Saturday, August 22, 2009

Chicago ~ Day 2

We started the day off with a walking tour along the river. It was our own version of the Architecture Tour minus the narrator!

The Chicago Tribune

The Trump Tower


The Willis (formerly known as the Sears) Tower



When you look all the way to the top of the tower the clouds make it look like the building is swaying. Creepy! We were going to go to the tippy top, but the line was crazy long so we decided to try back later.


We rode the subway all over town.

While waiting for our train to arrive and seeing the other lines arrive and depart several times I realized that we might be waiting for a "weekday only" train. Yep. Wrong side of the tracks!


Lunch was at Portillo's. My brother-in-law Mark highly recommended it and it's one of Tommy's favorite places too! I had the classic Chicago hot dog. Tomatoes and Peppers? And after I did a google search I saw that there are Portillo's in Buena Park and Moreno Valley, CA! Uh oh.

That was some hot dog! I tried the Hacker-Pschorr beer ~ Tommy's most favorite German beer. Not quite froofy enough for me! :O)


After lunch we took a breather at the hotel and got, "all gussied up," for dinner at... wait for it... Morton's, per Tommy's request. (Are you seeing a theme here?) It's all about the fine dining experiences. From hot dogs to the steakhouse by which all others are measured. Perfectly logical.


I love my NikonD60!

We stopped at the Willis Tower on the way to dinner. Claustrophobic or those afraid of heights should probably stay in the lobby. Tourists are jammed belly to back for 103 flights. There is no, "I think I'd like to get out now, please."


The magnificent Windy City



Tommy wasn't so sure about stepping out on the glass. If you look down you'll see the street from 1353 feet. That's a long way down!

SO I went first (because you know I'm a leader and all) and then he joined me.


We ran across town to make our reservation to Morton's. And let me tell you that is a whole lot of fun in heels! Where are your flip flops when you need them?

Dinner was amazing. Lobster bisque soup, succulent fillet Mignon, baked macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and key lime pie. (And a few (dozen) libations of mojitos, baileys and cream and bourbon (for the gentleman) ... "Go big or go home!:)

An after dinner drink and dessert and a full belly. Ah, Chicago Saturday nights.
Tomorrow we will cram in more tourist attractions than we should and I hear we'll be heading back to Portillo's. Oh joy.

1 comment:

pickledfairy said...

Looks like fun..I have never been to Chicago. I like Tommy alread, he knows good beer. We actually can't get that beer it in Maine, so when Okroberfest time rolls around, we order at least 10 cases from a store in Mass. The cases are coming in this weekend! Sipping that beer each Fall it always makes me remember my time living in Germany....

Sheridan