It's Friday! Sadly, this is our last full day in Chicago (although we do have several hours of fun awaiting us at the Chicago O'Hare airport tomorrow).
Today, it is finally sunny and warm! It's been a long wait, Chicago.
We've been passing by the Raffaello Hotel almost daily on our walks, and we've noticed the "glazed and infused donuts" sign several times, but it's only available in the morning until 11 a.m., and we've always missed out. Not today! Monica and I share a giant Vanilla Glazed Donut. I expect to have to pay $5 for this giant pastry, but it's only $2. Whoo hoo! OMG, I think I'm getting a sugar rush. That's okay, I'll walk it off.
We hop on a train, and get off at Millennium Station. Did I mention that it's warm today? Today is the day we are going to Bike and Roll to get our bikes!
It sounds so easy, but it's not. We wander hither and yon, looking for the rental booth, and eventually find some signs pointing us up the hill. There, we are confronted by the slowest clerk alive, who spends an inordinate amount of time counting nickels and bills, all so so sllooowwwllyy. He didn't even say, "I'll be with you in a moment," just counted out coins at a glacial speed. Eventually, he finished his counting lessons, and we showed our Go pass and got our bikes. Monica wanted the city bike, which is an upright cruiser kind of bike. I kind of pooh-poohed it, but I got the same kind, as we have to keep pace with each other.
So happy to be biking at last! I don't know if you know this, but biking is much faster than walking. Whoo hoo! We bike out along the lake shore trail, all the way from Millennium Park out to the Museum of Science and Industry. There's several beaches and boat harbours along the way, as well as a nature reserve. I should have checked my watch before we left, but I'm estimating it was about a 40-minute ride. Google Maps tells me it's 7.5 miles, whatever that is in km. We go with the patriotic miles here while in the United States, don't you know!
At the ticket desk for the museum, the woman scans our Go Passes, and we are confronted with the bad news that our passes are expired. Both of us are confused. How can that be? She asks what day we activated them, and then explains that it doesn't matter what time of day - if we did something at 7 p.m. at night, that counts as a day. Damn you, Go Pass people! Oh man, we probably did use it first on the Sunday - so stupid! However, the clerk takes pity on us and lets us in at half price, which was very kind of her. Or maybe she just did it because Monica and I started arguing. Uh oh, the Art Museum - we're going to have to pay full price! You see, I knew we should have gone last night! I'm not the one who took a long boat ride. I'm not the one who didn't check any of the multiple text messages she received. Well, would you like a time machine to go back in time to fix that mistake? Yes, I would. Well, why don't you do that then? If I had a time machine, I would.
Ticket lady gives us half-price admission to shut us up and get us away from her kiosk. This is completely understandable.
We do a quick do-over of the museum, picking up the pieces that we missed last time. There's a full size Boeing 727 airplane to wander through (complete with screaming children - go figure). A lovely Fairy Castle - which is a very large (but miniature) doll-house. Let me tell you, those dolls are living some fine lives in high style. It was ridiculously detailed, even down to tiny china plate settings at the table.
We also managed to time it right so that we got to attend a cool tour through the Zephyr Train, one of those 1930's 'futuristic' bullet-style trains, high-speed for the time. (1) We only had to wait 5 minutes, and (2), there were NOT screaming children on the tour. In fact, aside from Monica and I, there were only four other people. Nice! The train tour featured Zeph, an animatronic talking burro, who was the mascot of the train line. The tour took us through numerous cars, and at the end of the train, in first class, there were some rather obnoxious animatronic first-class people who carried on a creepy not-quite-life-like conversation about how awesome this train was. (It was kind of awesome, but I didn't like the rich robots. Snooty patootie bastards.)
After we left the museum, we did a brief cycling circle through Jackson Park. The park is sadly neglected compared to the other parks way down in tourist-land, which is too bad. The bridge in the park was closed for construction, so maybe we just missed the nicer parts of the park. Then we hopped back on our bikes (now wondering if we'll have to pay for them due to our expired Go Pass) and biked our butts all the way back to Millennium Park. The sun is out and it's warm and the wind is mostly at our backs on the return ride, so it's still a good day for biking. :-)
We return the bikes, and it appears that there is no charge. Hee hee! We quickly skedaddle. (Oh come on. Yes, it's our fault that we can't do math. But it's not our fault that the Bike and Roll people were closed whenever it was mildly cool. Consider it a rain check.)
However, the fact that our Go Pass is expired means that we will now have to pay full price for admission to the Chicago Art Institute, unless we're able to act surprised and angry enough that they take pity on us and discount us. As neither of us has ever been nominated for an Academy Award, let alone invited to participate as a seat filler, we have doubts about our ability to successfully carry off this scheme.
Instead, we go for lunch at Native Foods. It's all vegetarian stuff. Monica is super happy. I am mildly taken aback that my super-earth-friendly meal cost me $17. Earth-friendly does not necessarily mean wallet-friendly.
Right around the corner is The Rookery (famous Chicago building). For some reason, I'd thought Frank Lloyd Wright had designed that, but no, it's our World Fair friend, Daniel Burnham. (There is a Frank Lloyd Wright store inside the Rookery, which Monica found amusing, since Frank railed against the architectural style that Burnham promoted. Sometimes irony can be pretty ironic, Frank.) Anyway, the highlight of the Rookery is its gorgeous glass ceiling.
We wander outside and we see Wayne Industries, aka the Chicago Board of Trade, aka the Chicago Butter Board. So we head down that street to get a better look. As we're taking pictures, Monica spies a sign for the Federal Reserve Museum of Money and goes to ask how much it costs to get in. It's free! This seems counter-intuitive for a museum devoted to money, but we are not going to argue. Free is good!
First you have to get through security, because this museum is actually attached to the Federal Reserve, which is all about money, so yeah, security. They scan everything we own, and we go through threat-detectors, and whoo hoo, we're in!
There's a lot of interesting exhibits, lots of displays of coins and bills over time, and some interactive exhibits, where you can put your face on a bill, or test your counterfeit detection skills. Also, help yourself to some free bags of money - shredded money, that is. Apparently, the Federal Reserve shreds oodles of money all the time, either because it's old and grotty, or because it's counterfeit.
There's an old man sitting at an information desk, with one of those "Ask me" buttons, so you know you can go ask him questions. Our brains were too puny to really understand the function of the Federal Reserve, so we did ask him a few questions. And he was either a dead-pan humour kind of guy, or he actually had a robot brain in his head - I'm still not entirely sure. He'd made some comment about the number of people in the States, and we'd said, "well, yes, but people are born and die every day", to which he replied, "as of last Friday, this was the number." And you know, I'm still not sure whether he was serious or kidding. He didn't sound like he was kidding.
He really knew his financial stuff, and gave us a brief overview of monetary history and the importance of a federal reserve, and listed the few countries in the world who don't have one and what happens to their economies. I don't know. I still think that guy is ex-military. A Navy SEAL or something.
With our brains briefly filled with small amounts of financial knowledge, we wandered onward to where we got our photos taken with a cube full of $1 MILLION DOLLARS! Around the corner, you can have your photo taken with a suitcase full of $1 MILLION DOLLARS! There's money all over the place here! There's also security cameras and guards and don't you even think of taking anything but the shredded money, which you can have, but that Navy SEAL guy disguised as an Information Desk Guy is watching you.
Anyway, Monica screwed up one of the free photo booths and didn't understand what was happening, so she had the funniest picture in the world, of her with a blank-faced slouching look of BLEH, standing forlorn and hopeless next to $1 million. We practically peed our pants laughing when the photo came out. Behind the scenes, I'm sure the security people got a kick out of watching us stagger around laughing until we were crying.
The Money Museum was totally worth the free price of admission!
After that, Monica decides she wants to see the Pez Heads of Industry, outside Merchandise Mart. So we go for a walk along Wacker, because it's sunny and nice outside, until we reach the Pez Heads. (This is not their official name, but it is what the guy on our boat tour called them, and it seems appropriate.)
Merchandise Mart is a giant gigantic building. There must be a bazillion things inside, but we can't really find much. There are some fancy furniture stores, high-end kitchen shops (I mean high-end, renovate your kitchen with solid gold type of places). We find a small food court where we can get a treat and a drink. There are elevators leading to other places, but it's weird - it's like this building is smaller on the inside than the outside. Whatever. We don't really care enough to figure it out.
There's an El station inside the Merchandise Mart, so we catch the brown line and ride the loop. The brown line is a little ways outside of our usual area, so it's a bit of a longer walk back, but it's a nice day and a nice neighborhood, so we're good.
At the faithful Water Tower Mall, I make use of my coupons that I received with my now-expired Go Pass, and buy an M-Burger. "And I get free fries with that!" I make sure they understand I want my free stuff for free.
In the evening, we headed out to Mad Max: Fury Road. It's a 3D movie! The movie theatre has big leather seats! That recline! With cupholders! And it only cost $15!!! God bless America. (Alternate thought: Why is everything so expensive in Canada???)
I am of the opinion that the film is simultaneously ludicrous and great. It's a difficult balance, and most films don't manage it. Monica thinks it is the bestest film ever to be filmed, and she says she will see it again another 12 times when she gets home. Okay.
Tomorrow, we have to leave. Boo!
Today, it is finally sunny and warm! It's been a long wait, Chicago.
We've been passing by the Raffaello Hotel almost daily on our walks, and we've noticed the "glazed and infused donuts" sign several times, but it's only available in the morning until 11 a.m., and we've always missed out. Not today! Monica and I share a giant Vanilla Glazed Donut. I expect to have to pay $5 for this giant pastry, but it's only $2. Whoo hoo! OMG, I think I'm getting a sugar rush. That's okay, I'll walk it off.
We hop on a train, and get off at Millennium Station. Did I mention that it's warm today? Today is the day we are going to Bike and Roll to get our bikes!
It sounds so easy, but it's not. We wander hither and yon, looking for the rental booth, and eventually find some signs pointing us up the hill. There, we are confronted by the slowest clerk alive, who spends an inordinate amount of time counting nickels and bills, all so so sllooowwwllyy. He didn't even say, "I'll be with you in a moment," just counted out coins at a glacial speed. Eventually, he finished his counting lessons, and we showed our Go pass and got our bikes. Monica wanted the city bike, which is an upright cruiser kind of bike. I kind of pooh-poohed it, but I got the same kind, as we have to keep pace with each other.
So happy to be biking at last! I don't know if you know this, but biking is much faster than walking. Whoo hoo! We bike out along the lake shore trail, all the way from Millennium Park out to the Museum of Science and Industry. There's several beaches and boat harbours along the way, as well as a nature reserve. I should have checked my watch before we left, but I'm estimating it was about a 40-minute ride. Google Maps tells me it's 7.5 miles, whatever that is in km. We go with the patriotic miles here while in the United States, don't you know!
At the ticket desk for the museum, the woman scans our Go Passes, and we are confronted with the bad news that our passes are expired. Both of us are confused. How can that be? She asks what day we activated them, and then explains that it doesn't matter what time of day - if we did something at 7 p.m. at night, that counts as a day. Damn you, Go Pass people! Oh man, we probably did use it first on the Sunday - so stupid! However, the clerk takes pity on us and lets us in at half price, which was very kind of her. Or maybe she just did it because Monica and I started arguing. Uh oh, the Art Museum - we're going to have to pay full price! You see, I knew we should have gone last night! I'm not the one who took a long boat ride. I'm not the one who didn't check any of the multiple text messages she received. Well, would you like a time machine to go back in time to fix that mistake? Yes, I would. Well, why don't you do that then? If I had a time machine, I would.
Ticket lady gives us half-price admission to shut us up and get us away from her kiosk. This is completely understandable.
We do a quick do-over of the museum, picking up the pieces that we missed last time. There's a full size Boeing 727 airplane to wander through (complete with screaming children - go figure). A lovely Fairy Castle - which is a very large (but miniature) doll-house. Let me tell you, those dolls are living some fine lives in high style. It was ridiculously detailed, even down to tiny china plate settings at the table.
After we left the museum, we did a brief cycling circle through Jackson Park. The park is sadly neglected compared to the other parks way down in tourist-land, which is too bad. The bridge in the park was closed for construction, so maybe we just missed the nicer parts of the park. Then we hopped back on our bikes (now wondering if we'll have to pay for them due to our expired Go Pass) and biked our butts all the way back to Millennium Park. The sun is out and it's warm and the wind is mostly at our backs on the return ride, so it's still a good day for biking. :-)
We return the bikes, and it appears that there is no charge. Hee hee! We quickly skedaddle. (Oh come on. Yes, it's our fault that we can't do math. But it's not our fault that the Bike and Roll people were closed whenever it was mildly cool. Consider it a rain check.)
However, the fact that our Go Pass is expired means that we will now have to pay full price for admission to the Chicago Art Institute, unless we're able to act surprised and angry enough that they take pity on us and discount us. As neither of us has ever been nominated for an Academy Award, let alone invited to participate as a seat filler, we have doubts about our ability to successfully carry off this scheme.
Instead, we go for lunch at Native Foods. It's all vegetarian stuff. Monica is super happy. I am mildly taken aback that my super-earth-friendly meal cost me $17. Earth-friendly does not necessarily mean wallet-friendly.
Right around the corner is The Rookery (famous Chicago building). For some reason, I'd thought Frank Lloyd Wright had designed that, but no, it's our World Fair friend, Daniel Burnham. (There is a Frank Lloyd Wright store inside the Rookery, which Monica found amusing, since Frank railed against the architectural style that Burnham promoted. Sometimes irony can be pretty ironic, Frank.) Anyway, the highlight of the Rookery is its gorgeous glass ceiling.
We wander outside and we see Wayne Industries, aka the Chicago Board of Trade, aka the Chicago Butter Board. So we head down that street to get a better look. As we're taking pictures, Monica spies a sign for the Federal Reserve Museum of Money and goes to ask how much it costs to get in. It's free! This seems counter-intuitive for a museum devoted to money, but we are not going to argue. Free is good!
First you have to get through security, because this museum is actually attached to the Federal Reserve, which is all about money, so yeah, security. They scan everything we own, and we go through threat-detectors, and whoo hoo, we're in!
There's a lot of interesting exhibits, lots of displays of coins and bills over time, and some interactive exhibits, where you can put your face on a bill, or test your counterfeit detection skills. Also, help yourself to some free bags of money - shredded money, that is. Apparently, the Federal Reserve shreds oodles of money all the time, either because it's old and grotty, or because it's counterfeit.
There's an old man sitting at an information desk, with one of those "Ask me" buttons, so you know you can go ask him questions. Our brains were too puny to really understand the function of the Federal Reserve, so we did ask him a few questions. And he was either a dead-pan humour kind of guy, or he actually had a robot brain in his head - I'm still not entirely sure. He'd made some comment about the number of people in the States, and we'd said, "well, yes, but people are born and die every day", to which he replied, "as of last Friday, this was the number." And you know, I'm still not sure whether he was serious or kidding. He didn't sound like he was kidding.
He really knew his financial stuff, and gave us a brief overview of monetary history and the importance of a federal reserve, and listed the few countries in the world who don't have one and what happens to their economies. I don't know. I still think that guy is ex-military. A Navy SEAL or something.
With our brains briefly filled with small amounts of financial knowledge, we wandered onward to where we got our photos taken with a cube full of $1 MILLION DOLLARS! Around the corner, you can have your photo taken with a suitcase full of $1 MILLION DOLLARS! There's money all over the place here! There's also security cameras and guards and don't you even think of taking anything but the shredded money, which you can have, but that Navy SEAL guy disguised as an Information Desk Guy is watching you.
Anyway, Monica screwed up one of the free photo booths and didn't understand what was happening, so she had the funniest picture in the world, of her with a blank-faced slouching look of BLEH, standing forlorn and hopeless next to $1 million. We practically peed our pants laughing when the photo came out. Behind the scenes, I'm sure the security people got a kick out of watching us stagger around laughing until we were crying.
The Money Museum was totally worth the free price of admission!
After that, Monica decides she wants to see the Pez Heads of Industry, outside Merchandise Mart. So we go for a walk along Wacker, because it's sunny and nice outside, until we reach the Pez Heads. (This is not their official name, but it is what the guy on our boat tour called them, and it seems appropriate.)
Merchandise Mart is a giant gigantic building. There must be a bazillion things inside, but we can't really find much. There are some fancy furniture stores, high-end kitchen shops (I mean high-end, renovate your kitchen with solid gold type of places). We find a small food court where we can get a treat and a drink. There are elevators leading to other places, but it's weird - it's like this building is smaller on the inside than the outside. Whatever. We don't really care enough to figure it out.
There's an El station inside the Merchandise Mart, so we catch the brown line and ride the loop. The brown line is a little ways outside of our usual area, so it's a bit of a longer walk back, but it's a nice day and a nice neighborhood, so we're good.
At the faithful Water Tower Mall, I make use of my coupons that I received with my now-expired Go Pass, and buy an M-Burger. "And I get free fries with that!" I make sure they understand I want my free stuff for free.
In the evening, we headed out to Mad Max: Fury Road. It's a 3D movie! The movie theatre has big leather seats! That recline! With cupholders! And it only cost $15!!! God bless America. (Alternate thought: Why is everything so expensive in Canada???)
I am of the opinion that the film is simultaneously ludicrous and great. It's a difficult balance, and most films don't manage it. Monica thinks it is the bestest film ever to be filmed, and she says she will see it again another 12 times when she gets home. Okay.
Tomorrow, we have to leave. Boo!
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