7/1/09

Chicago, Wednesdays Wonders!

Our Wednesday started with a bus to the museum campus, bringing us in past Soldier Field stadium, a really impressive sight.

We were off to the famous Field Museum of natural history, a big draw and a beautiful classical style building.

It very much reminded me of the Natural History Museum in London, with a similarly impressive grand hall.

The star of this area is undoubtedly 'Sue' the T-Rex, the largest and most complete dinosaur skeleton in the world.

In fact her actual skull weighs so much it's too heavy for the rest of the skeleton! So it is displayed in a seperate case upstairs and a lighter duplicate is on the full skeleton.

We then headed into the exhibit hall of stuffed mammals, some of them were extremely realistic!

These are the infamous 'Lions of Tsavo', two male man-eating lions who killed and ate 140 railworkers around 1900 in Tsavo. Friends had lent us the movie of this true story 'The Ghost in the Darkness' before we visited. We were both surprised at the size of these lions, considering the havoc they wreaked, we expected them to be larger I think.

The view of the main hall from above is impressive and we enjoyed our visit here. However we were a bit tired and there were a few too many noisy children running around, so we moved on!

We escaped to the relative quiet and calm of the Adler Planetarium, as I have never been in a Planetarium before.

We enjoyed the fascinating displays and then caught two of the shows, 'The Night Sky' which really was very interesting, but the dark and warmth made us both nod off for a few minutes quiet kip! We did manage to stay awake through the more action packed 'Cosmic Collisions' though!

The Adler Planetarium has been voted by Chicago residents as having the best skyline view and we concur with their opinion.

After another bus ride back to the hotel, we headed out to a Giordano's, of Chicago Pizza Pie fame.

It was delicious, but extremely filling and we had enough leftover for dinner on Thursday night too!

We decided to walk off dinner with a bit of geocaching and en route we passed the Trump Tower.

We had a quick gander inside this very impressive new skyscraper, it's quite something close up.

Then we followed our GPS directions through a riverside walk with lovely views.

Down the side of the famous Wrigley Building, which has some really beautiful architectural features.

Before arriving at our final destination, another famous Chicago landmark. This was a 'virtual' cache, where you just have to find it and then log a photo of you at it holding your GPS. This was our second find of the night, we finished the trip with five in total.

The we walked back down the Magnificent Mile to the Hancock Tower and ascended once again to see the city lit up at night.

We also had an ulterior motive, to see the Navy Pier fireworks.

After our visit the previous day and wanting to avoid the huge crush on the actual pier, we decided this would be a superb vantage point and we were right.

We were not the only people to think of it, but it never got really crowded and we easily got front row seats for the show.

It was a great decision, we had a drink in the cafe, then had a birds eye view of the wonderful weekly display. It was just a really special highlight of our holiday.

After the show we did a circuit of the tower again to capture the night views. This was looking down on the beach and shoreline.

Looking across the city away from the lake, it was easy to see the block layout.

And finally looking down the Magnificent Mile and across all the skyscrapers, what a view to end our day!

Tomorrow join me to see a highlight of the Hubsters holiday, Wrigley Field home of the Chicago Cubs, a bit like Old Trafford/Anfield if you're a Brit!. Followed by the Art Institute and some of the wonders of the art world, like Monets and Van Goghs close-up.

And in case you are wondering, yes we walked miles everyday and were a little foot weary everynight!

23 comments:

Kay said...

Oh my goodness! You are totally seeing Chicago's best and most wonderful places. I nodded off at the Adler, too. Seeing the pizza actually made me salivate. I love Chicago Style pizza. I love how you're really displaying Chicago in her best light. She is a fabulous city. And yes, the Field is pretty amazing. This is so much fun! I can't wait to see what you post tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

After seeing your pictures, I told my husband that I want to go to Chicago. Great pictures!

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

It looks like you had a great time. I especially liked the nighttime pictures of the city.

Sherri said...

Oh my what a wonderful day you had! I love the firework display-how beautiful and magnificent! I had no idea Chicago had so many wonderful things to do! Thanks for the tour!

Pat said...

What a wonderful virtual tour of Chicago! Now I really want to visit there. Great idea to go to the top of the Hancock Tower for shots of the fireworks display. The Field Museum of Natural History looks way cool. Thanks for the tour.

Gaelyn said...

Another great day of touring Chicago. When I was a kid I visited all the museums and the Planetarium was always my favorite. That pizza pie sure looks good. And love the fireworks display. Haven't seen one in years as they're not allowed in national parks. Oh boy, more tomorrow.

Unknown said...

How fun to completely re-live the vacay day by day. You are packing a lot in and probably needed to get home so you could rest!

Daryl said...

Last time we went to the Planetarium here in NYC we both nodded out a bit.. and did you ever get the cupcakes?

Anonymous said...

Keep 'em coming, Sarah. again, the Navy pier, the city views... they look great. You certainly packed a lot into a week. I'm liking the look of that Pizza pie. yum yum yum. almost lunchtime for me...

Anonymous said...

Sarah, which camera did you use for the fireworks? Did you take more than 1 camera with you to Chicago? I don't think my Canon Power Shot would capture the fireworks clearly.

Unknown said...

Gigi, yes I did take both cameras with me, however I ended up using the tiny Canon SD more, including for the fireworks. But it is 12.1 megapixels and newly released, so I think it has all the latest gizmos in it. I was surprised too how well the fireworks came out with it!

Anonymous said...

Sarah, thanks. Hubby is going to buy me a Canon SD with 12.1 megapixels before our trip to Mauna Kea observatories next month. I hope to capture the stars and planets in the night sky there.

Fred said...

Great tour. I'm enjoying it.

Winifred said...

What lovely photographs. That Natural History Museum is a wonderful building. I've never been to the one in London either, yet!

What a great trip you must have had.

Snippety Gibbet said...

What fun photos of Chicago. I've never been, but it is on my short list. Loved the photos of the jellyfish. Aquariums rock!!! And loved the idea of the virtual geocache. I really want to get in on geocaching, but my man doesn't have an interest in buying gear for yet another hobby. ....grumble, grumble... Love the shot of that pizza too. We were discussing just tonight how yucky most pizza is. That slice looked quite delish Thanks for sharing the trip photos. Who knew there were boat trips around Chicago! jan

david mcmahon said...

Some great shots there!

Saz said...

I echo David, great shots....a virtual journey for all.

Sandi McBride said...

Makes me miss the city, Sarah...but except for that Chicago Pizza, it's something I could dream about happily and not mind I wasn't there...the Pizza though...now I must have a slice within the year or lose my mind...sigh...what little there's left to lose!
COngrats on Post of the Day mention, by the way!
hugs
Sandi

Grace Albaugh said...

Isn't Chicago just a wonderful place? Beautiful photos! Thanks for the tour.

Elizabeth Bradley said...

What a great town! An enviable trip to be sure.

Erin said...

sarah...those night captures are fab...absolutely fab. it has motivated me to plan to be somewhere up in the sky when darkness descends in saint louis when i visit in august.
now that was one pizza pie...looks like it was absolutely delish.
your photos are fab!!!!!

Leslie: said...

Wow, Sarah! Some fabulous shots there and I can see why David commended you as POTD! Congrats!

Wendy Hill said...

Oh, I'm so glad you were able to try Giordano's Pizza! It is my all-time favorite (deep dish spinach, especially). I actually wrote to their chain begging them to open one here in Indianapolis. They opened one in DeKalb, IL, (the town we moved from 3 years ago) shortly after we left. Boo-hoo! My sister (who lives in VA) actually has Giordano's pizza shipped to her sometimes because she misses it so!

Also, I agree with another commenter who wrote that you are providing a fabulous PR service for Chicago. Wonderful photos and delightful commentary. Glad you had a wonderful time.