Shirley Goodness: Vacationing after a race!

Vacationing and racing is fun because I get to cross off another state and I get to see new places. But sometimes we take it easy after the race. Not this trip! Because Dave's conference didn't start until Sunday, he had one more day to see Chicago, so we made the most of it.

First thing after cleaning up was to get some lunch. We found a restaurant named Nando's because of Ryan Trahan's recommendation (I visited 50 States in 50 Days). They serve peri-peri chicken, which we think is African. Maybe Portugal. But either way, very yummy! And a cool looking restaurant.

Walking to Nando's was in the rain, but thankfully it stopped while we were eating. We decided to go to the 360 Chicago Observation Deck in the Hancock Tower by way of Michigan Ave. (It is not officially called that anymore, but that is what it used to be called.) So several stops along the way beginning with Ghirardelli's Chocolate! We all got milkshakes and watched several wedding photo sessions by the river while we drank them. We tried to go the Harry Potter and Starbucks stores, but the lines were super long!

View from Ghirardelli's

Could not see the end of the Starbucks line! This is the largest Starbucks in the world

We made plans to come back to this store another day

But we could explore the 7 floors of stores in Water Tower Plaza, including the Lego store.

Chicago made from Legos

Our next stop was the Hancock building. In high school, I had gone to the top of this building two times, but wanted Dave and Camden to see the view. Also, they added the Tilt ride that Camden wanted to do. This is a window that tilts out from the building while you are standing on it. It was scary enough watching him do it! But he was fine with feeling like he was falling off a high building!

The window tilted out three times!

Looking at the Sears Tower from the Hancock building

I was always told the views from the Hancock were better than the Sears even though the Sears Tower is taller, and we definitely saw some good views from this building! Then we walked back down Michigan Ave. and took a quick break at the hotel before going to dinner and the Sears Tower. We would then be able to compare the views.

The courtyard in front of the Hancock Tower

On the way to the Sears Tower, we went to Millennium Park to see Cloud Gate, or the Bean as most people call it. We didn't get too close because there were lots of fences blocking places off because of a concert that evening.

We found another great place to eat, Miller's Pub. It had a dark old tavern feel and the food was really good. Three Greek brothers bought it in 1935, but didn't have enough money to change the sign, so it stayed Millers.

The Sears Tower was our next stop. Officially it is called the Willis Tower, but people in Chicago still call it the Sears Tower. The name has an interesting story. When Sears decided to not continue to pay for the name, Willis (not sure if it is a company or person) paid for it to be called Willis. But they didn't get there money's worth because people still call it the Sears Tower! Now the name is up for sale again, but since they spent a lot of money to rebrand it as Willis, they aren't changing that again. So whoever pays for their name to be on the building next really won't get a good deal. Especially since everyone still calls it the Sears Tower.

The scary part of this tower is the Ledge. A glass ledge that is attached to the side of the building that you can stand on. After waiting in line to take a picture of Dave and Camden on the Ledge, the man taking official pictures basically pushed us all out on the ledge for a picture. I closed my eyes until I was standing or sitting and did not look down. It did make for some cool pictures!