I think it was during the museum scene when I first saw "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" that I knew I wanted to visit Chicago some day. Besides, Ferris and his two friends looked like they had such a good time, I wanted to do all those things! Later, a few more of my favorite movies were filmed in Chicago, and I saw some more things in those movies that I thought I would like to see too. I started looking up images of Chicago on the Internet, falling in love with some of the sites and architecture there.
I was planning to go last year. I wound up having to buy a much needed car. Chicago would have to wait.
I prepared for my trip first by looking up all the things Chicago has to offer, and it has more than you can imagine. Then, I decided to watch a few of my "filmed in Chicago" movies to see what I really wanted to visit. I started off with Ferris Bueller's Day Off (found out some of that movie was filmed in L.A.), followed by My Best Friend's Wedding, The Lakehouse (which actually had more of Chicago in it than I realized), and finally While You Were Sleeping.
I asked my dad to come with me, he was not really that excited to go. He seemed to think Chicago did not have much to offer, and was full of gangsters. Yet, he accepted to come with me anyway.
We left at 11:30 PM, the Red-Eye flight to O'Hare. I hoped to sleep on the plane. Unfortunately, the Monday before (the first official day of my vacation), I woke up with a sore throat. I tried everything to get rid of the nasty cold that followed, but nothing worked. It was not going to stop me from going to Chicago, however. I coughed the entire time on the flight, did not sleep a wink. If you were on that flight with me, I sincerely apologize.
We arrived at our hotel, and even though our original check-in time was supposed to be 3 PM, they accepted us right away, which we were grateful. I was not tired though. So I did not go to sleep until later that evening.
The first day was surprisingly warm. The 70 degree weather was so welcoming, I did not bother to wear a coat the first day. I also felt very fortunate finding a hotel within about 20 minutes walking distance to almost everything I wanted to see.
The first day, Monday: We walked out to the Sears (now called "Willis") Tower. It was a little difficult to find, not really knowing Chicago yet. Eventually, we did find it, and rode up the elevator 103 stories up to view the city, and to go out on the all glass balconies that make you almost feel like you are suspended in mid-air. It was really neat. I sometimes get nervous in high places, but those balconies were not one of them. There were a few people who would not dare go out on the balconies, even some guys! Others were nervous at first, then eased themselves on.
The second day, Tuesday: Decided to go the opposite direction and visit Bloomingdale's, within the 900 shops. The blocks and blocks of shopping places were impressive, though I found Bloomingdale's itself to be a little disappointing. Everything seemed average and overpriced. Still, it was nice to visit it. We saw many neat buildings on the walk along the way. On the way back, we stopped into the Museum of Contemporary Art Gift Shop, and there were a few fun things to look at there.
The third day, Wednesday: This was the day I was most looking forward to. The Art Institute of Chicago. We took a walk through Millennium Park on the way there. It has an outdoor theater that looks sort of like the EMP in Seattle. If you Google the park on Google Maps, you can see a long, silvery line that is actually a walkway leading to the rest of the sculpted theater. It is really cool. We stopped there for awhile, also looked over at the Cloud Gate Sculpture (the silver bean) that was in the same area. As my dad tried to direct me on a picture he wanted of me, I bumped my head inside the bean! Ow! It was not obvious how close it was to my head!
We then walked across another bridge that lead us to the Modern Wing of the Art Institute. The museum was huge. It was quite a bit different than how I imagined it would be, still, it was very impressive. I had to stop by the Impressionists area first, and see my favorite painting, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat. There were also many other paintings I loved in that area as well. So many artists I remembered from my Art History classes. It was amazing. And that was just one area of the museum.
I walked on to see more paintings, by Picasso (another favorite of mine), Degas, Gauguin, Monet, Manet, Delacroix, Hopper, Van Gogh and so many more. I was disappointed however, that I was not able to see "American Windows" by Chagall. If you are not familiar with that piece, it is the stained glass artwork that is in Ferris Bueller's Day Off that silhouettes Simone and Ferris while they are kissing. I really wanted to see that one up close. It was closed off to the public until the day I had to be back at work. Open to members the Friday I was there, but I could not really afford a membership to a museum that I will never get to visit regularly. Bummer.
After the museum, I had to find this place that a friend (native to Chicago) told me about. I also saw the restaurant on Food Network's "Bobby Flay's Throwdown," which the restaurant won against Bobby. The place is called Lou Malnati's . There are a few in Chicago, we went to the one on State Street. We braved terrible gusts of winds just to get there, my dad wanted to give up at one point, but then someone overheard where we were trying to go, and kindly told us it was the next street over. It was worth it, because it was the best pizza I ever tasted! So good! Flaky, buttery crust, tons of cheese, chunky tomato sauce and sausage (usually I am not crazy about sausage, but this pizza was different), all cooked in a deep dish pan. It has to be eaten with a knife and a fork. I am never going like regular pizza as much again! There was another group of people that came in after us, who had came in just because of Bobby Flay's show as well. They were going to try another restaurant later that was on the Food Network later on, but we did not get the name. The wind died down some before we walked back to the hotel. The city lights were pretty on the walk back.
The fourth day, Thursday: The trip hit us hard by now. We got a late start. Tired from walking, maybe tired from all the excitement, just plain tired. We decided to head out to The Navy Pier, which was close by. I understood from my research, that the Pier was nothing special, so I did not expect a lot. We mainly went there to get a taste of a real Chicago Dog. We stopped at America's Dog to try it. It was very good. It had mustard, onions, relish, sports peppers (which are spicy), two wedges of tomato, a quarter of a large dill pickle, and celery salt all on a poppy-seed bun. Delicious! My dad thought it had too many ingredients on it, but I like my hot dogs that way.
While at the Navy Pier we rode the tall ferris wheel, found a cool little greenhouse area with palm trees!, and strolled through the museum of stained glass. Not quite Chagall, but oh well.
We continued our journey back to The Loop, where we looked at the Picasso Sculpture (which was a gift from Picasso to the city of Chicago), and the Flamingo Sculpture, by Alexander Calder, that is further down that same road.
The fifth day, Friday: We took a rather long walk down to Buckingham Fountain. On the way, we took some more photos of Millennium Park, the outside of The Art Institute of Chicago, and whatever else we found that was neat along the way. The fountain is very large. Unfortunately, because I guess the weather is getting colder, it was not running, but it is still a nice looking fountain. My dad and I started taking pictures, and as I wandered farther away from him, this guy came up and said, "Madam?" I was a little startled because I was not very close to where my dad was and there were not many people around. Then he told me he was "not going to mug me," which made me a little more nervous because why would you even say that? I was thinking, "Oh my gosh! Is he going to mug me?" My dad was there shortly after that. I had not said a word to the man. He took off his cap and said, "I may be an ugly man," (I did not think that, I just sensed that I should not trust him after the "not going to mug you" comment), "but we are just trying to make a living out here." He then tried to sell my dad a paper which he may have pulled out of a trash can. He wanted $5 for it. My dad said, "Well, I do not need the paper, but I can give you a couple of dollars." I watched the guy as he looked in my dad's wallet while he was fishing out the money. The man then left, saying he meant no harm in causing any stress. Still feeling much stunned and a little awkward, I was relieved he was gone. I also thought my dad handled the situation very well, and was very calm. I was really glad I had invited him with me on my trip.
We went out for dinner that night and another guy was "not going to pickpocket" my dad or anything. He then shined his shoes, after which my dad gave that guy some money too. There are actually quite a few homeless people in Chicago. They mostly just ask if you can spare them some change in the downtown area. Sadly, I even saw one person sleeping on a box in a somewhat secluded area of the park. I felt bad, because I know it can get pretty cold in Chicago. Overall, we felt pretty safe walking through Chicago. There are tons of people walking around at all times of the day, and at least in the early evening as well. Even the more aggressive homeless people I guess seemed polite...
The sixth day, Saturday: The first day we took public transportation. There are many choices of transportation in Chicago, there is the El (elevated train), the subway, taxis, water taxis, and the bus. To go to the Lincoln Park Zoo, we took the bus. The zoo is about twice as far away as the rest of the places we had walked from, and we really needed a break. Lincoln Park Zoo is free to the public every single day of the year. There are a variety of animals there, big cats, flamingos, a polar bear, giraffes, among a variety of other things. Most of the big cats were sleeping. Some animals came out for a little while, then hid again. The polar bear stood on his hind legs! I did not get a picture of that, but we all oohed and awed when he did that! It was so amazing how tall he was! Many of us wished he would dive into the water, but he was not in the mood that day. Did you know that a polar bear's skin under his white fur is black? I guess it absorbs the heat to keep them warm. I found that interesting. The zoo was a nice way to end the trip. I had planned to go out to Wrigley Field sometime during the trip, but it was closed at the end of October, and there were no games being played out there, so we decided to skip it.
I started to pack my bags that night. We had an early flight and had to be to O'Hare by 6 AM the next morning. My dad said he liked Chicago. He even told friends and family how impressed he was by it. I was really happy we came to visit as well. I knew I was going to miss it.
The seventh day, Sunday: I woke up at 3ish AM. Got ready for the shuttle that was supposed to arrive at 4:45. It did not come. It did not come by 5:25 either. We were starting to get nervous. Finally our shuttle came and we made it to the airport in plenty of time. I was happy because I was actually able to sleep a little on the flight on the way home. The cough is still with me, but I feel like I am almost over it (I hope).
Some things we noticed about Chicago is that everyone drives REALLY fast. People cross the street before the signal. There is much honking of car horns. Most people are friendly and helpful, they kindly give you directions without even having to ask. The skyscrapers are VERY tall (not a surprise really for me, more for my dad). Most things are within walking distance if you chose the right spot. Many people wear suits, or are nicely dressed. There always seems to be a ton a people walking around in the Loop area during the day. Most of them are friendly. Well, except for that one lady who muttered disgustingly under her breath as I was taking photos at the museum... "Tourists!"
Chicago was fun.
