Lincoln Park Zoo

We took a little trip up to Lincoln Park for the zoo (free :) ), a genuine chicago cow, a veggie-free chicago dog for David (does that really qualify as a chicago dog?), and fun times.  I also learned that the 151 bus goes from union station to michigan ave to lincoln park on an 8 minute cycle.  good to know for future use.

Grant Park

Friday morning  we headed out to Grant park to pick up a few geocaches.  It was a little foggy, which made for some great views and pictures.... and there was plenty of art to poke around in!

 I loved the Metra sign that reminded me of the Parisian Metro signs :)

I decided to stop and smell the roses (and other flowers) for a while.

Right around here I was hitting 100 caches.  Up to 122 as of now.

Drinks and Views

We ended our night with a trip up the magnificent mile to the Hancock Building.  We took the trip up to the Signature Room for a drink and some views.  It was still light when we arrived and the sun had set by the time we left, which was awesome to get the day and night views of the city.  I had never been up the Hancock (Or Willis/Sears) before, so this was an excellent suggestion (Thanks Laura!!).  Plus, we figured out that we spent more time and less money going to the bar than to the observation deck :)  Just a hint for the savvy travelers planning this trip in the future!

Art and Millenium Park

We enjoyed some good times at the Art Institute and Millennium Park Thursday.  I always enjoy a trip to the AI and Millennium Park is definitely one of my favorite places in Chicago.

I love public art... which really makes Millennium Park, and Chicago, my kind of place. 

Chicago Bound

We headed to Illinois for a few days with my family and touristing.  David had never been to IL or WI, so he got to claim two new states!  I think one of my favorite things about not living at home anymore is that I can tourist when I go visit now:)

My cousin and her family came into town and we spent Thursday and Friday with them in the city.  We were able to score some great deals and touristed it up schwanky style by staying at the Palmer House downtown on Thursday night.  I could get used to that ;)  My mom and brother joined us on Friday.

In a less than stellar start we were a) booted onto an earlier flight so we left PGH at 7 instead of 7:30 and b) stuck on the apron 50 ft from the terminal at O'Hare for 90 minutes due to lightening in the area.

Things got better once we made it downtown and found our awesome hotel!