Chicago for a Day!!

Duane and I celebrated our TENTH anniversary last Monday, but, with him working all day, and me heading off for rehearsal in the evening, didn't get to spend much time together.

SO...we decided to take a day trip to Chicago. We celebrated our FIRST anniversary there, and thought it would be fun to see the city again (we haven't been there since!).

We were able to get first class (both ways!), and the only BAD thing about it (besides having to get up at 5:00), was that it was too early to take advantage of the "complimentary bar service"...7:00 is WAY TOO EARLY for "wine shots"!!!!

We got there around 8:00, and took the orange line to "the loop". It was cloudy and a little rainy, but we headed for the river, so that we could get tickets for one of the architectural boat tours of the city.

We bought tickets for the "Chicago's First Lady" tour, sponsored by the Architectural Society of Chicago. It was an AWESOME 90 minute tour, with a docent who knew EVERYTHING about the buildings along the river.

Highlights: seeing the spot where Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over the lantern that started the great Chicago fire, seeing all of the AMAZING condos that have sprung up along the river, and the smell of chocolate that permeated the air from a chocolate factory upwind of the boat!

After learning about all of the cool buildings along the river, we walked around the city for awhile, saw MORE cool buildings, and found the Calder "Flamingo sculpture" at Federal Plaza. I remember the Calder sculpture, from a trip I took to Chicago, while on tour with the Old Gold Singers in college...AGES ago!

We also walked by the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower), on our way to one of my FAVORITE "windy city" destinations....Giordano's Pizzeria!

We tried to get to the Giordano's on Wabash, but, it apparently closed (AWHILE AGO..."411" SUCKS!). We called the number listed (I DO love the text message that is sent after a 411 call that gives the address and phone number), and LUCKILY, the hostess was able to direct us to another location near by.

We had an AWESOME pepperoni and green olive stuffed crust pizza that was ABSOLUTELY divine! "Chicago-style" pizza ROCKS!!!!

After Giordano's, we walked around the city (in REALLY intense heat and humidity), fighting to get through HUGE crowds of "20 somethings" who were headed to the lakeshore for Lollapalooza (how OLD do I feel??!!), then headed back to the airport for the trip back to the cities.

What an AWESOME way to celebrate 10 years of "being together"!!! Hope YOU were able to do something this weekend to commemorate a special event in YOUR life!!!