Chicago Day 3

Chicago Day 3: We covered a lot of ground! Massive photo dump.

Cloud Gate in Millennium Park. So nice we went twice. The upside of staying two blocks away, we hit the Bean early in the morning when hardly anyone else was there.

The Rookery is another Frank Lloyd Wright stop, and again, deeply disappointing. It looks pretty in pictures, but in real life, it’s depressing and dingy and strangely draped in black fabric.

Chicago’s public transit was very efficient and easy to navigate.

SO many butterflies at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. I feel like the Pacific Science Center has been skimping on their tropical butterfly house lately.

Lincoln Park Zoo is amazingly FREE!!?!

No idea how the zoo is free. It can’t be cheap feeding a pride of lions.

Some more unusual creatures spotted at the zoo.

John Hancock Chicago 360: The view from Chicago 360, the observation deck at the top of John Hancock. The building officially is now named… get ready for it… 875 North Michigan Avenue.

We did the Sears/Willis Tower last year, and I have to say, it’s a better experience than John Hancock. The Sears Tower has better views and a terrific museum on the ground floor.

We tried the Tilt, where you hold onto these pushup bars and the mechanical wall slowly leans you down over the city. Fun!

Fancy drinks at the Cloud Bar at Chicago 360.

Sky high prices to match our sky high sodas.

Facing north. Is this Illinois or Florida?

Water Tower Place, back in the day, was THE mall. Like many malls downtown, it’s now echoey with empty storefronts. There is a Lego store open inside, however, with this incredible Chicago cityscape done in bricks.

Museum of Contemporary Art for some really boundary-pushing art. It was mostly very bored security guards and a few hipsters inside.

One installation was this completely empty white room, where you listened to a recording of fans cheering.

I did like the MCA shop, though! Museum gift shops have the best stuff.

Magnificent Mile

Starbucks Roastery. The 4-story Starbucks on the Magnificent Mile is the biggest Starbucks in the world!

FREE rooftop deck at the Starbucks Roastery.

We found a Harry Potter store on the Magnificent Mile. Now we’ve accidentally visited all three Harry Potter stores in the world (NYC, London and Chicago). Like the others, this one is a fun, interactive shopping mecca.

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