Chicago Pictures

Joy and Lagaytha arrived today and it is fun to have them here. I made a chicken curry meal in the crockpot and we all ate together tonight. We are now just hanging out together and I thought I would post the pictures from Chicago while I have time.

Brandon and I had a great time in Chicago this past week. We both flew in on Sunday and met each other at the hotel, the Millennium Knickerbocker, which used to be the Playboy Towers! After my meeting with the hotel staff, Brandon and I ate lunch at an Italian deli before going to see Mamma Mia at the Auditorium Theatre. We met my coworker and her aunt there and our seats were right next to each other. Our seats were in the middle of the balcony and we had a great view. The play was a lot of fun and it was great to see. Brandon slept through most of it but I think he did enjoy the parts that he did wake up to see! He had only gotten a couple hours of sleep the night before... Afterwards, we walked back downtown through Millennium Park since it was fairly nice out and ate dinner at Mike Ditka's. I love their pot roast nachos! Once we got back to the hotel, I set-up for my conference and by the time I got back at 9:30pm, Brandon was already asleep!

The conference went well and I was done on Monday and Tuesday by 3:30 or so which allowed us to walk around Michigan Ave. and then eat dinner at fun restaurants. I helped my coworker with another conference from Wednesday through Friday but we were done each day by 2:30 or so. Both conferences went well but I ate WAY too much at the conference and then at night for dinner... On Thursday, we walked down to Navy Pier which was fun. We hadn't walked on that side of town before so it was neat to see Lake Michigan and Northwestern University. There weren't very many people at Navy Pier and it felt deserted but it was still interesting to see. Afterwards, we walked back downtown and ate at ESPN Zone so that we could watch the Oregon State game. We had to listen to the end of it back at the hotel but it didn't turn out very well...

On Friday, the conference got done around 1:00pm and it was a nice day outside so we decided to take an architectural river boat tour. It was very interesting and we saw parts of the town that we hadn't seen before. We also learned a lot about the different types of buildings. Afterwards, we ate at a pizza place even though we had dinner reservations at a famous steak restaurant, Gibson's...leave it to Brandon and I to give up a nice steak dinner for pizza! We left the next morning to come home. It had been five weeks since Brandon had been in Rochester.

At the Auditorium Theatre for Mamma MiaInside Auditorium TheatreThe Art Institute on our walk backMillennium ParkIn front of "The Bean"

Reflection from the Bean

Crown FountainOur hotel, the Millennium KnickerbockerThe Drake Hotel was right across the streetThe dessert that Brandon ordered at Ditka's - he doesn't even like ice cream that much so I was so surprised when he ordered it and we were both shocked at the size of it when it came!

Our favorite pizza place in Chicago - we also ate at Lou Malnati'sThe yummy Chicago deep dish pieWalking to Navy PierA view of downtown ChicagoOn Navy PierThe ballroom where the conference was held - rumor has it that Al Capone used to gamble in the room where my conference was on Mon. and Tues. on the 14th floor and we saw the secret staircase that he would use to escape (the walls of the staircase are pink!)

After our river boat tourThe Wrigley BuildingThe Trump building in the background - it is really tall and is still being built!On the boat - it was a nice day for a boat rideThe buildings on Wacker DriveSears TowerMerchandise Mart - the biggest building in the U.S. besides the Pentagon

The East Bank Club where Oprah and Obama workout - Mom and Renee, this picture is for you!

The hole where the new Chicago Spire will be - it will look like the picture below - it is supposed to be 140 stories tall! You can click on the pic below for more info.