Navy Pier
Shedd Aquarium, which is supposed to be a really good aquarium and it was awesome! Not to mention, we got in for free :) Their card machine wasn't working so the guy just let us in for free since our cards wouldn't work. Woo hoo!
I tried to get a few pictures for Kase so he could see them later, since he went to tours for the lean convention all day. They had an entire section of creatures from the Philippines waters.
My favorite...in the jelly fish section. Those creatures are just fascinating!
The Architecture Boat Tour on the River - I never knew architecture could be so fascinating:
Best buds
I'm sure you can't tell, but the street sign on the bridge behind us says "Wells Street"
The tour was perfect - it started in the daylight and ended in the night light. We were one of the few ones on it, since it rained that night. But we stuck it out :) the tickets were non-refundable, so we were going!
The next day I got to have lunch with Matthew George, Erika's brother. So basically like a brother-in-law to me. It was fun getting to catch up a little. He works in Chicago and loves it. He got a picture of us but I can't seem to find it. Afterwards, I went to this free outdoor zoo that was right down the street.
I tried to take some pictures for Kase - there was a barn section at the zoo. Kellee met me part of the way through it, and then I took the whole clan back later. That pig is HUGE!! Just had babies :)
So fun to get to see Harold and Kellee Abell, and that they happened to be living in Chicago while we were there! Harold was one of Kase's roommates/buddies in college and they got married around the same time we did. They are awesome. Harold is doing a rotational program with GE so they were living there for 6 months. This was taken on top of their apartment they live in - beautiful sky rise right in the middle of downtown! One of their apartment walls was just a huge window - it was so cool. Kellee is so fun - I was telling Kase I would love to live by them (not because they live in Chicago, but because they would be a lot of fun).
As we were there, Kase was talking about how cool it was and that he would love to live there. I reminded him that as cool as it was right now, he would be over it in 2 months. A- that's just Kase to be over something pretty quickly and B - that's not what he wants at all. He thinks it's cool, but not for long. He agreed that he would enjoy it if he knew it was going to end at some point, like what Harold and Kellee are doing. Seems like that's a common mentality he has for a lot of things... :)
I went around with Ben and Kathryn to see some sights (I guess Kase wasn't interested or he was still at work or something)
We weren't big enough Cub fans to pay to go in and get a tour, but we found this and got a picture. I literally stepped onto the concrete from the brick and the guy next to me goes, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, not so fast." Haha - they are serious about their turf!
Some homeless man took this picture for us (he was a "professional photographer" for this field) and I think Ben was nice and gave him money afterwards. I actually enjoyed a lot of music and stuff on the streets and would put money into some of those people's buckets and stuff because I felt like I was rewarding them for doing something instead of those who just sit and beg. I'd rather reward an effort. Plus, it was enjoyable.
Our last night there (Ben was already gone to be with a friend in Chicago that night and then on his way to Indianapolis to be with family for the next week) we had a nice date. Kase had never been to The Cheesecake Factory - WHAT!?? The boy clearly hasn't lived. So we skipped eating Chicago Dogs. I know...that's one of the main things to go to Chicago for. But Ben doesn't eat red meat so every night we were with him (which was every night, of course), we didn't get them and then our only night alone together I was REALLY craving Cheesecake Factory. It was so worth it!! While we were waiting to get seated at the Cheesecake factory, we went up to the John Hancock Observatory where the restaurant is and just looked at the beautiful city at night. I think you're supposed to sit and eat but we just went and looked - got Kase a little out of his comfort zone when we do stuff like that :) We heard we should look at that at night and then do The Willis Tower during the day. So we did.
Before we had to make the sad trek home on Saturday, we were able to go to the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) and go up on the Sky Deck. The line was LONG, but it was worth it. It was kinda scary but so fun. Adrenaline rush for sure!
Lake Michigan side
There's my man, doing push ups for me!
Kase and I had different flights to and from Chicago, since Gore paid for his and I booked mine cheaper. So I flew into Phoenix and thought I had my transportation situation all figured out but my plane was delayed so by the time I got there the shuttle stopped running. Anyway, so I had to get a taxi or some other transportation to the Greyhound station so I could catch the bus home. A limo driver could tell I was lost and offered to give me a ride for like $21 or something. I thanked him for the offer but told him I was just looking for the cheapest way to get there and figured a taxi would be cheaper (I was going literally 2 miles down the road). He told me they wouldn't be, but I didn't believe him. Sure enough, he was right. So I went back to him and he gave me a limo ride for cheaper than a taxi, ha. I got to ride in style! 4th or so time in a limo, and it's not near as fun by yourself :( but I felt like a queen riding up to the Greyhound station. I was glad he dropped me off on the side so others didn't see me hop out of a limo and try to rob me thinking I'm rich. It was like 9:30pm at night, and I caught my bus on time. Phew!
One of my favorite memories was a night when Kase, Ben, and I sat around talking at a restaurant long after we had finished dinner and talked all about their business/company idea and what they think the "next thing" is in manufacturing. I think it would be a lot of fun if they were able to do that, but it's just a dream for now. Also would require them living in the same place, which would be the biggest problem. We had already told Ben that we were leaving to go to Toyota. Even though he is technically Kase's boss, he is his friend much before that so Kase told him. I couldn't believe he told him....bad move for sure, right? But it was good, I'm glad he did. It was a great that they were able to have this trip together. We just love the McCabes. And I'm so glad Kase has someone to philosophize with and bounce ideas off of when it comes to work-related stuff. He needs that.
We REALLY wanted to go to The Museum of Science & Industry as Ben told us how fascinating it is and that you can spend all day in there, plus longer, and never get bored. They were thinking they might be able to get Friday off or do a half day on Friday so maybe we could go then, but it didn't end up happening. If I would've known, I would've just gone by myself one day. But it's ok - we have that and Chicago Dogs to look forward to next time! We kinda drove by Millennium Park but we can get to that next time also, along with the billion other things we didn't get to. I LOVE getting to do this kind of stuff with Kase! We have to take advantage of it while we can, right? That's what I tell myself anyway :)
