Day 2- Chicago

Not gonna lie, Monday night was rough for me.  Monday had been a warm day and Travis’s air isn’t being turned on until Friday and so the apartment was pretty hot for someone who prefers to be chilly when trying to fall asleep. It was warm, I couldn’t decide where in the living room I was comfortable (couch, floor, chair) and to top it off, my allergies were making me miserable.

a better picture of Travis's apartment... that looks like a motel

At two a.m. I got the brainstorm to take some of my Benadryl, hoping it would a) bring my allergies down a notch and b) knock me out.

It sort of worked, sort of didn’t.

But regardless, I was full of enough energy and excitement  to get started Tuesday morning.

We showered, had some cereal, put on clothes/shoes we’d be comfortable in, looked at our maps and were on our way. Travis had originally planned to join us downtown, but got called into work so stayed behind.

Fran and I actually managed to not get lost. We got off at the right exits, made the right transfers, took the right turns on streets and all that.

First we went to the Sears (Willis) Tower. We took the elevator up to the 103^rd floor and took a look around. What I was most excited about was the sky deck. I didn’t think I’d be freaked out at all because I’ve never had a fear of heights but I have to admit, it was a little freaky taking that step out onto the ledge.  The woman who talked to us as we exited the elevator and then entered it again to go back down was incredibly nice. I think she must get sick of saying the same welcoming and departing phrases to people… I think we heard them twenty times each and we were only by her for about 5 minutes.

check out the kicks. and the view.

After we left that attraction, we walked to Millenium Park to have some lunch. We had packed peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and some fruit to save some money. Much to our excitement, there was a show going on on the stage. When we got there, there were old people dancing to rap songs like “ay bay bay” and “teach me how to dougie”. Then there was a high school show choir performance of “don’t stop believing”, followed by elderly clowns… who apparently perform at nursing homes. All I can say about that one is that I had to look the other way, so you’d have to ask Fran how that performance was. Then a woman got up and sang a solo in Spanish that was really beautiful. There was also an orchestra that played for a bit before we got up to leave and walk around some more.

We went shopping down the Magnificent Mile. I couldn’t say no to going into Forever XXI.  IT’S THREE LEVELS, HOW COULD I??? I may have bought a thing or two. I told Fran to not let me buy another piece of clothing for the entire trip and she laughed at me.

We caught the red/green line back to Oak Park.  We planned a bit for the next day and booked a hotel at the Red Roof Inn in Erie, PA for Wednesday night. I took a short nap (so typical) and then Fran and I went off in search of some dinner.

Ended up at a Pizza place that specializes in Deep Dish, something we knew we had to try in Chicago. We split a small spinach deep dish pizza and it was phenomenal. Also split a cannoli for dinner, another first for me.

We went back to Travis’s and started getting ready for our night out on the town. Travis brought his friend Cory over and the four of us hung out for a bit. Corey knew after I spoke one sentence that I was from Wisconsin. He also knew immediately that Fran was not from Wisconsin because of her personality.  Pretty insightful. Cory couldn’t come out with us but Travis called a cab and soon the three of us were on our way downtown again.  The cab driver was awesome. He used to be a limo driver and told us he hated it. He hated the rude customers he had, who demanded things from him. He said he likes being a cab driver so much better because he likes just being with ordinary people like himself.

Our first stop was a sports bar and it was the end of the Chicago Bulls game, so things were pretty intense. After a while, we took off and went in search of a club where Fran could do some salsa dancing. Unfortunately the only place in the area isn’t open on Tuesdays. We hopped to one more bar after that and then called another cab to get back to Travis’s.

We called it a night, and thankfully it was a better night of sleep.