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Total Milage: Approx. 1350 miles

License Plate Total: 38

We woke up in Minneapolis ready for a day of shopping at Mall of America. Even though our hotel wasn’t too close they still offered a free shuttle between the two places. We were blown away by how expansive and big everything was there. There’s even an amusement park and aquarium! We spent the whole day walking around mostly window shopping. The Brookstone store was great to take a break in because we tested out the chair and back massagers. The amusement park was more tailored to little kids since it is called Nickelodeon World but we still went on the one roller coaster and the Ferris wheel. We then had dinner at a chain restaurant called Cantina #1 where we got to sit in a booth that a great view of the amusement park where we watched people on the rides and walking around below us. Despite its size we still thought it was easier to navigate than the King of Prussia Mall.

(The Indoor Amusement Park)

(Transformer built out of Legos, with Lego men inside)

(Lego Helicopter)

(More Lego people)

(Another view from our table at Cantina #1)

(The view from our table at Cantina #1)

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Total Milage: approx. 1200

License Plate Total: 36

After a night of fireworks we headed out to Oak Park to get our Interior Design/Architecture nerd on. Before stopping there we stopped at the “Sixteen Candles,” house. We felt a bit creepy taking pictures of a stranger’s house but we did it anyway. In the 100+ degree weather we decided to take a walking tour around Oak Park of Frank Lloyd Wright’s work in the area. We then moved into the much appreciated AC for a tour of his home and studio. We all were really jealous of his studio and library and wished we could work in a place like that minus the hand drafting. After the tours we ate lunch at a café/bistro type place called Red Hen that provided us with more much needed AC and food. Then it was time to part ways and say goodbye to Lizzy. We then drove the seven and a half hours to Minneapolis. Along the way in Wisconsin there were MANY farm fields as well as indoor/outdoor waterparks (I guess they need some way to occupy their long winters). For dinner I had us stop at a Culver’s (a Wisconsin fast food restaurant) where I remembered my aunt taking me as a kid. We then got back on the road and finally reached Minneapolis, where we crashed into bed from a long day of driving and heat.  

-Cassie

(Sixteen Candle House)

 

(Lizzy's Street)

(Our quick attempt at the Minnesota sign, Wisconsin didn't give us a warning that we were leaving)

Days 4 - 6

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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.



(German U-boat at the Museum of Science & industry)



(Millennium Park)

(Fountain in Grant Park)

(Fireworks over Lake Michigan)

- Rachel

P.S. Sorry for such a long post. I need to brush up on the blogging skills.

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Total Milage: approx. 540

License Plate Total: 27

We apologize to all of you waiting at home for a blog post, we’ve been having too much fun that we don’t get a chance to blog everyday. We will be posting some updates hopefully by the end of today or tomorrow.

On Sunday we said goodbye to my parents and PA relatives and said hello to the city of Cleveland. We spent the afternoon at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There was so much unique memorabilia (especially costumes) and different exhibits. Their current special exhibition was the Grateful Dead and as the daughter of a Dead Head/ Jerry Garcia doppelganger, I really liked it. On the way back to my uncle’s house we drove through University Circle, which we thought put Penn’s campus to shame a little bit. We also stopped in Little Italy for some gelato and water ice to cool off in the heat wave.  The place where we ate was called Prestis Bakery, all their baked goods and food looked so good and fresh that we couldn’t resist getting a few cannolis for dessert. We then went back to my uncle Mark and aunt Meg’s house where we were treated to our last true home-cooked dinner for the next few weeks. After dinner my cousin beat us all so quickly in Bananagrams that I would like to see her play against my dad. Since my uncle Mark and his family had just come back from Northern California and had been to Chicago fairly recently we got lots of helpful suggestions. The number one suggestion that were looking forward to is trying the honeydew in California because it apparently tastes so much better there. 


-Cassie