2 GIRLS, 1 AMERICA: Days 4

DAY 4 - July 2nd

(Cassie in the hostel hallway with the wallpaper she used in her senior thesis)

Today was our travel day to Chicago. We left Cassie's uncle's house in Ohio early and took a little detour to see the house where Ralphie Parker and his family lived in A Christmas Story. A Christmas Story is one of my favorite holiday movies. Who can resist the 24 hour marathon on TBS every Christmas Eve, I know I can't! Unfortuntely the house was closed for tours today but at least we got to snap some shots of the house with the leg lamp on full display in the front window.

After the 6-1/2 hour drive we finally made it to Chicago. We stayed at the Chicago Getaway Hostel in the Lincoln Park neighborhood near DePaul University. Since we were tired from the drive and the 1 hour time difference (it may not seem like much but it makes a difference) we went to bed early in order to save up our energy for our first full day in Chicago.

(Our room at the hostel)

DAY 5 - July 3rd

(Looking down the glass floor on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower)

Today was our first full day in Chicago. We spent the day downtown at the Museum Campus. Our hostel sold City Pass tickets so we each bought one which gave us discounted access to attractions and it allowed us to skip lines which was nice considering it was 100 degrees outside. Our first stop was the Shedd Aquarium followed by the Field Museum and the Skydeck at the Willis Tower. For lunch we sampled some local specialties, Cassie had a Chicago Dog and I had Polish Sausage. We got tickets for an evening show at UP Comedy Club, run by The Second City where a lot of SNL comedians started out. At the show we met a friendly group from the West Coast who gave us a few suggestions about places to see while on our way to San Francisco.

(Belugas at the Shedd Aquarium)

(Sue the T-Rex at the Field Museum)

(NE view from Willis Tower)

DAY 6 - July 4th

(Our reflection in Millennium Park)

Happy 4th of July!

This morning we checked out of the hostel and drove up to Evanston, a northern suburb of Chicago, where we were staying the night at our friend Lizzy's house. After a quick chat with Lizzy about the nights plans to watch fireworks Cassie and I took the "L" back down to the Hyde Park area of Chicago to go to the Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is huge and its filled with interactive exhibits. It took us almost 3 hours to see nearly the entire museum. We intended on going to either the Museum of Contemporary Art or the Art Institute next but since the Museum of Science and Industry took up the majority of our afternoon we opted to take a walk through Millennium Park and Grant Park in the Loop until it was time for us to head back to Lizzy's. When we got back to Evanston the three of us had some famous deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati's then we headed to the beach to watch the fireworks over Lake Michigan.