Chicago - part 2 (Wed 12 & Thurs 13 Sept)

Wednesday 12th September - Got up & used the hotel's business center to check directions for the attractions I planned to see.  Then headed off to downtown Chicago again and visited The Field Museum.  It was a huge place and had lots of great exhibits, a few were closed off for renovations, but it was still an extremely interesting place.  I didn't take any photos tho as most of the exhibits didn't allow you too.  After the museum I sat outside for a bit of a rest before walking up to the Willis Tower and the Skydeck so that I would get there about sunset time.  As I walked to the Willis Tower I kept an eye out for a donut shop but didn't see any until nearly at the tower when I saw  Dunkin Donuts shop, so I took a note of it so I could get a donut when I finished at the Skydeck.  I then went into the tower, and waited in a long line to get up to the Skydeck.  It was worth the wait tho, the view was fantastic.  I walked around taking photos from each angle, then walked back again & waited for the sunset when I walked round again taking more photos.  I wasn't brave enough to venture onto the sky ledges tho, I got scared just looking down from the windows - 103 storeys up!!!  I made it back to street level fine & made my way to Dunkin Donuts only to find it was closed. What? It wasn't even 9pm yet!  Even the McDonald's a couple of doors up was closed.  By this time my feet were killing me so I ordered a taxi to take me back to the hotel.  What a hassle that was!!  First the guy dispatcher couldn't find the Willis Tower in his directory, kept asking me for the address & then took 3 minutes to google it! In hindsight I should have cancelled then. The taxi driver rang me about 5 minutes later to say he would be there in about 5 minutes.  A few minutes later he rang to say he couldn't reach the point where I was as the street was blocked off & he would have to drive all the way round the block to get to where I was (how sad) and then asked me if I could walk to where he was & gave me a couple of street names (which of course I didn't know), after 5 minutes of this he then said he was outside the north entrance & asked where I was, I again told him I was outside the Skydeck entrance, he asked where that was, I said I didn't know and not to worry coz I would take one of the 3 taxis waiting in front of where I was standing.  So I got a different taxi & about a minute after getting in the taxi the other driver rang me, so I hung up without answering, so he rang again - he did this another 6 times then stopped but a few minutes later he rang again, so I hung up without answering & he kept ringing!!  He rang about 20 times in 10 minutes!!  It was a very stressful & unnerving experience.  Especially since I planned on taking a taxi the next day.  Anyway, I made it back to the hotel, threw my shoes off, rested for a few minutes then went to the hotel restaurant or dinner & a couple of drinks and prepared myself to make my complaint in the morning.

One end of The Field Museum.

The main entry of The Field Museum.

Another end of The Field Museum.

The Field Museum plaque.

Brass sculpture memorial outside Soldier Field - home to the Chicago Bears.

This is how Ulrich travels, he watches over all my valuable things too.

Ulrich & I having a rest outside The Field Museum before our walk to Willis (ex Sears) Tower.

Really lovely fountain drawing.

The actual lovely fountain.

Now, which one of these are we going up?

View from the Skydeck at the Willis Tower.  I got there just in time to see the sunset, as did many, many other people.

View of Chicago.

Looking down from the Skydeck of the Willis Tower.

One of the sky ledges that jut out from the side of the building & have a clear perspex floor.  I wasn't brave enough to stand on this.

Lovely sunset.

I stayed a bit longer to get some photos of Chicago at night.

Looking down at night.

The two big buildings in the middle of this photo are the 2 places  visited - John G Shedd Aquarium and The Field Museum.

Two of the tall buildings with their flight lights lit.  Don't know how I managed to take this at the exact correct moment.

Chicago at night.

Chicago at night.  It was really amazing with all the lights.

Thursday 13th September - Woke up with a migraine, took a couple of pills & went back to sleep.  Woke up about midday, still had migraine, took another couple of pills, lay still for about 20 minutes then felt a bit better so got up, dressed and walked down the block to Dunkin Donuts & got me a couple of donuts, finally!!  Walked back to the hotel, had a donut then rang the taxi company to make my complaint & got an answerphone, so I left a message.  Spent the rest of the day in my room sorting thru photos & videos and updating my blog.  Decided to get dinner from Burger King across the street, looked out the window to check the weather as it was supposed to rain and it all looked clear.  Left my room, walked down the long hallway, got to the outside doors & found it was raining, buggar, oh well it wasn't raining hard so made my way across the road, got dinner & headed back to my room, where I made a note to buy a raincoat or umbrella.  Watched some tv while I ate dinner, then back on the tablet to sort photos & update blog.  Finally went to bed about 3am, all excited for my Greyhound bus trip to Cincinnati tomorrow.
No photos taken this day.  I know how sad you all are.  LOL