We
arrived at O’Hare around 1:30p after a 2-1/2 hour flight and took the
express train into the city. It was a long walk (aided by two moving
sidewalks) from our terminal to the train platform, and the train ticket
machine did not take credit cards or give change – the fare was $1.50. http://www.transitchicago.com/
We had to take a short cab ride from the downtown loop to the conference
hotel, the Sheraton on the north bank of the Chicago River, just a couple
of blocks off Michigan Avenue. We can’t recommend this Sheraton. We had
troubles from check-in to check-out, and their management was surprisingly
unresponsive.
After we got settled
in our rooms, Craig, the kids and I struck out for a walking tour of
“the Magnificent Mile,” which is the equivalent of New York’s Fifth
Avenue. Standouts along the way were the Chicago Tribune building
featuring embedded chunks of rocks from all over the world, plus a moon
rock!, on the exterior of the building, the Chicago-based Marshall
Field’s annual spring flower show in their Water Tower Place store, the
historic Water Tower, Virgin records (we don’t have Virgin in Houston—Lizzy
was in heaven!), and the Lego store (we don’t have one of those, either,
so it was Maddie’s turn to drool!). We ate at “foodlife,” at Water
Tower Place, which is the most incredible mall food court you’ve ever
experienced—no chain junk food here, just a huge variety of fresh and
delicious ethnic and home-cooked selections. http://www.leye.com
Our big entertainment treat of the trip was seeing the Blue Man Group. http://www.blueman.com We cabbed up to and back from Briar Street Theatre for the 2-hour performance. It was so creative and, yes, weird. We had a blast! Well, Craig was stressing over his speeches, and Joan was a little freaked by the loud noises and the toilet tissue flood…you had to have been there. Tip: Don’t sit in the balcony if you want to be a part of the action. Audience participation is an important part of the show. Maddie, sitting in an aisle seat, was approached by a production assistant before the performance about playing a small role in the show. Midway through the event, one of the Blue Men ran up the aisle and stopped to take a planted Toblerone candy tube from Maddie. He was so excited!