Windy, White, and Wonderful

Chi Town. My sister lives there now and I went for: my birthday, the 4th of July, and as the first family visitor. It was marvelous. I think I'll stick mostly to the photos and give a few captions. Mostly because I'm tired.

Under the El on Lake Street. I have just arrived and it was love at first sight for me and this city.

Matt Kearney was performing at the free Taste of Chicago concert. He was really great, loves Chicago, and walked on some chairs through the audience. Me and my sister's bf (aka Quad Cities) had a great time without my sister, but we missed her.

She arrived! L and I took a walk along Lake Michigan.

The older sister. Almost 30.

Our first order of business was a trek up the Hancock Tower. It's the third tallest building in the city, but it's right on the lake and there's a free audio tour. This one is a "must do" if you visit The White City.

I just had to show you more views from The Hancock. We chose the most perfectly clear day to be up above it all. Seriously...how gorgeous!

Our next stop was XOCO. Quad Cities met us at the Rick Bayless joint (apparently he's famous from Top Chef) and it was one of the more yummy restaurants I've been to. I will go back.

View from the Architecture Boat Tour (which I kept wanting to call an archaeological tour) on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. This is the boat on which everyone thought we were drunk. We weren't...we just thought it would be more fun with some applause and appreciation for our tour guide and all of Chicago.

Going through the lock. Lake Michigan here we come!

The view of the city from The Lake. That Ferris Wheel is not the original from the World's Fair of 1893, but it commemorates that one that had cars that held 6o people each!

Another gorgeous view...and lots of tall building in sight.

The El over the trestle bridge.

I have a few "must-visits" in any city. One of them is Whole Foods. This Who Fo in Lincoln Park was HUGE. It had: a wine bar, another bar, a riverside patio, and an escalator just for your cart, right next to the one for humans.

Another mecca - Patagonia. I love how they hang their pants! They were a really cool store. They sell shoes (rare), have a bike rack in the store, and have a wall of fame/shame where every employee writes how they got to work...for all to see. Bikes are EVERYWHERE in Chicago!

July 3rd...my birthday...the Cubs won. Thanks guys! Check the "W" flag for the win that is flying at about 10 o'clock from the clock above the scoreboard.

Here I am as a 30-year old. My yearly documentation of my existence. This was a great birthday. I don't think my name was on the scoreboard like it was when I was 11 (? at Broncos Stadium), but we couldn't see it, so I'll pretend it was.

We had a divine birthday dinner at Boka. It was yummy and pretty. Look how our starters came...fried polenta with a kind of hummus on the bottom and foie gras on the top. It was my birthday remember.

A few years ago, the Sears Tower became the Willis Tower (as the Willis company was now the largest company in the building) and they built these cool glass boxes that stick out from the building. They were awesome! It's about $15 to get up to the top and it was crowded there on July 4th. I liked the Hancock views more, so if you can only do one, do the Hancock. But, being in the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and learning how cigarettes relate to the design is worth it. Besides, we had already been disappointed by the Buckingham Fountain (it didn't do its thing on the hour that the guidebook said) and there were so many people at The Taste. We needed something cool to end the day.

July 5th, at the Bean. I need to go back to get some more cool pictures of this thing. Anish Kapoor is the artist who did this and if you ever get to see an exhibit of his stuff (as I did a few summers ago at the ICA in Boston), do it!

I was lured in to Garrett's Popcorn by the smell, even though my sister really doesn't like it. I just had to try it (to compare to the stuff she brought back from her last working week in Indianapolis). The popular thing in this part of the world is the Caramel & Cheese Mix. It's so tasty (but Visz is right...Indy beats Garrett's)! As you can see, it's very, very messy.

July 4th at the Buckingham Fountain was a bust. But July 5th, it was raging. Every hour on the hour, the fountain does this (see above) for 20 minutes. We almost gave up after three failed attempts to see it on the 4th, but I'm glad we stuck with it and went back on the 5th.

And it felt so good to cool off in the spray! Thanks to quick-drying Patagucc clothes, I was presentable again in no time.

Here's the little sis and her namesake at the Famed Art Institute. She's so cute!

We got in for free because a woman offered us tickets at the door - she said she got four tickets from the library and the one friend who was going to join her couldn't show up. Bonus!

Do you think they'll loan this cool thing to me for my math classroom?

Sweet hologram. L & Quad Cities try to figure it out.

So serious.

Indian style.

The girl that Cameron stares at in "Ferris Bueller." If you do the Art Institute, I suggest Lonely Planet's Express Tour. Lots of the art has moved around, but the docents will help you find them and you get to see the best of the best.

My last night in Chi Town was at Second City for a comedy/improv show. We were in the front row. This meant that both L and I were involved in the show. L played the part of a mother in a skit and the cast sang a song about me being a teacher. My favorite part of the song was when they said I didn't look like I could be more than 20. Thanks, Second City!

We thought it was so funny!

I didn't get a picture, nor would I post one if I did, but this blank space is left blank for a "Chocolate Shake" from Wieners Circle. If you must know, read here or watch the last 8 minutes of "Pandora's Box" from the first season of the This American Life television show. My friends from work were in town for a conference and they came to see me and we were treated to a chocolate shake. I guess my trip to Chicago became complete at that moment.

Thanks, L, for making this trip happen. She got all the tickets and was the best travel agent I could ask for. She also forced me to make this trip happen, something that I wanted to do, but just wasn't committing to for a while. I was ambivalent or nervous or something about turning 30, but once the day got closer, I realized how little I liked being 29. So, thanks Visz for making me do this. I think it's the best birthday I've ever had. Maybe we'll have to make it a tradition.