Chicago
I don't travel much for work...maybe once a year. And it's usually some place not too exciting like Phoenix or Salt Lake (which I wouldn't really consider traveling). But this year, I had the opportunity to go to Chicago for 5 days. When I first heard I would be expected to be there, I was excited. Then I was less excited when I realized we'd probably be at some airport hotel and I wouldn't have much time to actually see anything. But then I found out we would be right down town...in walking distance of so much great stuff. And I started planning.
When we got in on Tuesday afternoon, I made a quick appearance and the "networking reception" and then headed out to see the city. There was a great river walk and all the buildings were lit up. It was amazing. And I only had one guy call me "baby" and ask for a buck.
Wednesday evening, I headed out the the University of Chicago with a couple colleagues to check out the Oriental Institute and their Egyptian collection. Pretty cool...especially the 16 foot tall King Tut statue. Since the person I went with knows a lot about Egypt already, I didn't really have to read the cards...it was a personal tour.
Luckily, the meetings scheduled for Thursday afternoon didn't really pertain to me, so I was able to take the afternoon off. Of coarse, this was the ONLY day it rained the entire 5 days we were
there. When I started out, it was just a little drizzle and nothing my
hoodie couldn't handle. Let's just say, it got worse. There was a chocolate exhibit at the Field Museum (natural history museum), so I headed out after lunch. By the time I arrived, I was pretty wet. My jeans were wet half way up my calf and my hoodie was soaked. But I was actually pretty dry and figured a couple hours in the museum would dry out my clothes. The chocolate exhibit was pretty fun, and I picked up some chocolate that was actually too dark for even Erik to enjoy. (By the way, if anyone's interested in trying it, let me know. We have almost the whole bar sitting here, and neither of us will eat it.) I also spent a huge amount of time in the hall of mammals. It was like Cabella's...only WAY BETTER! I didn't grab any photos, though, since everything was behind glass and nothing turned out without a flash. I checked out a few other exhibits and then head back into the rain.
My next stop was the Sears Tower, which is now Willis Tower. Who knew? Expecting a line, I walked right up to the elevator where I was told visibility at the top was ZERO. Hence...no line. But I headed up anyway, hoping it might clear up while I was up there. There was one person in the elevator with me, and we were the only ones up there for quite a while. At least the rain meant no waiting in line. After the 60-second ride in the second elevator (ear popping and all), this was the view I had:
The next night, our entire staff headed out for some Chicago deep dish and a good time. The morning we left, I decided to do one more quick venture to see the Millenium Park Bean (which I had decided would be lame in the rain) and Buckingham Fountain. I headed out pretty early, so the sun was still rising and it was so pretty. Unfortunately, the fountain was dry...although I'm told it was running the day before. What timing, right? But it still made for a good picture.
Work trips can be pretty boring for the most part, let's be honest. But I have to say, this one was actually pretty fun. I got in some good sight seeing and the meetings weren't too terribly boring. So Win-Win, right? Rumor is next year is Boston...I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
