Day Four-Chicago

This morning we got to sleep in till about 8:30 or so. It was really nice not to have to pack everything up and load the car. These two night stays are great! After breakfast at Dunkin Donuts we took a cab over to the Shedd Aquarium. It says it's the largest aquarium in North America, but it really didn't feel all that big. It was very nice and had LOTS of fish, whales, dolphins, reptiles, frogs, etc to look at. The big attraction is this round tank in the center of the rotunda. We watched the divers feed the fish for quite awhile. The "great reef" was a really cool exhibit and Mandy had to stand and watch "Nemo" forever. They had a whole tank of clown fish in anemone's. They have two HUGE tanks that overlook Lake Michigan that have dolphins and Beluga whales.
The picture isn't great, but at least you can see the view of Lake Michigan behind them. We ended up spending more time at the aquarium than we had intended because just as we were thinking we might leave it came a huge thunderstorm. We sat and watched the whales for awhile until it stopped. From there we went to Navy Pier. We ate lunch when we got there and had authentic Chicago hot dogs. I thought a hot dog was pretty much the same wherever you ate it, but not here. In Chicago, they come with mustard, tomato, pickles, sport peppers (?), onions and relish...it's called "dragged through the garden." It was the best hot dog I've ever had! We wandered around Navy Pier for awhile looking in all the open air shops. The ferris wheel and rides had been closed early because of the weather. I didn't get a picture, but there were actually young (they seemed VERY young) sailors dressed in their whites on the Pier. The place is huge.

From there we walked back to the hotel. According to the girl at the hotel it's just under a mile, but it seemed like 12! We were all exhausted and crashed for awhile after we got back!

Later we had dinner at a local deli. Scott and I had Matzoh ball soup. It was huge and I couldn't eat all of it so Thomas and Grace finished it off for me like vultures! It's that Jewish part of their DNA! On the walk back we passed over a sidewalk grate that was blowing air. We had to stop and play on that for about 10 minutes!


Thrilling...huh?!

Tomorrow we are headed from here to Toledo, Ohio.

Thomas's Top 5:

1. Seeing the diver in the tank at the aquarium. 2. The aquarium 3. Eating dinner at the deli
4. Looking at the swords in that store on Navy Pier 5. Eating breakfast at Dunkin Donuts.



Grace's Top 5:

1. Seeing the diver in the fish tank with a hammerhead shark 2. The seahorses and seadragons 3. The fudge store on Navy Pier 4. Drawing in my scrapbook. 5. Navy Pier



Before I end the blog tonight I have to express my sadness about the Texas Governor's Mansion. I am devastated. What a huge loss of Texas history. Fortunately, the furniture had all been removed since they were beginning the restoration. I am so glad that we and the kids had the good fortune to visit it not long ago. They were almost as upset as I was when I told them! Arson. They think it was arson. I'd like to have a few minutes with the individual(s) who did this. I would love to have the opportunity to kill them by history lecture....I'm sure a past student or two would say that's a fate worse than death!

Blessings,
Leslie