May 1: Chicago, IL

I was staying at my cousin Jamie's place, and she lives pretty close to the United Center. So I thought a good first stop would be the Michael Jordan statue out front. I hop on the bus, walk over there... and realize I forgot to put the battery back in my camera. 2 buses back to the apartment, and now I'm running late so no time to go back. I head downtown to check out the Sears Tower (I'm aware it's now Willis Tower, but I will continue to refer to it by the original name). Unlike when I went to the Empire State Building last year, the wait was actually fairly short, and they have a bunch of stuff to keep you entertained as you move toward the elevators.



And the views are pretty spectacular.


After that, quick lunch at Potbelly's, which I only know of in Chicago, but it may be in other places as well. Great sandwiches.


In the afternoon, I decided to do a bike tour of the city. I haven't ridden a bike in about 10 years, so there was definitely an adjustment period. My main problem was keeping my balance when going slow. Anyway, the tour was pretty good, some interesting info, etc. But I just really liked riding a bike around the city. If you find yourself in Chicago, I'd recommend doing that, with or without the tour.

The original Playboy Mansion (seriously)

Other interesting things that happened on this tour. At one of our stops, I randomly ran into fellow Bellarmine alum Eric Adamson. He just happened to be walking into the pub we stopped in front of. Hadn't seen Eric in years, so it was cool to catch up.

Also had my first Chicago style hot dog. While I appreciate the "salad on bun" strategy, I thought it was just ok. I'd take some Top Dog over this any day.


After the tour, it was off to Millenium Park to see the big bean aka Cloud Gate. It really is pretty spectacular, I think the best public art I've ever seen.

See if you can find me in this picture

Then wandered up the Magnificent Mile, stopped at Water Tower Place, which is an interesting building. 8 floors of mall, then a Ritz Carlton on top of that, then condos on top of that. And Oprah owns the entire top 2 floors.

Dashed to Wrigley Field...


Then dinner at Five Guys. Now, I've heard some big talk about this place. The phrase "better than In-n-Out" has been thrown around. Let's be clear, it is good, but not better than In-n-Out. The fries, though, definitely better, but then again I'm not really big on In-n-Out fries. One thing I really like about their menu, if you order a "cheeseburger", that's a double cheeseburger. If you order a "little cheeseburger", then you get a single. That's my kind of menu.






And here's some Kanye, with the Cloud Gate in a supporting role.