Travels through Chicago

Last week I was asked to help our Chicago rep with a service call in LaCrosse, WI. I got a ridiculously low fare ($103) for a round trip ticket to Chicago so I flew in there and we drove to LaCrosse. Here are a few pics:

Interesting rock formation. About the only thing of interest on the five hour drive (yawn...)

Concourse A at Midway Airport (named after the famous WWII naval battle in which the city of Chicago played a pivotal role). The SBD Dauntless is an actual plane recovered from Lake Michigan where it sank during carrier landing training exercises. The Great Lakes US Navy base is located here.

Through the window of the plane. The Sears Tower is in the foreground, with the John Handcock Tower a ways behind. Both buildings are very similar, black with two white antennas on top.

The city of the big shoulders, the second city...

John Hancock Tower, Shedd aquarium

This rounds out the photos from the Chicago trip. Below is a photo from the outside of the John Hancock Tower, considered the "best view of Chicago".


Below is a view of the city from the 94th floor observation deck. Unforntunately, it was a bit foggy that day. On a clear day it is said that you can see four different states: Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and my home state, Michigan.


This is a closer shot of the Sears tower, the tallest building in the USA.


These are a few photos from the Shedd Aquarium, located on the waterfront close to the Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum.

This fellow is from the Iguana display near the front entrance. He's a blue iguana from the Carribean.


Man, that looks like one tasty crabbie patty! Fry me one up, SpongeBob!


Moray Eel, the only flash photo I took.

More Chicago

These photos, from top to bottom: Enigma code encrypter and code book captured from U-505. Nazi war flag captured from U-505. Piston replica from U-505, as tall as I am! USCG Huey, the type used when I was in the Guard in the early 1980's. STUKA dive bomber, the only one that I have ever seen on display

Chicago!

Last week the family went on vacation in Chicago. We stayed right across from Grant Park and had easy access to the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, John Hancock Tower, the Adler Planetarium, and the Museum of Science and Industry, all of which we visited while there. We each bought a City-Pass, which includes everything I just mentioned for $50 ($39 for under 12).
We also went to Navy Pier, and the Magnificent Mile to browse all of the stores. I finally broke down and got a decent camera for this trip, so here are some pics:


This is the Field Museum. They are currently showing artifacts from King Tut's tomb and photos were not allowed. They had tons of stuff, most of which has been seen on the History Channel, etc. that were amazing. There were also huge permanent displays animals, historical objects, gems and minerals, religious artifacts, world cultures past and present, and so many things I could go on and on. This one alone took an entire day to see.

This is a photo of U-505, the only German Uboat to be captured by the U S Navy. She has been completely restored and is on display at the Science and Industry Museum, which has a lot of historical displays as well as a look into the technologies of the future.