Freezing, snowing...and in a brace! Welcome to Chicago!

Went to Chicago in February because my friend Devon was having Spring Break or something, and her aunt and uncle live right outside the city in Hinsdale. We drove there...eight hours of snow, ice, accidents and a ton of Starbucks coffee. Yum!

The first night we were in Chicago, we went to a Monster Truck Show! Sweet times! Seriously. Grave Digger was there for anyone that knows about monster trucks! It was a good time though...amazing tricks, and the people I was with actually know the guy that drives the Superman truck, so that was awesome! Almost got to meet him, but didn't happen!

Second day in Chicago...much more happening...especially since I finally got to the city! We took the train from Hinsdale to Union Station...about a 40 minute ride! Not too bad! And.

..it's only $5 to get a riding pass for the weekend!

Once downtown, we went across the street to Sears Tower! Wow! Huge! Took the Skydeck tour up to the top and walked around and took pictures! Read some pretty interesting things and saw a video about the making of Sears Tower!

After that, we bought a bus ticket...$5 for "all you can ride" for 24-hours! Again...not bad! Took a bit to figure out the bus system...but since I'm not a city girl...it didn't take too long. And, unlike Pittsburgh...the bus system seems to be self-explanatory!

So, we catch the bus to Millennium Park! Wow...beautiful, especially the Bean! I absolutely LOVE the Bean! Also at Millennium Park is the amphitheater, a skating rink (during the winter) and some shops and an eatery (the Park Cafe, I think).

We were told later that there were two walls that show pics of peoples faces on it and caught a slight glimpse on our way back through Chicago that night!

After Millennium Park, we get back on the bus, the same one, and take it to Navy Pier. Navy Pier is awesome! We walked from one end to the other...rode some weird virtual reality ride, went through a stained glass museum and bought popcorn at Popcorn Palace (mmm...cookies and cream popcorn...to die for!) We ate lunch at a Joe's Be-Bop Cafe and Jazz Emporium and I had the strongest Bloody Mary I've ever had...at 11 am...can't beat that!

We went back to Union Station at 6:30 to give us enough time to relax before catching our train at 7:30...which was when we thought the train left Union Station.

Apparently...we were wrong! So, we ended up having to wait two hours for the next train. But, instead of being bored and moping...we hopped back on the bus and went to Garrett's Popcorn and got ourselves some famous popcorn "Chicago-mix" style! For those of you wondering, that's cheese popcorn and caramel popcorn mixed together. Delicious!!!

On our last day in Chicago, we went back to the city and went to Hard Rock! A martini and a nice lunch...can't beat that. Then we walked next door to the Rainforest Cafe so I could look around. Then, back to Hinsdale for the day to do some shopping and get ready to go back to Pittsburgh the next day!

Even though we took the train and bus everywhere...we still did a ton of walking...and I was wearing a knee brace because I had surgery two months earlier. Wasn't too bad, but my knee was definitely killing me at the end of the trip!