Chicago Chicago

I stayed at my aunt Natalie's house and had a great few days with my cousins. We went to Great America and rode giant drop three times! I screamed so much my voice was horse for the next few days.
I then hung out with Gjib and had a great time with him and Jesi. We saw Up in 3D - be careful; its a tear jerker! Gjib and I made plans for some backpacking next week in northern Michigan at Isle Royale. I am so excited!

I've had a great time in Chicago with Nothai. Even though I'm from the suburbs, I don't know much about the city or my way around it. This probably made me a bit of a poor host, but I really enjoyed getting to know the city as an adult. The first day I met Nothai downtown after he'd gone to the aquarium and the field museum. I took him to the beach for a bit and then we drove through the south side, stopped at Chinatown for dinner and walking around, and continued to drive and walk the city a while. The next day we went to the museum of science and industry and took the tour of the captured German sub, the U505. I thought I had done that as a kid, but maybe not, or I don't remember it at all. It was very interesting and I recommend paying the extra $7 for the tour. We also went up on the skydeck of the sears tower. They have built the ledge, which is about a four foot glass box that sticks off the side of the building so basically you can step off the building and look directly down on wacker. Nothai couldn't do it, he can't get real close the edge of the building even without getting nervous. I can't help laughing about it. We went up for the sunset and waited too for the city lights. The next day, we got an early start and took the city bus tours pretty much all day. Again, this is something I'd never done and really enjoyed. I wish that they had given more history. That was great. We got dropped off at Lincoln Park for a bit before walking over to Kingston Mines, a classic blues bar, but tired out after having a few drinks an Irish pub and called it a night.

And a shout out to Nothai's mom for suggesting the bus tour - that was great!

I'm headed back to Michigan today with Nothai for our annual pirates vs. ninjas tubing extravaganza tomorrow!