Chicago!!!

A view from the top of the John Hancock!

Shrunk to the size of a penny in The Field Museums Underground Adventure!

Serious about finishing that Gino's Pizza!




On the Ledge at the Willis Tower!

Go Cubbies!!

10 Stories up on the Ferris Wheel at the Navy Pier!

Breakfast on the train...we sure look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for being up since 1:00a.m.!

Been there, done that! We had a wonderful time in Chicago...but there really is no place like home....or at least no place like your own bed! First of all...Chicago is a fantastic place for families... second, the city's public transit is extremely easy to navigate and my third piece of insight....if you should have the desire to take Amtrak on a trip that would last more than a few hours (and by few, I mean very few!) get a sleeper! The reserved coach seats were extremely comfortable and plenty of room to move about, but I think the sleeper would have allowed for a more relaxing journey!

That said...Chicago was fantastic! Our first Chicago experience was a taxi ride....the boys loved every minute of that action packed ride! After settling into our hotel, we walked down to the beach and to the Navy Pier! We also took in one of the best fireworks show we have ever seen at the Navy Pier! The next day we headed to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs take on the Giants!!! It was a great game going 13 innings and the Cubs pulling off the win with a 3 run home run by Geovany Soto in the bottom of the 13th with 2 outs! One of the most exciting baseball games we have been to! On Thursday it was museum day! We took in the Field Museum...where we saw dinosaurs, jewels and gemstones, Egyptian artifacts, and were "shrunk" down to the size of bug to see what it's like underground. We then ventured down to the Shedd Aquarium.....it was cool, but after being to at least 5 different aquariums in the last 4 years...I think we have probably had our fill! We did get to see an aquatic show featuring their dolphins and a 4-D version of the movie Planet Earth...those two things were probably the highlight of the aquarium! The last museum of the day was the Adler Planetarium...I'm sure an astrologer would have appreciated this museum, but for the average person...the 3-D IMAX movie was the best part! Of the three museums....I would highly recommend The Field Museum...the other two are okay, they came in the CityPass ticket package we purchased, so we only paid half price for the tickets....they were worth what we paid! On Saturday we grabbed the Subway again for a trip to the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower). The Skydeck Ledge was pretty awesome...I am deathly afraid of heights and I even took a brave step out on the Ledge! The views were pretty clear for the day...I'm not sure I saw all 4 states you were supposed to be able to see, but I could definitely see a long way! That evening we headed down to Gino's East for dinner.....this is a famous pizza joint....there is writing all over the seats, walls and tables...and if you look hard enough you can spot some famous names amid all of the graffiti! The pizza was out of this world...YUMMY! We then headed over to the John Hancock Center for an amazing view of a Chicago sunset and some coffee and gelato! We ended our trip to Chicago with some shopping on the Magnificent Mile! It was a fantastic trip....but, I think I could be anywhere as long as the company I'm with is my 3 favorite fellas!