Chicago Pt. 2

Happy Tuesday, Folks!
Let's see...where did I leave off?
Oh, right after our delicious Chicago style pizza.
Got it!

If you missed Pt.1, get caught up here.

After stuffing our faces with pizza and filling our bellies past capacity we headed out for a double decker bus tour. I have done this tour in Chicago before and I know that it is the best way and most affordable way to see all of the city in a short period of time. If it does not rain. Well, it rained. A lot. We made it to a couple stops and got our free sample of popcorn (yummy!) before we made it to the top of the bus. I'd say we had about 3 minutes up there before the sky opened up on us...oh it is a memory for sure!

Here we are in front of the Chicago Theater in the Theater District before the rain started!

I loved these fountains in Millennium Park, and there were so many kids/families playing in them. So fun! Oh, and the faces change every few minutes and they are all faces of people who live in Chicago!

We (I) snapped pictures while waiting for buses frequently!

The bag in Stephen's hand was our free sample of popcorn. We were both surprised at the size and how good it was!

Sitting on top of a double decker bus in Chicago in a thunderstorm...I'd be okay if we never did that again!

But I got to use my zebra umbrella!

Wet and cold waiting for the hotel elevator to take us to our room where dry clothes were waiting for us. We stayed inside for an hour and waited out the storm before venturing to the bean...

This is not actually called "the bean", it is the Chicago Cloud Gate which was built in 2006 to reflect the cities skyline. It is a must see if it is your first time to Chicago, or if you just think it is cool (which I do).

After visiting "the bean" we boarded the bus to see Sears (Willis) Tower...but it started raining again! We made the most of it though!

I was really looking forward to going up Willis Tower because it has changed since the last time I visited Chicago. Now they have the skydeck, which seems to be a glass cube that jets out from the side of the building so you are basically standing on clear glass over top of Chicago. Sadly, there was a 2 hour wait to go to the top :( Since it was raining, and kind of foggy we decided quickly that it would not be worth the wait since we were not sure how great the view would be. Maybe next time we visit Chicago we can make it to the top!

This is Stephen checking the weather to see if we should even try walking somewhere for dinner...we really were over getting rained on AND we were running out of clothes!

After that letdown, we headed back to our hotel on foot to change into dry clothes (again) and make dinner plans. Usually when we are traveling or on vacation, I want to eat at new places-or places we can't eat often at home (Chic-Fil-A falls into this category). We ended up eating dinner at Flat Top Grill because it was right by our hotel and we knew we would enjoy it because we have eaten there before in Fort Wayne. It was great and dinner was delicious!

After dinner we did a little shopping at TJ Maxx, where I got some super cute gift wrap and a lovely cake stand. After that shopping trip, we headed back to the hotel and ventured around the beautiful lobby some before heading up to our room and ordering room service for some dessert!

I have said it once, but I must say it again: the Palmer House Hilton lobby is BEAUTIFUL! There is so much detail in the design that it is just breathtaking. This is the second time I have stayed here and I would be okay if we only ever stayed here while visiting Chicago! The room service was so speedy, but delicious? No. Neither of us really liked the apple thing and I especially did not like the ice cream. Stephen did like the ice cream though...I can't remember what the flavor was. It was a little to fancy for my taste!

And that concludes our Saturday in the city. Sunday will post tomorrow, so check back!

Toodles!