Visit Chicago with friends.
One of the things on our to do list was to visit the great City of Chicago. We can happily say, “Check that off the list.” Or, should we say, “Check that off the list, but we must do that again.”
Last month we took a trip that involved crossing into nine states. We started in Minnesota, drove through Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and back again. Oh, and we took a side trip into Ontario, Canada to pick up a friend before stopping for a few days in Chicago. Since this post is about Chicago, we promise to tell you about that first, and then fill you in on the rest of our trip in another post.
Checked a few things off the list
It sincerely was a fantastic trip and along the way we checked off a few things from our list of “want to do someday.” Things like: spending a few days in Chicago with good friends; staying in a hotel along the “Magnificent Mile;” going to Eataly (a great Italian shop with spectacular Italian food and restaurants); touring the city by bus and by boat; enjoying the culture and the people; can’t forget the bean; and well let’s just say our time there was special. (Okay, driving in the city wasn’t particularly a joy but we made it and once we parked the car things greatly improved.)
Many would think this wasn’t a huge thing; not like writing a book or taking a European vacation, nonetheless, it was something we wanted to do together as friends, and we did it. The awesome thing is that we planned it all out over Skype meetings. You see, we live quite a distance apart in Canada and the U.S. Using Skype was the best way to connect, plan, agree on things we wanted to do and see during our visit to Chicago. It worked splendidly and our trip went fairly smooth.
Not hard to tell we were visitors
It wasn’t hard to tell we were visitors to the city because we spent much of our time with our heads back and looking up at all the tall buildings. Whether we were walking, riding, or boating, we were looking up. The architectural history in Chicago is amazing with the Wrigley Building, The Tribune Tower, The Water Tower, and others.
Trump tower wasn’t far from our hotel and while we admit it was cool, it wasn’t at the top of our list of things to see. 
We headed out for Eataly, bought a few goodies, dined at Roma’s Restaurant, and then ended our day watching fireworks from a bridge overlooking the Chicago River.
Touring by bus, on foot, and by boat
The next day we took nearly a two hour bus tour and got soaked in a rain storm. After that we walked through Millennium Park to see “The Bean,” an incredible sculpture made of 168 stainless steel plates, and then we strolled through Lurie Garden. I might add, we took way too may photos of the flowers, but it was a lot of fun.
We were told, if you are going to visit the City of Chicago then, you have to go to Navy Pier and take a 
boat cruise. We are so glad we listened. It turned out to be a beautiful day for a boat ride. Our tour guide knew the history of Chicago and the story behind each building’s architectural style. Again we spent much of our time with our heads back looking up, it was absolutely wonderful.
We did it!
The best part of our trip, besides being with friends, was the reality of taking the trip we said we were going to, doing the things we said we wanted to, and then in the end saying, “We did it!”
Check that one off the list.
The Project Crew at My Project Club