Random Thoughts Special Edition: Chicago

This past weekend, Anne and I took some time away from the kids and went to Chicago to be tourists. Here are some of the random thoughts from walking around the Windy City.

• The drive to Chicago goes pretty well, but there's one thing I've decided: I can't stand toll roads. Anne's trying to nap and I'm trying to listen to podcasts when another toll booth crops up.
• We stayed out near O'Hare and went with the visitor pass for public transportation. We have no idea what we're doing, and it shows. We missed our first bus. Twice.
• Our first trip was to the John Hancock Observatory. Question: Do you really want to be telling people that the elevator that they're riding in at over 20 MPH to the 94th floor is older than they are?
• Report from the 94th floor: The building is tall. I can see far. Hey look, there's a pool on top of that building.
• "Thank you for visiting the Observatory at the John Hancock building. It's a different experience each time." The next time we're there, the building will be short.
• Called home. The kids are doing fine. They can't talk very long, though, because they're busy playing Nintendo. It's always fun when Grandma's over.
• Current score: Uno's Pizza 1, Kamp 0. Very good pizza, though.
• The train ride home is long. Entertainment is provided, however, in the form of a large bald man in his twenties, his short bottle-blond girlfriend, and his mother who's dressing 20 years younger than she is. Good times.
• Oh crap, there went one of the buses that we could have taken home.
• Double crap. The other bus that we thought we could take doesn't run this late at night.
• I hate not being able to sleep.
• Turns out that the Chicago comic book convention was going on this weekend. How come no one told me this?
• We get to the Shedd Aquarium. There's a gigantic line to get in stretching outside in 90-degree heat. Thanks to the City Pass, we walk right in. Definitely the way to go. Thank you City Pass.
• They have a gigantic tank with sting rays, sharks, eels, and a bunch of little fish that, collectively, are known as "bait."
• Hey look! It's bald guy and BBGF again!
• There's something very, very creepy about a komodo dragon looking at you from two feet away, separated by only an inch of glass. It's like he's thinking, "Dude, I'm only a couple hundred pounds away from causing a Saturday matinee movie in this joint. Hey there, kid. I shall call you, 'Light Snack.'"
• Why am I looking at fish that I've caught fishing with my father-in-law?
• Dolphin show: ooooo...aaaaahhh. It's already done?
• Why is the guy surprised that I want to get the "cajun mayo" on the otherwise completely bland chicken sandwich?
• We go into the Field Museum for the express purpose of taking a picture of the dinosaur skeleton that they have. Thank you City Pass.
• At this point in the day, I'm really not all that interested in spending a bunch of time at the planetarium.
• A free movie about black holes narrated by Liam Neeson. Very nice. Thank you City Pass.
• Oh cool! A replica Mars Rover!
• Sweet! A replica Gemini capsule!
• We decide to be "smart" and ride the train all the way to O'Hare because the hotel told us they have a shuttle that runs there every 30 minutes. We wait for an hour there because it turns out that on a Friday night at one of the busiest airports in the world, they only have one driver for the shuttle, and he's busy taking some people to a restaurant. Grumble.
• Hey look, there's Bald Guy, BBGF and tight-shirt mom going in to that hotel. Weird. Both the coincidence of running into them three times and them in general. Just a strange group.
• "This is not a bus stop!" I'm very, very sorry, bus driver lady.
• First up is the Museum of Science and Industry. I could spend all day here looking at the U-505 and the other stuff, but at this point in the trip, I'm pretty much tourist-ed out.
• Wouldn't you know? We get the same bus driver lady that yelled at us before. She seems in a much better mood, though.
• Lesson learned this weekend: My wife's camera is very, very heavy in the backpack when I have to carry it around for three days straight.
• Final tourist spot is the Navy Pier.
• I refuse to eat at a place that doesn't give me free refills on drinks.
• "Yeah, let's go fancy for our last meal in Chicago. Take a quick look at the menu they have posted. Holy crap. Let's go to Haagen-Dazs."
• Toy store lady, why do you keep shooting me with an air cannon?
• My knee is stiff from all the walking.
• Finally, we've figured out how everything works with the public transportation thing. On our last day here.
• "I miss you daddy." Thanks, Doodle.
• I don't feel bad smuggling in candy to a movie when I'm being charged $9 per ticket.
• Ride back goes as smoothly as one could hope. Except for the toll booths. Grumble.
• It's good to be home.

Read more