Road Trip - Day 8, Chicago

Today we were supposed to go to Six Flags Great America. Only it's closed today. It starts being open daily on May 23rd . . . which is definitely not today . . . too bad there are no refunds on tickets! Quick, someone think of a good sob story. ;)

So we took a little longer getting ready for the day, let Chamomile sleep on us for an extra half-hour, watched Telemundo's version of Good Morning Amerikca (Despierta America!), listened to the weather report for Mexico this week and utilized the continental breakfast.

To make the best of it we went to the Shedd Aquarium and saw all sorts of sea turtles, exotic fish, sea mammals, lizards and amphibians. To make ourselves feel even better, we watched a Spongebob Squarepants movie short in 4-D!!! You know, where they blow air on you and shoot water in your face, rumble your chair and generally try to freak you out? All this while wearing 3-D glasses and munching on Swedish Fish Aqua Life gummies. Almost enough to compensate for the loss of Six Flags. Almost.

For lunch we dined on a triple decker sandwich (don't worry, we shared it!) from Perry's Deli (http://www.perrysdeli.com/), another great place well-loved in the city for its cheap eats (and also featured on the Food Network!). www.citysearch.com, how we love thee.

While driving around town we tried to find a fun radio station to listen to - one would assume that in a big city there would be plenty to choose from, right? We flipped through the stations several times and decided that at least 50% of the stations were playing 80s music, a few played 60s/70s music, a few played country, and a few played mariachi music. Oh, and there was one NPR station playing classical music.

Does that sound like variety to you?

Chicago does, however, have a large variety of upscale boutiques and shoe stores! The Magnificent Mile is like a mini and American version of the Champs d'Elysee in Paris. There are even a few subway stops that mimic the surrealistc gothic entrances to the subway in Paris.

Going up to the Sky Deck of the Sears Tower was fun, and surprisingly cheaper than going to the Space Needle observation deck! Beautiful views, even on a foggy day like today, but they trapped us in an elevator and made us watch particularly annoying animated shorts urging us to visit the gift shop. The Space Needle would never do that to us.

When our stomachs started to growl we decided to make a second attempt at Minnies, this time successfully, ordering mini-sandwiches, mini fries, and mini beers. My love of mini-foods and mini things in general forced me to do a little dance, and Nick impressed himself by downing three bottles of beer, four sandwiches, and a half-order of fries, all in one sitting.

Chamomile, of course, slept in the bed all day, meowed at the single mirror in the room, and spread her toys all over the room, like a good kitty.