Sherlynn and I decided to fly to Chicago and meet Doh there for Thanksgiving Break. We have never flown together (hence the bucket list) and we were pretty excited.
(Thank-you Erika and Kyle for taking us to the airport so early...as in 4 AM early!)
Once in Chicago, we had a little bit of time to kill before Doh arrived on the train.
Having been awake for hours already, and it only being about 9:30, we decided coffee was a good option.
It was probably the smallest Starbucks in the whole metropolitan area and we were lugging all of our luggage with us. (I'm not sure what metropolitan means exactly, but it seems to fit when referring to a big city.) We barely fit, but with a coffee in hand, we sat down with a sigh of relief.
After a brief respite, we once again set off through town, suitcases in tow. Stopping to take pictures with our valises taking up the whole sidewalk, we were quite the image of American tourists...in America.
Oh man, were we happy to see Doh! Sherlynn and I were thrilled we made it from the airport to the train station, but now we had to find our hotel.
And we still had all of our suitcases.
Hauling our stuff onto various trains and buses, through revolving doors, and up and down steps was quite the obstacle course. But we prevailed!
We were cold, but we were together!
Melissa, traveling with my suitcases on public transportation brought back so many memories from France. Erika, you'd be happy to know I did not run over anyone's foot this time...that I know of.
After checking into our hotel and unpacking our food, we headed back out.
(Now you understand all the suitcases, right?!)
We were headed for the Willis Tower (previously called the Sears Tower), but made a little detour to Chinatown first.
Look! There it is! (It's a little hard to point with a mitten.)
Sherlynn was navigating with the GPS on her phone and we were soon back on track to the tower.
And guess who we ran into on the way?
Sherlynn was pretty excited and we were excited for her!
I, on the other hand, was excited about these:
I made Doh take several pictures.
Why do these high narrow iron fire escapes excite me?
I'm not entirely sure.
Maybe it's because they remind me of West Side Story or Spiderman.
(I know, I know, wrong city.)
But can't you just picture Spiderman swinging through the buildings? I guess I should have run out in front of traffic or something to get his attention. Next time!
(Just kidding, Mom.)
Wait, are those the Beatles?
Ha, just kidding!
Once at the Sears Willis Tower, we had this terrifyingly gorgeous view.
I thought the view was pretty from where I stood, but then I saw this:
You could perch yourself out and above the view.
Ummh...no thanks.
But my friends were doing it...
Look how brave they are!
They sat all the way in the corner with their backs facing death.
I know, that's a bit dramatic, but heights is not my thing.
I knew I would regret not sitting on the glass box, so there I went.
It took much coaxing and encouragement from Doh and Sherlynn.
As you can tell, I was not very relaxed--clenching my knee for dear life.
I crawled (literally) back out to safety and then they told me they wanted a group picture of all of us in there.
Ummh....okaaaay.
Look! We are suspended over the city!
In this picture I look like I did much better the second round, but actually...
I had feet touching "ground" at all times! :)
We had decided ahead of time that supper that night would be shrimp on Navy Pier.
Have you ever eaten at Bubba Gump Shrimp's? It was my first time and I loved it! It's delicious! We each ordered something different, but enjoyed sharing.
Navy Pier is beautiful at night.
We saw a sign for Chicago's best coffee and of course had to stop and buy some.
I don't know if it was because I was so cold, so tired, or so happy, but it was gooooood coffee.
Guess who else we ran into?
Don't feel bad.
I don't know who he is either.
According to Doh, he's a famous YouTuber.
Yes, there is such a thing.
After meandering around for a bit longer, we decided to head back to the hotel. To pass the time at the bus stop, Doh took pictures and they crack me up!
How thankful we were to have survived our first day together in Chicago!
This was our mandatory hotel-elevator-end-of-day shot.
And our view from our hotel room was pretty great.
We were in bed at 8:30 exhausted, but happy.
You excited to hear about Day 2?
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