Bueller...

So I don't know how he did it.  Ferris Bueller managed to call out sick, sneak his girlfriend out of school, then take off to the city and go to an art museum, a baseball game, the sears tower and the stock exchange all before his parents got home; ridiculous!  From 10-4 I hauled butt around Chicago and tried to cover as much ground as possible.  My feet were killing me by the end!  And although I did NOT get to see the giant bean (which I was oh so close to) I still saw some cool stuff.

First I headed down Congress St. to Lake "I'm bigger than most bays" Michigan and took some pictures of the fountain and the yachts and such.  I then headed towards the museum area where the Shedd, Field Museum, and Planetarium are.  I only went into the Field Museum because I need an aquarium break right now, this museum was free, and the Planetarium wasn't on the top of my list.  The Field Museum was pretty cool and much larger than I had expected, especially for free admission.  I saw a giant T-Rex named Sue along with many different cultural artifacts from all over the country.

After the museum I walked down to Shedd just to take a look at it and it impressed the heck out of me just from the outside, so one of these days I'll make my way in.  I started towards the Planetarium but decided against it and walked over to Soldiers Field again.  I didn't get too close but within enough distance to take a couple of quick pictures.  From there I headed through Grant Park and worked my way up to the Art Institute of Chicago.

Wow is really all I can say about this place.  I could have literally spent all day admiring the collections in this building.  There were so many pictures, paintings, artifacts, you name it that made your jaw drop.  When you walk through and see the works of Monet, Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh, Manet, etc...you get chills.  I didn't have nearly enough time to take in every piece but what I did see I was extremely impressed with.  I also did not take very many pictures but I did snap some shots of ones close to home.  William H. Haseltine's Rocks at Nahant, Thomas Doughty's Coming Squall (Nahant Beach with a Summer Shower); and Martin Johnson Heade's Ten Pound Island.  Once the overwhelming feeling left and the anxiety of how I spent way too much time there and won't get to see anything else set in I bolted through the end of the galleries and headed up the street to the Sears Tower...which I came to realize is now the Willis Tower.

The Willis Tower was impressive.  1450 feet high, 110 stories and the tallest building in the western hemisphere so you could feel your ears popping on the way up.  Once you get to the skydeck on the 103rd floor and walk around the corner you are taken away by the view.  You overlook such an amazing city with so much going on, adjacent to a beautiful body of water.  They have some interactive programs, telescopes, and of course the cheesy picture people that charge you your child for a photo.  The coolest part of this experience was standing out on the ledges they have built.  They are glass boxes that extend out about 4 feet and on this floor you are 1350 feet high staring straight down.  As soon as I picked my stomach up off the floor I had a little fun with it and it was a great time.  Once I was done playing around I needed to get some food!

I was only searching for one food item in particular though; a Chicago dog.  I had heard all these stories about how amazing these dogs were and I gotta tell you everyone was right.  I went to a small vendor and told him how I'd heard all about them and asked him what they are all about.  He said everything but ketchup!  I said I'll take two!  They were delicious with all the veggies and hot peppers and I enjoyed every minute of it next to a few homeless people, a lot of pigeons, and a giant eyeball!

At this point I was absolutely exhausted and needed to chill or at least not walk any further.  So I unfortunately skipped out on Millenium Park and the giant bean and all the other cool stuff over that way but I had to go get my car from the garage and head on up to Wrigley Field.  There wasn't a game or a tour but I still go to go up to the north side and check it out.  I started laughing when I started seeing the lights and eventually the bright red sign.  I couldn't believe I was actually driving past such a historic sight.  Once I finally found parking (thank you McDonald's your smoothie was delicious) I got out and took some pics.

I crashed at my friend Shelby and her boyfriend's very nice apartment with a dog that was overly excited to see me!  It was thankfully a must-needed chill night and I got to just relax after dinner and watch some football.  I headed out this morning at 7 and hit up St. Louis around noon.  I'll let you know how today went along with tomorrow's adventure in Kansas City in a couple of days!