Milvia’s Day Off

As we’re learning more and more, this trip has turned out to be much more than baseball.  With a day and a half to spare, we sought to see as much of Chicago as we could.  On our first day, we took a 75-minute architecture tour on the rivers of Chicago.  Another day of incredible weather in the 70s blessed us as we taxied along the rivers, seeing buildings such as Willis (formerly known as Sear’s) Tower, the Chicago Tribune (voted ugliest building by the people of Chicago), and countless other structures all constructed by a small handful of architects.  After our boat tour, unfortunately, we had to drive Naddav to the airport where he made his departure from our 5-week baseball road trip.  His America t-shirt, jacket, shoes, and axe were left behind, leaving his greatest characteristics and smells with us for the remainder of our journey.

Wendella Boat Tour

Bye, bye, Naddav =(

And then there were three:  Ryan, Brad, and I headed back into the city Tuesday morning prior to the game at US Cellular Field (aka Comiskey Park).  Inspired by Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, we wanted to do as much as we could in a single day.  We started by heading to the top of Sear’s (Willis) Tower.  The view was spectacular on another beautiful June Day – in the distance we could see both the White Sox and Cubs ballparks; Indiana could be seen across the Lake of Michigan; and beneath us we saw our tour boat from the previous day gliding across the water.  The most exciting point at the top of the tower, however, was standing on the glass casing which extended out 4 feet from the side of the tower, where we looked straight down 103 floors to the city below.  I know it was safe, but it gave all of us quite a rush nonetheless.

From the top of Sear's Tower.  Look our belooowwww!!!

We then walked to Grant Park and sat in front of the giant fountain while eating a simple lunch Corby’s wife, Monica, had packed for us (thank you so much!!).  We then proceeded to the Chicago Museum of Art where we took approximately two and a half hours to complete the one hour tour.  I felt a little like Cameron from the movie as we looked at "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte", by Georges Seurat.   You can see the scene at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBBOMLURSGA.  Interestingly enough, while we were viewing the painting, a school group came up and formed a small circle.  On an iPad, a little girl made a presentation about the painting and even showed the scene from Ferris.  We were in awe.  How cool is that?!  We saw the same group and others going through the museum as different students made presentations on the famous works of art.  For something we weren't sure we were going to do, the museum might have been the best thing we did on this day.

Buckingham Memorial Fountain

iPad Presentation on "La Grand Jatte"

After the museum we walked the Magnificent Mile and checked out the shops.  We stopped at Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Chicago Pizza and got their house special.  The sausage deep dish with butter crust were delectable and despite its massive nature, we ate the entire thing.  Bellies filled and tired from an already long and exciting day, we headed to the subway to see the Chicago White Sox take on the Toronto Blue Jays.

Malnati's Deep Dish Pizza