security in the airport wasn't what I expected it to be. I was really happy we got through it pretty quickly. I was fine until we got to the airport and then my tummy worked it's self in to knots. I actually ended up making myself sick and ended up in the restroom for a while :(. Good thing I didn't eat much of anything. Our flight was right on time and uneventful, thank goodness. I didn't stitch on anything on the flight because my eyes were glued to the window :). The flight was exactly 2 hours long. We arrived in Chicago just before 11:00 a.m. As soon as we arrived at O'Hare and got our luggage we caught the shuttle to our hotel. We checked in, took our bags to our room, and were all set to head downtown! I was sooooooo excited! There were so many things I wanted to see and we still had a whole day ahead of us to do it....or so I thought. I did not realize how far we were from downtown. Chicago is huge! We each got 3 day CTA passes for the busses and the EL train. It took us 45 minutes to get from our hotel to downtown on that horrible EL train...uggggghhhhh. I don't mind the 45 minutes but I do on that EL train! There were about 15 stops between our hotel and where we needed to get off. It seemed like I spent way too much time on that thing. I really wish they would have chosen a hotel closer to downtown. The EL isn't completely horrible I don't guess but the stations are, in my opinion. One time when I was meeting my dad and brother somewhere and I had to wander through a station alone I felt like I was in a bad movie...LOL! Anyway, we got downtown and the first thing I looked for was the Sears Tower. You can't miss it!!! My brother wanted to eat at Giordano's and as luck would have it there was one right across the street from the Sears Tower :). So we ate lunch at Giordano's and wow was that some deep dish pizza! I couldn't even finish 2 slices and I was stuffed! After we ate we went up to the Sears Tower Skydeck. I LOVED it! I loved being able to see the whole city. My favorite view was of Lake Michigan. It reminded me of being at the ocean because you can't see where it ends :). I took this pic from the Skydeck. Isn't it beautiful?! Downtown Chicago is definately not like any place I've ever been. It's very fast and loud and those are the most horn honkinest people I have ever seen! If they even think you're gonna step out on to the street when they're driving they honk at you! I heard more horns honk in the 3 days I was there than in my entire lifetime here! LOL! I saw a cab almost take out 6 people...sheesh...In case you're wondering if I got honked at yes I did but I couldn't tell you how many times because I lost count...LOL! Anyway, after we finished up at the Sears Tower we took off on foot and headed for Buckingham fountain. It was a beautiful fountain and I especially loved being there because I could see Lake Michigan from where we were at. After we finished up there we headed over to Millenium Park. When we got there I found a huge bean! LOL! Check out this bean! Isn't it cool?! You can see your reflection in it! I wonder how they made that?! And how much it cost them to do so..LOL! I looked and looked and couldn't find a seam in the bean..LOL! It was a really fun thing to see :). After we left the bean we headed towards Michigan Ave. so I could find that Hershey store :). On the way I found the new Trump tower that's being built. That was really neat! I don't know if you can tell in the pics but there are Trump banners all around the bottom of the building. After looking at the Trump building I noticed the Chicago Tribune Tower. I was really excited to see that! I was wondering where it was before I stumbled upon it :). We continued on until we got to Michigan Ave. and found the Hershey's store. What a neat place! I bought some gifts and got a snack from the bakery for my dad and I to share. That was a yummy cupcake and the singing baker was a lot of fun too. After we left Hershey's we were pretty tired so we made the never ending EL train ride back to the hotel and called it a night. At least my dad & I did. I was really looking forward to Friday. My dad and brother were going to Cubs game and my stitching friend Jodi was driving down from Wisconsin to see me :). Her birthday is in a few weeks so when she arrived I gave her gifts to her. I stitched a piece from Blackbird's With Needle and Thread book called "My Pink House" and made it in to a flat fold. For some reason the pinks came out really bright in the pic. They're really a lot softer in person. I also made a pincushion for her from the "Victorian Needles & Pins" chart from the same book. This one was a bugger to finish but I think it turned out nice. The pic is a bit blurry I think. My mom is in to playing with beads so she made the pins for her. After Jodi opened her b-day gifts we caught the EL train and headed for downtown for lunch. We ate at The Cheescake Factory in the lower level of the Hancock Tower. We ordered 2 sandwiches and split them as well as a piece of turtle cheescake. Those sandwiches and that cheescake were both REALLY yummy! I asked the waiter to take a pic of us while we were there.

After we finished up with lunch we wandered around downtown for a bit. We had a really great time and I look forward to seeing her again :). After finishing up with Jodi I caught up with my dad and brother. My brother was set on having dinner at Mike Ditka's so we headed over there. Mike Ditka's wife was sitting at the bar near us sipping on wine so that was pretty neat. I sipped on a soda while my brother and dad had dinner. I was still stuffed from lunch. As a matter of fact, I didn't eat anything else the reast of the day because I was so stuffed! I don't know that I would have ordered anything anyway. My brother's steak dinner cost $49.00. I just can't justify spending that much on one dinner....lol. I think the only time I'd make an exception is for an aniversary dinner. After dinner we headed down to the Navy Pier and took a cruise on Lake Michigan. That was very cool! I got to see my first lighthouse while we were on our cruise. As you can see in the pic our captain obviously wasn't too eager to set sail. What a grouch he was! LOL!

I did a little bit of shopping while we were there and then we headed back to our hotel. Downtown Chicago is a very interesting place to be at night especially if you're on foot..lol. Ok, kids this is to be continued. I've been typing and uploading for a long while but still have lots to tell so I'll add a part 2 when I have time. I'm working at the flower shop the rest of this week so will post the other half as soon as I can. I'm baking bread and it's about done so I must scamper off :)