This Is My Kind Of Town!

Chi-City!

So...besides the marathon, I was in Chicago for several days. I kind of dig on Chicago. When I saw "kind of" I mean REALLY, and when I say "dig on" I mean LOVE. We happened to go on the perfect weekend. It ended up snowing here in Provo, but was in the 70s throughout the weekend in the windy city. There were definitely times where it felt like we were kind of sitting around a good amount, but at the same time, we managed to get a lot done in just the three full days that we had:

• River architecture tour
• Hancock Lounge (which is better than the observatory because it's actually one floor up, and cheaper too, thanks Karen)
• Cruised Navy Pier a couple of times
• Watched fireworks over Lake Michigan
• Art Institute of Chicago
• I ended up walking about 2.5 miles to McCormick Place south of the institute to pick up my race packet for the marathon the next morning. I had no idea it was that far when I started walking.
• Sears Tower
• Marathon
• Wrigley Field
• Live jazz

We did walk along the Magnificent Mile. I wish we would have toured Millenium Park a little bit more and at least seen the silvery bean sculpture thing featured in the Homecoming video by Kanye.

My two favorite things were probably the architecture tour and the Art Institute. I'll post separately on the art museum later, but the boat tour is awesome. You go down the rivers and the guy gives basically a history lesson on Chicago and also talks about all the buildings and the design and inspiration behind each. I'll include a slideshow so you can see our pics. Obviously I liked that one a good amount.

Chicago is just awesome though. I love the musicality of the people. Outside the institute there were kids playing the bucket drums all weekend long. They're probably there all the time. I wonder if it's a weekend only thing, or if they've dropped out of school. There are so many guys playing trumpets and saxophones on street corners. One guy was singing at a step on the metro. One part of it is sad because these guys don't have real jobs, but it's cool how talented they are. And there are so many jazz and blues clubs throughout the downtown area. LA doesn't even have that much stuff, although there might be more variety. My name is supposedly on that wall somewhere.

I also loved how clean Chicago is. Although there might be a good amount of homeless people, I don't think I saw one piece of stray trash anywhere. That's kind of amazing for such a big city.

We also took in these fine dining establishments:

• Potbelly's
• Giordano's
• Gino's
• Sports Bar by the hotel
• Sports Bar kiddie corner from home plate at Wrigley Field
• Ghiradelli's

Dave was already familiar with the wonderfulness of Potbelly's. Giordano's and Gino's was for deep dish pizza. Both were really good, but in different ways. Giordano's has a really great crust, tastes great, but is so heavy. Gino's is a little bit lighter, but the crust is more cornbready. I wrote my name on a pillar over by where you pickup the pizza for carry-out at the Gino's on Superior and Michigan. I wrote it in blue ink on "Kayla" that was written in white about 5ft up. You have to turn around when you're at the pickup place for the pizza. Just in case you were wondering.

Next time I want to take in a game at either Soldier or Wrigley Field. It would be so sweet to take in a game from one of the adjacent rooftops by Wrigley. I'd like more Ferris Bueller inspired photos. Millenium Park. And go back to the Art Institute after the modern wing is completed. Plus I need more Potbelly's, and I never got a Chicago-style dog. What I'd really like to do is take in a St. Patty's day parade and see the river dyed green.

And maybe run another marathon. You gotta love Frank. Man his voice is so smooth.