Chicago - Day 2

Sunday is a day we plan to see a lot of genuine sight-seeing. But first, we will eat in style.

Sharon and Lauren

I failed to mention who Clay and Lauren are. Lauren is Sharon's niece. (Which, unfortunately for Lauren, makes her MY niece too.) Clay is Lauren's dude.

So to the "eating in style" part: Lauren has selected North Pond, an excellent suggestion. Fine taste in food runs in the family, I suppose.

(...and in fine dudes too.)

Needless to say, the food there is excellent, in a serene setting on "the North Pond", with white ducks, turtles, geriatric fishermen practicing their fishing skills, and other exotic wildlife.

Perhaps on next season's menu.

Afterwords, with full stomachs, we strolled to the lakefront. The clear sky showed how immense this lake truly is, as we could see Michigan and Wisconsin with the naked eye. From there we parted ways, with the young people ensuring that us elder folks got on the transit system safely. Good thing too - because we kinda are elderly.

Somehow we ended up where we intended... the John Hancock tower. Saw some great views from the 94th floor (or something like that), after being taken up there by the fastest elevator in North America (or something like that) at 20mph. The hi-tech touch pads offered interesting audio narrations by David Schwimmer, official non-Oprah Chicago spokesperson.

(The CN Tower still rules!)

Afterwards, we cruised the Magnificent Mile, stopping by Neiman Marcus' and Sak's multi-thousand dollar shoes, and on to more stimulating sites - like Millennium Park...

the Bean

... where we happened upon one of the free concerts put on by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in the park. Imagine thousands of civilized people sitting/standing in close quarters, listening to LIVE classical music respectfully.

This was especially shocking to us, as we had not realized what we were (literally) walking into. It was truly a beautiful experience. Picnic baskets were out, wine was flowing, garbage was not... wonderful!

However, as all good things must come to an end, we had to depart... to more good things. We had to experience more food - this time, the traditional Chicago deep-dish pizza. Lauren and Clay met up with us and took us to legendary Gino's East - which resembled a crack house from the inside, due to the insane amount of graffiti that was on EVERYTHING:

Even the Blues Brothers!

And if you love your health, please do not consume this pizza in one sitting. All cheese, sauce, and ours had the "sausage layer" on it.

Good - but in small quantities. Personally, I felt it helped when I beat my chest a few times to get the heart going after the occasional cardiac arrest.

We called it a night after that. We simply had no choice. The pizza won. More architectural exploration would have to wait until the next day.