We had all purchased a "Go Pass" which was a little card that featured something like 28 tourist destinations, and you could go see as many as you wanted in one day. Following Adam and his trusty map we hopped aboard the bus and headed to our first stop. The Field Museum.
Now, I should stop here and explain that even though I was very excited to be there I had HUGE guilt about seeing this place without Noah. Why? Well, for those of you who don't know what the museum has here is a little peek...
The Field Museum is Noah's idea of Mecca. There is an entire exhibit filled with dinosaur bones and the museum is home to Sue, the most complete skeleton of a T-Rex ever found. I know! And we were there without Noah! I am telling you - the guilt was extreme. (Which was probably why I went a little crazy in the dinosaur gift shop.)
The Museum was great - we could easily have spent all day there - but we had that "Go Pass" and we wanted to fit in some other places before the pass expired for the day. We ate lunch at the museum and then hopped in a cab and headed to Willis Tower.
It was crazy busy! And, according to Jeremy, Willis Tower got the award for being the most inefficient at herding tourists through the site. He was right. First you had to wind through a line, take an elevator down, get your tickets, wait in another winding line, get your picture taken as a group in front of a fake backdrop of the city, be herded like cattle into another elevator (this might have been where poor Amy started to be a little nervous), ride up almost all the way to the top, then get out and switch to yet another elevator and ride the final 4 floors to the top. Phew!
Of course, once at the top the view was totally worth it. It was a great way to see the city - even if it was very crowded.
We decided we had better hurry if we wanted to make it over to Navy Pier so we got in line to ride the elevator down.... and waited. Forever. Cause one of the elevators was broken. I must say that being at the top of the tallest building in the western hemisphere and seeing repair guys there working on one of the only ways down made me slightly nervous. And, it was at this point that a very frustrated Jeremy decided to rename the Go Pass. He was now calling it the "Stop" Pass since we had only managed to use it for 2 places all day long!
Needless to say, we made it down, hailed some more cabs and made it to Navy Pier. We redeemed our pass for the tickets to the attractions there and were told that those tickets did not expire. Score! We decided to come back another day and instead of trying to cram it all in with the crowds, we sat down and had some refreshments instead.
Hmm, margaritas, chips and guac, and Garret Popcorn - cheddar and caramel mix! 'Nuff said.
After being rejuvenated, we went back to the hotel to chill out before dinner and a trip to the top of the John Hancock observatory. Even though that building was 9 floors shorter than Willis Tower I enjoyed the view from there better!
We had dinner at a cute little local spot called Bijean's and it was delicious. I ordered the Chickpea and Sweet Potato Cous-Cous and it might have been my favorite thing I ate the whole time we were there!
That, combined with a really delicious bottle of wine, and I was suddenly very tired from our busy day!
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