Old Chicago Pumping Station.
Lake Michigan near Lake Shore Drive and Cedar Street.
Michigan Avenue Bridge and downtown Chicago.
Stones from around the world adorn Tribune Tower.
Lunar Sample display at Tribune Tower.
Nathan Hale statue at entrance to Tribune Tower.
King Tutankhamun sculpture outside of The LEGO Store.
Me with a filmmaker sculpture inside The LEGO Store.
April sits with a businessman sculpture outside of The LEGO Store.
April and I outside of the Apple Store, North Michigan Avenue.
You can check out the rest of the photos at this Flickr photoset link.
After a 6 hour drive from Creston, Iowa (filled with 4 tollway stops!), we arrived to enjoy a nice dinner at the Weber Grill Restaurant with folks from Apple and various Midwestern U.S. educational institutions. Since we weren't ready to hit the sack, April and I, guided by one of the other conference attendees, walked down North Michigan Avenue to experience the city's nightlife. Chicago is very much 'alive' at night, and you can find people from all ages and walks of life strolling around downtown.
The cab drivers drive with insane purposes, and about half of the pedestrians don't wait for walk lights. I'm surprised there's not more accidents there. But it seems to be the key method of transportation in the "windy city."
Leaving the city was no easy feat. Roads lead everyplace but where you need to be going, and the roadsigns are either not clearly marked, or not placed far enough in advance for drivers to plan their routes. We had a map from Google which proved ineffective since we took a modified route and ended up an hour North of where we needed to be! 4 more tollway stops, and 10 hours later, we arrived back home in Creston.
Next time, we'll be sure to take our Honda Civic with built-in GPS navigation!
Despite the difficulty getting out of the city, it was a short, but enjoyable journey and we both look forward to visiting Chicago again.
