Second Trip To The Second City – Together This Time

Time is running out for us here in Indiana. The weather is also getting cooler and wetter so I was quickly running out of time to get Chrysa to Chicago. Chicago is about two and a half hours for us by car. That might not seem like a long time to be in the car, but Chrysa does work a lot of 12 hour shifts. She doesn’t really relish the idea of sitting in the Jeep for a five hour round trip on her day off. I can’t really blame her. I was thrilled when everything came together for our first trip to Chicago together.

We agreed on a date to go to the second city. It was last Monday. The weather was going to be cool but dry, I didn’t have to work, and Chrysa had two days off in a row. We decided before hand to get up and get an early start on the trip. So at precisely 10:32 am EST (that’s early for us) we piled into the Jeep and hit the open road.

The Jeep is loud and not very good on gas so I decided to take back roads to the big city. The route itself was nice, if not a little boring. As usual we got our fill of corn fields and flat terrain. But the drive was broken up by a few cute small towns. The final stretch was all city driving. Surrounded on all sides by steel and rage we cut off I94 onto Washington Street and into the heart downtown.

As they say down south, Washington St. was “all tore up.” Chrysa’s anxiety grew as we traveled down the street. Her eyes darted back and forth and she wrung her hands nervously. You would think that she was the one driving. It seems that my amazing and brave wife is not a fan of city traffic or my lack of definitive direction to the parking garage.

As expected we did make it to our destination. I planned for us to park in the garage under Millennium Park. Much to my delight that’s exactly where we ended up. Chrysa didn’t really relax until we backed the Jeep into the spot and emerged from the underground lot into the Chicago daylight.

We quickly switched to tourist mode and pulled out our cameras. The parks in Chicago are right along the waterfront. You get a great very of both the lake and the skyline. Chrysa and I roamed around Millennium Park for a while. We got to see the outdoor theater, the Bean, the sculptures and the gardens.

After our initial exploration we made our way into the city proper. I wanted to stop at the Chicago Cultural Center. It is right across from Millennium Park and I have never been to it before. The building itself is stunning. It’s very ornate and grand. When we walked in we were overtaken by the beautiful sounds of live chamber music being played. The desk clerk motioned for us to go upstairs. There was a free concert that day! We listened for a while and took some pictures while admiring the amazing surroundings.

After the long drive and some walking it was time to get lunch. We ventured further into downtown. We walked down the city streets hand in hand surrounded on both sides by the amazing buildings. Like a true tourist I was looking up the whole time. Thankfully Chrysa kept her eyes on street level. She managed to spot The Elephant and Castle, an English style pub, that ended up being the perfect place for lunch.

We sat down and ordered Founders Breakfast Stout (Chrysa needed a beer after the harrowing car ride) and a feast of appetizers. We must have been really hungry, we ate almost all of it. We were sitting near a local guy who asked us what we were doing in Chicago. We explained that we were just in town for the day. He suggested that we cruise up Michigan Ave. and head toward the Handcock Building. He went on to say that the view was better than the Willis Tower and there is a cocktail bar on the 96^th floor. This guy was speaking our language.

Armed with full bellies, and insider knowledge, we headed back down the city streets. We were going to walk the Magnificent Mile. The sun was out and the walk was spectacular. We crossed the river and turned onto Michigan Avenue. The buildings were magnificent. While walking I asked Chrysa what she thought of Chicago so far. The stubborn New Yorker that is my wife was not able to directly compliment her new environment. I guess the New York vs. Chicago feelings run deep. She said things like “well, the sidewalks are too wide” and “there’s a lot of green space, I guess that’s nice.” I just had to laugh. She was trying so hard not to love this place.

Chrysa stared wide eyed at the colossal building in front of us. I knew she didn’t like heights but I thought she would be OK since we would be safely enclosed in a structure. The elevator ascended to the 96^th floor and the doors opened to a beautiful restaurant and bar. We were seated at the bar and ordered drinks. A gin martini for me and an old fashioned for Chrysa. After a couple sips from my drink I left to take some pictures of the incredible view. Chrysa seemed to be fine sitting away from the windows. I was a little surprised when she suggested that we ask for a seat with a better view. We moved and got a better look at the cityscape before us. I should say that I got a better look. Chrysa sat back as far as she could and really avoided looking. Back safely on the ground Chrysa commented that it just wasn’t right for people to be 96,000 feet above the ground. I reminded her that it was 96 floors. All she could say was “thank God for drinks.”

I had never been to Navy Pier so we decided to head in that direction. We strolled into the main building and through the beautiful gardens. We then walked to the end of the pier to get a good look at Lake Michigan (fast becoming our favorite Great Lake). While we were at the end of the pier the sun started to go down. Chrysa was able to capture some magical pictures of the amazing sunset over the skyline.

We had been texting our friend Jay (see previous post) to see if he would be able to meet up with us for dinner. Thankfully he was so we started to head in the direction of his work. Along the way we took pictures of the city at night, strolled along the river walk, and enjoyed not being in any hurry. Chrysa made a couple more observations while we were walking. She commented that people didn’t seem to be in that much of a hurry. She compared Chicago to New York and found it remarkable that people just weren’t moving very fast. I didn’t seem to notice that much. She also mentioned there were a lot of kids around. Having been to New York as well I think she may have been right about that one.

We met up with Jay and headed to Millers Pub near his work. The place was crowded, but we didn’t have any trouble getting a seat. We all ordered food and drinks. I got a lamb sandwich and Chrysa got blacked chicken salad. Porter style beer washed it all down. We had a fantastic time talking and laughing with Jay over dinner. We were sad when it was time to go. We did have a long drive ahead of us and the pets would be pissed off if we got home too late.

We said our good byes and made our way back toward the Jeep. We didn’t walk to fast. We were having a really nice time and we could have lingered long into the night. We found the Jeep without any issue and hit the highway back home. The drive home was more stressful. The wind had picked up and we decided to travel on the interstate to save time. Let me tell you, a Jeep a 70 MPH is really loud.

In the last Chicago post I mentioned wanting to prove that Chicago was a “real city.” I asked Chrysa for her thoughts on the matter. All I managed to get out of her was that Chicago is “a city.” I’m still not sure what that means. I guess I’ll have to take what I can get.

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