#AYCJ : Chicago – Day 3

That’s the view from the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) at 103 stories up, and just a piece of glass holding me, and 5 other people up.

Day 3 (Wednesday 9/10) started off bright and early, trying to take advantage of the breakfast being served on each floor of the hotel. They had coffee, juice, fruit, and pastries. I loved it because it was literally steps from my hotel room. I also utilized their fitness center. It was probably just as small as a hotel room, but it had a few ellipticals, treadmills, and free weights.

Checked out of my sweet hotel room and stored my luggage there until go-time to meet my new CouchSurfing.org friend, Kursten. Hmm… I had a few hours to kill, so I quickly researched what tours I can possibly do. The Architecture River Cruise is a popular tour to take, but my spontaneous planning for this trip did not work for me – it was sold out. There was also a Movie Tour where a double decker bus takes you to famous movie landmarks from the Dark Knight and others. I’m not much of a tour type of guy, I like to wander out on my own, so I finally picked two destinations that seemed to be the best places to check out – Museum of Science and Industry, and the Willis Tower Skydeck.

The Museum of Science and Industry was my first stop, a few miles south of my hotel. I heard it was a very interactive type of museum, and I love those! The Harry Potter Exhibit was on its final weeks, and I was also curious what that was all about. It was smaller than what I expected i to be, but they had the whole Harry Potter experience covered from all the movies. It felt like going through the Haunted Mansion at Disneyand. There were specific times for groups to enter because a worker in an English accent greeted us and did a bit with The Sorting Hat. Next section, a Hogwarts insructor picked us up from the train section and hurried us along through. Inside were actual props from the movies, and I was surprised at all the detail that was put into each one! Other sections of the museum included interactive Hi-Tech demos, Genetics Exhibit with cloned animals, NASA Space Exhibit, Submarines, Flight Simulators, and much more. Fun for the whole family!

Making my way north back to my hotel, I stopped by the Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower. It was $15 entrance, which included a brief 10 min video on the history of the tower. Very informative… learned a little bit of architectural history of Chicago as well. I really love how the city was designed by top architects from around the world, and how the urban planning was well thought out. It only took 60 seconds to go up 103 floors on the elevator. It was so high my ears were popping! The view was amazing! The skies weren’t 100% clear, but if it were, I would have seen 4 different states from that point! Now the SkyDeck is no joke! 103 floors up, and if you’re afraid of heights, you’ll have a lot of FUN with it! You can see straight down from that piece of glass that I was standing on. Surprisingly, I wasn’t that scared. I was actually pretty excited to have experienced such a view. I had a lot of fun taking pictures, watching people freak out, swapping cameras taking other people’s shots, etc.

After the Tower, I took a cab back to my hotel to grab my luggage to meet my new friend I met via CouchSurfing.org. It was highly recommended by my good friend Vanae, so I checked it out. It’s basically a community of travelers who offer up their couches for people to sleep when visiting their city. They expect nothing in return, and it’s usually not about the free stay vs an expensive hotel. It’s an experience of meeting new friends, and sharing stories by the locals, and not stuck in tourist traps of each city. I found someone who had a lot of positive feedback, and who seemed to be very fun… so I took my chances and messaged her a few weeks ago. Her name is Kursten. She had a pretty busy schedule, but she was trusting enough to hide the key somewhere for me to grab and enter her apartment while I waited. One of her other friends came by the place, and we chatted about Chicago life, while she arrived. Got a lot of local tips of where to go and places to eat! When she arrived, I was greeted with a long hug as if we already knew each other for years! Just talking and hanging out at her place really did seem like we were long-time friends. She is so amazing & fun, and one really down to earth person. Just hanging with her for a few minutes, I already knew I was in good hands by this CS host. She even has a pretty sweet half sleeve tattoo on her arm, which is probably one of the best art I’ve ever seen on anyone! It was only halfway done too!

We waited for a few more people, then we headed off to a park nearby the United Center, where the Chicago Bulls play. They were playing E.T. outdoors! We grabbed some beer, wine, & snacks at a Trader Joe on the way, and enjoyed the flick! Kursten even had a red hoodie like the kid in E.T! (not sure if that was intentional, but that was pretty cool). We afterpartied back at the apartment, watching various comedians on her laptop until it was time for all of us to knock out. I love how every day on this trip has been unique! Another successful day in Chi-Town!