We took a road trip to Chicago for a market research conference, heading to the windy city early to enjoy a family weekend. On the way, we got off the path thanks to the GPS which detoured us through scenic Gary, IN (that's sarcasm) and it's majestic shuttered steel industry, I looked at Brandi as we observed that stopping the car for any reason was not in our best interest (the highway literally dropped off a collapsed bridge), I say to Brandi, "Do we want to stop in anywhere and join the locals for dinner?" Nick yells, "NOOO!" from the backseat.
All he wanted to do was ride the "L" as it's a train that must be experienced. But we never got to it. We spent quiet a bit of time in the hotel, where he knew which floor we were on, which floor the pool was on, how to maneuver all the difference elevators, and was happy to share his knowledge with others.
We visited Navy Pier, primarily the Chicago Children's Museum. I got to enjoy lunch at Harry Caray's on the pier. Nick got the most charge out of the watercraft on Lake Michigan, especially the largest yachts.
We stopped in Valparaiso to see the house where Brandi grew up. Nick found a boy on the playground named Decklin, and played with the locals for a bit while Brandi walked the neighborhood.
He was obsessed with spotting the "Ink-ock tower" (that's the Hancock Tower) evey time we left the hotel, with its 'bunny ears' on top. We experienced all the usual stuff: ice cream, toy stores, horse-drawn carriages, and crazy people.
On our last evening, he wanted to swim in the hotel pool badly, but it was closed for repair. So we snuck in anyway. We got caught, but the attendant gave us a free pass for being bold, and locked us in so we had it to ourselves for a couple of hours. He likes jumping from the hot pool (hottub) to the cold pool again and again.
He also had his first sliders at White Castle. That was a winner.
- Jason
