Rajah
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 17, 1999
- Messages
- 9,632
And we had a wonderful time!! Thanks everyone for your tips on what to see and do. 
The weather was beautiful most of the time -- Friday was a bit dreary all day, but we couldn't have asked for better weather for our trip to the Botanical Garden, or for the wedding or flying home. Absolutely gorgeous. And we got to see the fall color (something totally lacking in Houston) change right before our eyes.
Chicago was really neat. We really enjoyed what we got to see of it, which wasn't enough. If I weren't taking off for another week next week, I would have tried to stay an extra day or two!
Arrived on Wed evening, and other than the hour delay getting out of Houston, we didn't really have any problems. Well, that and the visitor's pass machines were both broken at the blue-line station and the kiosk was closed for the night and the construction made finding the shuttles for the rental cars confusing, but otherwise it was fine. LOL!! We had dinner at Carlucchi's (did I spell that right?) and it was like a WDW dinner. FANTASTIC! Everything was absolutely delicious!
Next day, we ran up to the Botanical Garden - absolutely beautiful!! We didn't get to see all of it -- our batteries, both camera and in *us*, ran out before the day was over, so we returned to the hotel. We meant to run over to the Navy Pier and Buckingham Fountain that evening, but were so tired we ended up falling asleep for over an hour and didn't wake up until my friends called to see if we could join them for dinner.
Next day was rainy and dreary. After a late start and running out to Steak and Shake for breakfast (when will they open one of *those* in Houston?), we discovered that our hotel had a shuttle to the train station nearby, so ran over to catch the train only to find that *their* visitor's pass machine was down too.
It would've been so much easier getting around if the stupid pass machines had been working. But we made it.
Ran over to the Navy Pier, where I was *VERY* glad I did my homework before going and had all the bus numbers I needed and everything. *Loved* the Pier. Our only major disappointment was that the dreary weather meant we couldn't really see the lake well.
But the Pier itself was a lot of fun! We spent some time at the Stained Glass Museum (BEAUTIFUL!), explored a bit, and even did the Fun House Maze (hehehe. And it has by far the absolute BEST mirror maze we've ever seen!!!!). We wanted to do that 3-D ride too, but didn't have enough time.
Raced from there over to the Field Museum. We unfortunately didn't have enough time (got off to too late of a start) to see both the Field and Shedd, and I kinda wish we'd gone to the Shedd instead. But we did *love* the Egyptian exhibit at the Field museum, and a highlight for my mom was getting to see Sue. I got to see Sue when she was on loan to WDW at AK a few years back, but my mom hadn't ever seen her.
Closed down the museum then wandered all over trying to find our bus back to the train station. That was a problem -- I had my route information, but we couldn't find the right bus stop. We never did find the bus the schedule planner had told me to look for (that online thing), but we did finally find one that got us to the blue line. I must say, the bus drivers in Chicago were all very helpful. Actually, pretty much everyone we ran into was really nice and quite helpful.
Caught the train and then called for the shuttle back to the hotel. Then it was literally a race to get to the rehearsal on time!
But we made it. With literally less than 5 minutes to spare, but made it. There were two other members of the bridal party who were later than we were, so it wasn't too bad. LOL!
After the rehearsal was the dinner, which was a lot of fun. Yep, was at Portillo's, which was unusual. It was very casual for a rehearsal dinner, but the food was great and the company a lot of fun. I was so glad I had my camera, though -- I seemed to be almost the only one taking most of the pictures. :/ But I got it well documented.
Next morning was up bright and early for the wedding preps. For a wedding morning, everything went rather smoothly. A few delays and such, but as usual, everything worked out just fine. And their photographer was great.
My friend made an absolutely gorgeous bride! Absolutely beautiful. And when we got to the church and saw her now-husband -- he was so stunning! What a *BEAUTIFUL* couple. They're absolutely perfect for each other.
Beautiful service, then off for some pictures of the bridal party before going to the dinner, which was absolutely fantastic. And a LOT of fun. Most fun I can remember having at a wedding -- even more fun than my own, because this time I wasn't stressed about where I had to be when and what do I do now and all that stuff.
We didn't get back to the hotel until after 1:30am, though, and by the time I finished getting ready for bed and downloading my pictures (I was acting as supplimental photographer), it was 3:30 in the morning. Urk!
At least we got to sleep in on Sunday. Way late. LOL!! But still made it to the DIS meet at Gino's. Fantastic food, fantastic people, fantastic time.
After the meet and running all over town trying to find a gas station (boy was I glad I'd studied the maps before we left -- I never once got lost ) it was back to the airport for a pretty good flight home. But still didn't get home last night until after midnight (between stopping for dinner, dropping my mom off, getting her kitten back to her, feeding my friends' cats, etc).
So I'm dead on my feet, but I had a fantastic time, and I fully intend to return to Chicago one of these days when I have more time available. I want to see the Shedd Aquarium, the fountains (We did get to see Millenium Park when we drove past it... does that count? LOL!), Grant Park, Lincoln Park, the architecture tours, more time at the Botanical Garden, a full day at the Museum of Science and Industry... I'll be back.
The weather was beautiful most of the time -- Friday was a bit dreary all day, but we couldn't have asked for better weather for our trip to the Botanical Garden, or for the wedding or flying home. Absolutely gorgeous. And we got to see the fall color (something totally lacking in Houston) change right before our eyes.
Chicago was really neat. We really enjoyed what we got to see of it, which wasn't enough. If I weren't taking off for another week next week, I would have tried to stay an extra day or two!
Arrived on Wed evening, and other than the hour delay getting out of Houston, we didn't really have any problems. Well, that and the visitor's pass machines were both broken at the blue-line station and the kiosk was closed for the night and the construction made finding the shuttles for the rental cars confusing, but otherwise it was fine. LOL!! We had dinner at Carlucchi's (did I spell that right?) and it was like a WDW dinner. FANTASTIC! Everything was absolutely delicious!
Next day, we ran up to the Botanical Garden - absolutely beautiful!! We didn't get to see all of it -- our batteries, both camera and in *us*, ran out before the day was over, so we returned to the hotel. We meant to run over to the Navy Pier and Buckingham Fountain that evening, but were so tired we ended up falling asleep for over an hour and didn't wake up until my friends called to see if we could join them for dinner.
Next day was rainy and dreary. After a late start and running out to Steak and Shake for breakfast (when will they open one of *those* in Houston?), we discovered that our hotel had a shuttle to the train station nearby, so ran over to catch the train only to find that *their* visitor's pass machine was down too.
It would've been so much easier getting around if the stupid pass machines had been working. But we made it. Ran over to the Navy Pier, where I was *VERY* glad I did my homework before going and had all the bus numbers I needed and everything. *Loved* the Pier. Our only major disappointment was that the dreary weather meant we couldn't really see the lake well.
But the Pier itself was a lot of fun! We spent some time at the Stained Glass Museum (BEAUTIFUL!), explored a bit, and even did the Fun House Maze (hehehe. And it has by far the absolute BEST mirror maze we've ever seen!!!!). We wanted to do that 3-D ride too, but didn't have enough time.Raced from there over to the Field Museum. We unfortunately didn't have enough time (got off to too late of a start) to see both the Field and Shedd, and I kinda wish we'd gone to the Shedd instead. But we did *love* the Egyptian exhibit at the Field museum, and a highlight for my mom was getting to see Sue. I got to see Sue when she was on loan to WDW at AK a few years back, but my mom hadn't ever seen her.
Closed down the museum then wandered all over trying to find our bus back to the train station.
That was a problem -- I had my route information, but we couldn't find the right bus stop. We never did find the bus the schedule planner had told me to look for (that online thing), but we did finally find one that got us to the blue line. I must say, the bus drivers in Chicago were all very helpful. Actually, pretty much everyone we ran into was really nice and quite helpful.Caught the train and then called for the shuttle back to the hotel. Then it was literally a race to get to the rehearsal on time!
But we made it. With literally less than 5 minutes to spare, but made it. There were two other members of the bridal party who were later than we were, so it wasn't too bad. LOL!After the rehearsal was the dinner, which was a lot of fun. Yep, was at Portillo's, which was unusual. It was very casual for a rehearsal dinner, but the food was great and the company a lot of fun.
I was so glad I had my camera, though -- I seemed to be almost the only one taking most of the pictures. :/ But I got it well documented.Next morning was up bright and early for the wedding preps. For a wedding morning, everything went rather smoothly. A few delays and such, but as usual, everything worked out just fine.
And their photographer was great. My friend made an absolutely gorgeous bride! Absolutely beautiful.
And when we got to the church and saw her now-husband -- he was so stunning! What a *BEAUTIFUL* couple. They're absolutely perfect for each other.Beautiful service, then off for some pictures of the bridal party before going to the dinner, which was absolutely fantastic. And a LOT of fun. Most fun I can remember having at a wedding -- even more fun than my own, because this time I wasn't stressed about where I had to be when and what do I do now and all that stuff.
We didn't get back to the hotel until after 1:30am, though, and by the time I finished getting ready for bed and downloading my pictures (I was acting as supplimental photographer), it was 3:30 in the morning. Urk!
At least we got to sleep in on Sunday. Way late. LOL!! But still made it to the DIS meet at Gino's. Fantastic food, fantastic people, fantastic time.
After the meet and running all over town trying to find a gas station (boy was I glad I'd studied the maps before we left -- I never once got lost
) it was back to the airport for a pretty good flight home. But still didn't get home last night until after midnight (between stopping for dinner, dropping my mom off, getting her kitten back to her, feeding my friends' cats, etc).So I'm dead on my feet, but I had a fantastic time, and I fully intend to return to Chicago one of these days when I have more time available. I want to see the Shedd Aquarium, the fountains (We did get to see Millenium Park when we drove past it... does that count? LOL!), Grant Park, Lincoln Park, the architecture tours, more time at the Botanical Garden, a full day at the Museum of Science and Industry... I'll be back.
