Planes, Trains, and Automobiles... and feet.: Chi-town, the Windy City

Chicago is an exciting city! The buildings are tall, the monuments are artistic, the food is delicious, and the

When we got to town the first night, we went to a restaurant called Lou Malnati's which served deep dish pizzas and it was a good experience. The food was delicious and the server was super nice!

Dad and I took a Metra train into the city the first full day in town. We started walking around the city and first hit up the Willis Tower (formerly Sear's Tower). That tower is TALL!!!... It is the second tallest building in the US, after the Freedom Tower in New York and stands over 1450 feet tall. There are 108 stories in the building and on the 103rd floor there is a Skydeck that we were able to go to. From there, you have a great 360 degree view of Chicago and Lake Michigan (On a clear day, you can see Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin too). We also walked out on a glass deck and you can see all the way to the ground... That's an intense view, looking at 1350 feet between you and the ground.

From there, we walked to Millennium Park. The park was picturesque and is home to the Jay Pritzker Pavillion and the Cloud Gate. I was super excited to see them because, other than the Willis Tower, they typify what I think of as Chicago. Frank Gehry designed the pavilion and it is used for performing arts. Cloud Gate is a giant chrome cloud(ish) shaped statue in the middle of a plaza. It's been nicknamed "The Bean" because it kinda looks like a giant shiny kidney bean. It's cool seeing the distorted reflections all around the cloud and if you go under it, there is an "omphalos" (bean belly button) where you can see a bunch of different reflections and it can be dizzying to move around while looking up at it.

We had a Chicago Style hot dog for lunch which was great! I think dad's going to try to make them when we get back. After lunch we walked down to Buckingham Fountain and then down Lakeshore Drive and all the way to Navy Pier. Navy Pier was designed by Daniel Burnham (who designed the 1893 World's Fair held in Chicago) in the 1910s and it now has a children's museum, a few restaurants, a beer garden, a large Ferris Wheel, an IMAX theatre and Chicago boat tours start there.

From the Navy Pier we walked to Michigan Avenue where it is known as the "Magnificent Mile" There are upscale stores and hotels along the whole road. The Drake Hotel is at one end of it and I was excited about that because that is a plot point in the original "Mission: Impossible" movie with Tom Cruise (and I like that movie alot).

We then walked to a Pizza place called Giordano's which have great deep dish pizzas. We got a bacon, barbeque pizza and a bacon, pepperoni, salami, and sausage pizza. They were super thick and very good! Then we caught a ride on the Metra back to our car and headed back to the hotel for the night.