Chicago & All That Jazz

We flew out from Hobby (first experience with Southwest--not so sure yet).  Once we got to Midway, we figured out the train system and rode into the city.  We stayed in a hostel in the Lincoln Park area.  I was nervous about this, but it was awesome and in a great location near Lincoln Park.

This is the street where our hostel  was located.  You can see all the international flags hanging outside.  Each of the houses in this neighborhood reminded me of the Huxtable's house.  It was really unexpected for an urban environment.

The first thing we did once we got checked in and what not was to go to the race expo.  Another train ride and a bus ride got us to the convention center.  All the while, we were taking in the city.  We visited at a wonderful time of year because all of the trees were turning colors and they were beautiful.

having coffee and reading The Onion at a little shop near our hostel; the Lincoln Park area was a very cool urban/neighborhood environment where you were within walking distance of all kinds of independent shops, bars, and restaurants

Adam having a Goose Island 312 at a local bar; Goose Island is a Chicago craft brewery

This is a goose.  Not a duck.  Might be obvious to some of you, but neither Adam or I have ever seen this type of goose.  We saw them from across a lake at Lincoln Park and were talking about what huge ducks they were.  Once we got around the other side of the lake and saw some actual ducks, we realized our mistake.  But seriously, the whole time we were walking around the lake, we couldn't believe how huge these "ducks" were.

skyline from the park

Lake Michigan shore; the tallest building in the skyline that might look like the Willis (formally known as Sears) Tower is not.  It is the John Hancock Tower.  We kept getting confused, so I thought I'd clarify. :)

having the obligatory hot dog except we didn't have the traditional Chicago style hot dog--we don't like any of that stuff, but it was awesome...and all those fries weren't bad either :)

and then...oh, my, gosh...these cup cakes came from Molly's Cupcakes; the left is called the Cookie Monster (filled with yummy cookie flavored center) and the right is called the Ron Bennington (filled with yummy peanut butter center).  I've heard people freak out about cupcakes before, and I'm just not that person.  Cake-take it or leave it.  Frosting-definitely leave it.  But these cupcakes were sooo good.  So good, I had to go back and get one on Monday before we flew out.

Cloud Gate at Millennium Park; we had all kinds of fun hanging out here as you can see by all the pictures

That's my reflection in the middle and Adam just behind to the right with the flash

You can't tell, but we are right in the middle, directly underneath

Me and my reflection in one shot

Michigan Avenue

Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park; where ever your politics lie...I thought it was pretty cool to be where President Obama had his victory party

Jewel concert--which is why we were down here-it was a free concert, part of the Chicago Country Music Festival which just happened to be going on the same weekend as the marathon

had to take the cliche picture :)

Adam finally found the Willis (Sears) Tower while I was running.  He was trying to follow me along the course and kind of looked up and was like, "huh, there's the Sears Tower." Click.  Then kept on moving.

I know these are some pretty bad pics (we forgot our camera), but I had to include one of the best meal/drinking experiences of my life.  For dinner, we went out to a place known for their extensive draft Belgian beer selection and mussels.  I had my first Tripel Karmeliet experience.  As soon as I raised the glass to my lips, I was already in love.  The beer had me at the aroma.  Unfortunately, my first experience was with a draft and I've tried to replicate it with the bottle back home and it just isn't the same.  For dinner, I had the CB & J which was a grilled sandwich with cashew butter and fig jam with a special cheese I'd never heard of.  Before eating here, I can't remember ever commenting that a meal I just had was one of the best in my life, but it was really that good. (and I don't think it was just because I had run the marathon that morning)

We kept trying to get a cool shot with the train, but failed.  Of course, we always looked like total tourists trying to pull it off.

Our last day there included a quick visit to Navy Pier to check out all the fuss.  Quick because it wasn't very cool.

The only good part was this hefeweizen from a craft brewery some place up north.  And really, it wasn't that great, neither was the food, and both were totally overpriced.  We really fell into the Navy Pier tourist trap with this excursion.

So, apart from the marathon which was a wonderful experience all its own, visiting Chicago was really awesome which is another reason I'd love to go back and do the marathon again.  Plus, I've got to visit Hopleaf again, right?