I must confess, I’ve surprised myself. So far I’ve kept the blog up to only a day or two behind. It’s now Monday morning and I’m sitting in Starbucks (I can imagine your shock that my morning once again involves coffee!) So here’s Sunday.
My previous post hinted at these events so this probably won’t be a long one. Sunday morning involved Starbuck too, shocker I know. Coffee and I tried the egg bites I’ve heard a lot about. They were amazing – strongly recommend. While having breakfast I starting making my plans for after the Baseball. I settles on John Hancock tower with a view to doing Navy Pier on Monday morning. I wish I had done better research as it turns out Navy Pier doesn’t open until 11am, meaning I’m probably not going to make it.
The baseball was good – it was a great atmosphere. It took me a while to figure out what was going on, not really being a baseball follower, but I’m glad I went, it was good fun. However, the pillar immediately to my left explains the cheap seats. I had to spend most of the game leaning forward to be able to see the batter.
After that it was back to my AirBnB – because I forgot my wallet – Doh! Then down to John Hancock tower – I was worried that I might miss my time with the detour but it was all good. The views were amazing it was really cool to see all of Chicago and at least I got to see Navy Pier from above! They had a think called Tilt! where part of the building tips out. I think the eerie music and how slowly they did it took a bit away from the effect but it was an interesting feeling to tilt outwards from so high up. Then it was the Sip & View bar which was a great experience.
After I descended and a bit of hunting, I found the Cheesecake factory where I picked up a couple of slices to try – they look yummy, but they’re not cheap! This it was home, pizza via Uber Eats for dinner and time for bed.
This morning was mostly getting myself organised and repacking as I had to be out of the AirBnB by 10am. Then Starbucks, before I head down to visit Keith & Sandy tonight and tomorrow I head across to IU for IC. So you’re up to date for now!
Updates may be less frequent going forward as IC is usually a very busy time so I’m not sure I’ll get a chance to update the blog, but we’ll see…
It’s now Sunday evening, but the blog is up to Saturday. However, I can’t continue without noting where I am sitting currently – or rather I think I’ll show you.
One of the views from Chicago 360, showing a large portion of Lake Michigan.
I’m sitting in the Sip & View Bar part of Chicago 360 at the top of the John Hancock building – and the view is impressive! But more on that when I catch up.
When I got up Saturday morning, after trying to get more sleep in bed – the time difference still isn’t nailed down. I decided I needed to work out what I wanted to do for the few days I had in Chicago. So I used Uber Eat’s (yet again) or order my Starbucks and settled down with my passable latte and bagel with cream cheese to plan, book and spend some money.
I had originally planned to go to a baseball game at Wrigley Field and that still sounded like a good idea so I booked that for Sunday. I spend almost double on the parking that I did on the game but it’s an experience, right?
Something else I was pretty sure I wanted to do was the Museum of Science and Industry, so I booked that too. With that sorted I headed off to the museum. I must say, I don’t love driving in Chicago, particularly in the rain. Maybe it just that it’s the most urban driving I’ve done but there’s a bit too much traffic. There’s also a lot of routes and specific lanes to get into – I’ve missed them more than once.
The museum was great, especially the fact that they had a special 007 exhibit on at the moment. If you know me at all, you’ll know that I really enjoy a bit of ‘Bond, James Bond’. What I didn’t realise about the museum but is that for a few of the exhibits you had to reserve a ticket. I should have done that when I arrived, but not realising I was faced with a long wait (or no times left) so I missed out on seeing some of the exhibits which was disappointing. However, the trains, the plane and 007 were all highlights.
After that it was Target – it’s a shopping trip, you really don’t care. All I want to note is that they were sold out of Umbrella’s. I knew I would forgot to pack something this trip and that’s definitely one thing I forgot.
Then it was home and food. The plan was to have a short nap and maybe do something that evening. It didn’t happen there was just more sleep really.
After leaving the museum I heard from Keith (IYKYK) and he gave me a few tips of things worth doing. Navy Pier, which was already on my list and the John Hancock building (where I am now).
Well that’s Saturday. I’ve probably got time to make a start on Sunday before I finish my red wine and have to relinquish this excellent view!
So it’s now Sunday morning and I’m once again sitting in my room at my AirBnB. My last post got me up to the early hours of Friday morning. Check-out at Hilton was a leisurely 12 noon, however expecting an earlier arrival I had booked my hire car for 10am. I was willing to push this a little but not too much so I got up just after 9.30. Packed, checked out, walked, trained and finally found the multi-modal facility at O’Hare which is where the hire cars were.
Because I signed up for the Avis loyalty program I got to pick my car up from the Preferred Centre upstairs, though I’m not sure that was any quicker – I reckon I was in the line and waiting for my car for almost an hour. The good news is in that time it was confirmed that I could get into my AirBnB early (for a small fee) which helped a lot. I eventually got my car – in typical US fashion bigger than the class I booked, but I like it – it’s a Mazda CX-50.
My car – still in the Avis lot
I got my car play all setup and headed off to my AirBnB. Driving in the US is ok, some parts of it is better than others. I think I prefer the longer drives on interstates and similar as it requires less conscious effort. The bit I like least is just figuring out how to avoid hitting things – being on the other side of the car gives you a different perspective. I arrived at the AirBnB – it’s basic, but OK for the cost. I would have preferred a bigger desk, but the bed is comfy.
I was hungry so I got Uber Eats – Popeyes Louisiana Chicken which was good. I’d say it’s pretty similar to KFC. Unsurprising I was tired, so I napped, for longer than I expected but I was tired. I woke up a bit later, about dinner time so I used Uber Eats again, I got some good chicken pesto pasta, but instead of the Mountain Dew I ordered I got a half open bottle of water – I decided not to drink it! Then sleep. Pretty boring day and kind of a waste of my short time in Chicago, but the sooner I can acclimatise to US time the better. This post had photos 🙂 I’ll do Saturday in another post.
