July 31-August 2: Chicago, Illinois

Day 1

As soon as we got to the hotel, we both took a shower. Then, a nap.  We had been in a tent for 16 of the last 18 days. We were happy to be inside.  When we woke up we walked down the street, got a deep dish and a beer from Gino’s Pizza.  The Chicago style pizza was excellent.  When we got back to the hotel, we jumped right back into bed, watched a few murder mysteries and called it a night.  

Day 2 

We slept in until around noon.  It was a much needed sleep.  We got some coffee.  and took Leon to Daycare.  We found ourselves with a full day to spend in Chicago and no plans.  Lane thought we should look into a Cubs game. It was 12:30 and the game started at 1:20.  Jess drove in the direction of the stadium while Lane looked into tickets.  We had bought our tickets ($17), parked, and got to the stadium by the top of the 2nd.  We did get fooled by a petty cab driver.  He told us $7 to the stadium.  Once we got there he told us $15. $7 a piece and a dollar for him. You are sneaky Chicago, but we love you.  We had a great time at the game.  Great seats, 3 dogs (2 regular and a chicago style), and local beers.  Dodger dogs are better, but the Olde Style beer that the Cubs had on tap was nice. 

The Pirates were killing the Cubbies, so after the 8th inning we stepped across the street and hit a few bars.  Wrigglyville did not let us down.  We hopped from bar to bar, eating and drinking the rest of the day away. When we could have no more, we went to pick up Leon and head back to the hotel.  After a busy day we were again pooped.  Leon especially.  He was worn out by the pool at daycare  We were in bed and asleep by 9 pm.  

Day 3

The next day we packed up and checked out of the hotel around 9am.  We grabbed some coffee and took a nice drive across town to meet up with one of Lane’s teacher friends.  Kristie and Ed met us at a place called the Kitsch-N (another Maya recommendation!).  It was really good. After a long breakfast (we had not been super social with other people this whole trip!  talking to someone was nice) we drove down to the Navy Pier for a quick peek.  It was $25 to park, so we did a drive by and headed out of town.  We were not ready to leave Chicago, but had another long drive in front of us. 

**Note: Most pics taken in Chicago were by iPhone.  We started to get tired of lugging the camera everywhere we went!  This is also why there are not too many pics towards the end of the trip =)