It's been three years since Keith and I have been away without any kids in tow. Last time, we went to Las Vegas and my Mom (Grandma) came down to stay with Oliver. This time, Keith found himself with a work trip to Chicago on a Sunday through Tuesday so we tacked on a Friday and Saturday and made it a weekend away. Once again, we flew Grandma down from Spokane on Thursday night and we hit the friendly skies on Friday night. Thanks to Southwest, we had free drink coupons to kick off our weekend.
When you try to take pictures without a flash, sometimes it appears as if there is a ton of turbulence or maybe you've had too many drinks. No... just no flash. HA!
MMmmm Red Wine, take me Away!
On Saturday morning we didn't get up until 10:00 AM. YES, 10:00!! We opted to go straight to lunch across from our hotel and it was quite delicious. From there, we went back to the hotel to add another layer. Brrrr!!! We headed out for Michigan Avenue and ended up wandering to lake Michigan instead.
It was a gorgeous sunny day in the Windy Cindy.
It was a fun contrast to stand between the lake and the city.
From there we headed over to the Navy Pier.
Someday, we want to bring the boys to Chicago and take them 'round on the ferris wheel.
Ta Da
We're on Vacation!
Hey Hey Hey!
Out at the end of the pier was a peaceful lighthouse
Also at the end of the pier was the two of us and the WIND!
It was great to sit at the end of the pier and just sit. It may sound odd but often with two boys to have two eyes on, we rarely get time to just sit and enjoy our surroundings.
Ahoy Matey!
Anchors Away and Hold On Tight.
As we left the pier, Keith stopped to talk shop with a local.
We left the pier and headed for a architectural tour on the river. We loved it and the city was amazing to see by boat. They told us what all of these buildings were but there is no way I can possibly remember everything. I guess we'll have to go back and see it again.
They called these the corn cob buildings. HA HA!!
You may remember this building from a commercial where a car over shot the parking spot and went overboard.
These town houses are built by a famous architect that built the sky scraper next to it. They are still owned by the original owners from 1990.
What a great day for a river cruise.
The Willis Tower, once known as the Sears Tower.
Hey, Hey, Hey!
Our Corporate headquarters for MillerCoors.
I loved this building but this is a terrible picture of it. It had gold facing on the top of it and it was suppose to look like a champagne bottle. It really stood out amongst the other buildings.
After our long walk to lake Michigan and the Pier, we headed off for Michigan Avenue for some window shopping. It was a bit amazing and overwhelming. We didn't go in most of the stores since we have the same stores in Denver, but we did have to take a stroll through Nordstrom. The Nordstrom shoe department was A-Maz-ing! However, I think there may have been as many people as shoes, so we didn't go near it. We did ride up the four (or was it five) flights of the escalator. Keith loved it!! (do you think??)
Hey look, Oliver Peoples!! Ok, I think this was an eye glass store but it didn't really matter, we were awe struck by the name.
Ahh... look Oliver, you're with us on vacation, kind of.
We basically ate our way through Chicago. It's a good thing we walked over 10 miles in the course of two days. For an afternoon beer and snack we went to Dublins next to our hotel. It appeared as a dive bar amongst the big beautiful buildings but it didn't disappoint.
Lipstick is a must when you're lips are parched and wind burned. You also never know when the sneaky camera guy is lurking on the other side of the table.
SMOOCH!
Having fun and striking a pose.
We don't remember what this look was, but it was crazy!
Happy Times in Chicago!
Since we were kid-free, we intentionally waited to go to dinner until 8:30 PM! We went to Lou Malnati's for pizza. YUM! When we got there, there was a 30 minute wait. They offered to let us order pizza in advance since it could take over 30 minutes to cook. We declined that offer and said that we would gladly wait. We were in NO rush. We did score a couple of stools at the bar for a beverage.
The next day we had to take care of some business in the process of buying our new house. The finance people thought we needed to fax 35 documents to them so we had to search our a place to do such a task. Fed Ex store, here we come! $1.50 per page, here we go! We decided they could wait to receive the documents at that price.
I took a photo of our Sunday breakfast location on our way back to our hotel. Across from our hotel, in the shadows of the tall sky scrapers was the Original Pancake House. Come to find out, the original Original Pancake House is in Oregon. There was a line out the door and the wait was about 30 minutes, but it was SO worth it. Even Keith agreed, breakfast was yummy! (and he's not a breakfast guy)
We stopped along a bridge that we had traveled below the day before to take a few photos and enjoy the view.
Ggrrrrr!!! Tough lady on a tough bridge.
We waited for Sue by the Chicago Theater and the Red Line train stop. Keith caught me in action exchanging text messages with her.
A Star is Born!
(and the weather was much warmer. Notice, no layers.)
We had a great lunch with Sue, complete with milk shake martinis.
After lunch, Sue gave us a great walking tour and we headed off to Willis Tower. After walking across town for nearly six miles, we got to the tour and discovered that there was an hour wait. None of us were completely convinced that we should wait for an hour so this is as far up into the tower that we made it. I teased Keith that I was going to post that he was afraid to go up in the tower since that sounds more exciting than we didn't want to wait for an hour.
These pigeons cracked us up. Roasted bird anyone?
On the way back to our hotel we stopped for a beer next to the river. It was a great way to end another wonderful day of touring.
Sunday evening we met Keith's boss for dinner and the next morning they headed off to the trade show while I flew back to Denver.
We had an amazing weekend exploring Chicago.
HUGE thanks to Grandma for coming to Denver to hang with Oliver and Kellan. It took less than 24 hours to pass after Grandma left for Oliver to ask when we were leaving again so that Grandma could come and stay with them. Something tells us that a weekend with Grandma is a great time!
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