Monday, July 5, 2010

The Windy City

Hubby and I had such a wonderful time in Chicago. I even left my laptop behind to enjoy every second with my hubby as we celebrated our 10 year anniversary. I know!


My brother-in-law's sister (does that make her my sister-in-law?) got us a great deal on a very expensive hotel. It was still pricey, but we decided to splurge for our 10 year anniversary. But as it turns out, the hotel turned out to be quite inexpensive after all. As we checked in at the hotel, the lady said, "Oh, it looks like your room, taxes, and parking have been paid for. Happy Anniversary, Love Mom and Dad."

Cue the tears.

My parents had already given us $200 for dinner at this restaurant. And then they called and went through quite a process to also pay for our hotel stay.

I mentioned I am spoiled here. And um, yeah. I am spoiled.

The hotel was amazing. Floor to ceiling windows. Lots of personal touches. Trump's name on everything. The coolest part was the tv within the bathroom mirror. Crazy. We had slippers at our bedside each night, along with a bottle of Trump water on the nightstands. The Bose stereo was on light jazz each night when we returned to the room. A special plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a chocolate oyster were delivered to our room the first night, along with an anniversary card.






We tried to see as much as we could in a couple short days. We did tons of walking, rode a double decker tour bus, and took a couple cabs...or taxis. Is there a difference? All over the city, people kept talking about how amazing the weather was for Chicago in July. The meteorologist said the 3 days we were there were of the top ten days of the year. We were so grateful for the beautiful weather!


We went to the John Hancock Building. On the 94th floor, you could see for miles...such an incredible view.


We also went to the Sears Tower. (By the way, I don't care how much business the Willis company brought to the city or how much money they have...it will always be the Sears Tower.)


The elevator in the Sears tower is some kind of fast. It has a screen that compares the height to various things around the world. In a matter of seconds, we were as tall as the Statue of Liberty and climbing and you couldn't even tell the elevator was moving!

The Ledge is fairly new to the Sears Tower. It is a glass box 1,353 feet up that you can step onto and lean against.

Photo courtesy of TheSkyDeck.com


Hell to the no.

My knees got weak and I broke out in cold sweats as we neared The Ledge. My heart was racing and I had an uncontrollable urge to grab everyone off the Ledge to save their lives. Especially the little girl JUMPING on the glass. NO! All I could picture was me falling through the air, arms and legs flailing as I plummet to my death onto the concrete below.

So, no. I did not step on the Ledge.

We also went to Navy Pier. I loved it! We rode the ferris wheel, got hot cinnamon roasted pecans, had a wonderful lunch at an outdoor cafe, saw the beautiful water, boats, and seagulls. I even had a raspberry vodka snow cone. By the way, raspberry vodka snow cones are my new favorite snow cone.




On our last day, we were both pretty anxious to get home and see the kids. This was the longest we had ever been away from them...and it was long enough. The kids, however, had a great time being spoiled by Aunt Susie and didn't even notice we were gone...although the Little Miss did tell Susie that she "didn't remember what her house looked like."

We had such an amazing time in Chicago and hope to go back again soon!

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16 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful vacation post! So jealous!

Bren said...

Nothing better than Chicago in the summertime! Looks like you had a blast!

Jennifer Juniper said...

What a great trip! My hubs and I often say we'd like to take a weekend trip there because the flights are so cheap and the food is so good...but it hasn't happened yet :(

Amy said...

Looks like an awesome fun time! Congrats again on ten years :)

Mama H said...

What an awesome post and a great way to celebrate 10 years of marriage! Soooo sweet of your parents, too! :-) Congrats and thanks for sharing pics so I could live vicariously through your experience! :-)

♥ Noelle ♥ said...

wow! your parents ROCK!! sounds like u and hubby had a fab time ♥

we live just about 2 hrs away from Chicago and we love Navy Pier, so fuN!!

missy said...

AWESOME!!! I love Chicago!!!! Great pictures!!! I think I would have had to pass on The Ledge also!!!!

Unknown said...

Dang - I teared up at Mom & Dad paying for the hotel!! WOW!!!!

It looks like you had a WONDERFUL trip. And for the record, it'll always be the Sears Tower to me too.

Shannon said...

Um... that was my reaction to The Ledge, too.

Oh, HAIL no.


Glad you had a great anniversary getaway!

Michelle said...

How wonderful..glad you had so much fun..btw, have i ever told you that you crack me up, I have a tear squeezing out of my eye...

Shelle-BlokThoughts said...

So glad you had fun!!! I'm green with envy. So fun!!! Totally Jealous!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you had a wonderful anniversary!! And you have wonderful parents. I would have cried too. Beautiful pictures.

Teri said...

You have just told me of my new favorite snow cone, also. I am in love.

And there is absolutely NO way I would ever walk out onto that glass floor. Oh, hell no.

Anonymous said...

So Jealous!!!!
Um..where on Navy Pier did you get that snowcone?
Husband Dearest and the kids have actually laid on the glass floor. I nearly threw up watching them!

Martha@A Sense of Humor is Essential said...

Looks like a great trip, such beautiful pics.

The 4-Crows Blog said...

Beautiful!! I just told my DH this is where I want to go!!