Last weekend, Colin and I went to Chicago.
It started as an idea. I got to thinking about how it had been a while since I'd been able to look at a Tyrannosaurus Rex Skeleton, or a piece of rock from Mars, so I sent Colin a message on Facebook saying that we should go to Chicago someday.
There is a bus company out of Chicago that does express trips for really cheap. They advertise that you can get from Minneapolis to Chicago for a dollar. Our tickets were about $25, but still a good deal. Our bus would leave at 10:30pm and arrive at Union Station at 6:30 the next morning. One week ago, I drove to Colin's house, and we hung out until Friday evening, when I drove to Minneapolis and parked at Augsburg. We were able to briefly visit Paul at his new apartment and talk about how delicious goat meat is.
The Megabusses are pretty neat. They have two levels, and wifi internet. We almost didn't get on the bus, but when we did, we were able to get seats on the top. It didn't feel like I slept that much, but it also didn't feel like I was on a bus for 8 hours. We arrived ahead of schedule in downtown Chicago, and we embarked haphazardly. Seeing Chicago at 7 in the morning on a foggy, wet morning was excellent. No one was out and about, and we got to roam the empty streets. After a stop for breakfast at McDonalds.
Eventually, we decided that we should head up to Navy Pier. By this time, the joggers were out. There might have been a marathon or other similar event taking place, because all over there were groups of people moving in the same direction, and they all wore matching outfits.
... I should post pictures...
After Navy Pier, we headed to the Near North area of Chicago, where we ate some fruit at Starbucks and went exploring. We went into an Oriental Rug store where we touched rugs with price tags labeled up to $100,000! Then we found an architecture museum that we had to buzz from the street to get into. The museum itself was a couple rooms with architectural drawings on the walls. The drawings were of some Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, and I think the Sears Tower. The man in the museum was very helpful. He told us that we should check out Dearborn Ave, because it would be good to see if we liked buildings. He also referred to what we were doing as "backpacking." Until then I hadn't thought of us that way, but when I did, it was awesome.
Oh yeah.
The night before, when I had just got on the bus, I texted my wonderful cousin who I write letters with and who lives in Michigan that there was this great bus that I could get to Chicago on for pretty cheap, and that maybe we could meet in Chicago some time. She replied saying that she would be in Chicago the next day! Woah!
So we made plans to meet for dinner at 6:30. Our hotel was located about 10 miles from down town by the air port, and right at the end of the train line, so we got to try out the L Train! I don't think it was my first time on an L Train. I think Rita took me on one a long time ago. To get to our hotel, we had to walk through a delightful neighborhood of little rectangular houses. It was similar to Millwaukee Ave.
At one point, we smelled something delicious, and we figured that it came from inside one of the houses, but when we reached the end of the block, we discovered a 24 hour tamale stand! We got three. Yum.
Seeing my cousin was the greatest coincidence possible. We ate some really good Chicago pizza, and went our own ways.
That night, I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.
The next day we had planned to go to the Art Museum and the Field Museum, but we got a late start in the morning. Instead, we briefly browsed the Gold Coast Art Show (didn't see anyone I knew) and then went to the Field Museum. It sucked up our time really fast, but it was lots of fun. I really love the halls of stuffed animals. My favorite animal was... the flamingos because their necks are so thin and bendy, and because there was a metal alligator with them. Or the puffins, seagulls, ocelot, or sperm whale jaw.
The special exhibit we chose was Underground and Soil themed. We "shrunk" to 100 times our normal size, and wandered among blazing star roots with grubs, earth worms and crayfish.
The museum closed before we got to see the hall of gems. We did get to see some Mars metal though.
By the time we walked all the way back to Union Station to check the bus stop location, we were pretty worn out. We were able to venture into the very edge of Greek Town for dinner.
Monday morning saw us safely back in Minneapolis.
Now I am at work. I spent Monday working and recovering, and Tuesday and Wednesday being lazy and trying not to believe that I will be moving back to school on Monday.
My feelings are very mixed, but I think that is a subject for another post.
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