Chicago
I do believe I mentioned it before, but I started off my summer travels with a long weekend in the Windy City with my GCKB comrade and BFF, Jenny. She lives in Atlanta and was heading there for the HOW Design Conference because she’s a bad mamma jamma Creative Director now. Since Chicago is a mere 5 hours away, I hopped on a train to join her for the weekend. It turned out to be a splendid trip because not only did I get to see her beautiful face, share in her design learnin, and check out (some of) the wonders of a new city, but my train ride to Illinois knocks off #79 and (almost) #84 of my 101 in 1001 list.
Unfortunately our time in Chicago was limited, so I stuck to the touristy Loop area while she was in sessions so we could meet for lunch. Nevertheless, I got to check out some of the downtown Chicago greats like the Bean (or Cloud Gate, as it is officially called), Millennium Park, and the collection of badassery at the The Art Institute of Chicago. Check out my crappy picture of their awesome lions:
I also muscled up the courage to step out onto the sky decks on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower. I didn’t get too far, though. There were 47 people crammed onto a 3×6 glass ledge and, well, I just didn’t trust it enough to hold us all for very long. Here is proof that I do have some balls:
Look at that fantastic view!
After a few days of goofin around as tourists, eatin well at Ginos and The Purple Pig, and lounging around in our dope hotel suite, we wrapped up the trip with a boat tour of downtown Chicago architecture. Which was a lot cooler than it sounds. Here go Jenny… ain’t she a beaut?
I had an awesome time. However, thanks for the final memory of my trip goes to the girl who was giving her boyfriend a hand job across the aisle from me on the train home. Way to go, kids.
x0, Em
PS – If you’re lookin for a more in-depth tourist review of Chicago, check out Gala Darling’s International Playgirl’s Guide to Chicago. She actually did stuff.