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Recently Amanda and I celebrated our 1st Anniversary by visiting the "Windy City." It was such a new experience for both of us. I originally thought it would have been cool to blog daily about it while I was there, but I didn't really have the time or energy after we returned from whatever outing we did that day. So, I am going to fake it and write a daily blog about each day like it just occurred even though it was a few days ago. Lame I know, but so is my blog.

Chicago, Day 4:

Today was our last day in Chicago and officially our Anniversary. Happy Anniversary to us! It's been a quick year. Seems like just yesterday we were prepping for the wedding.

We both slept pretty hard last night. It was the first night since we've been here that I slept all the way through the night and we didn't get up too early. The sun is shining today and the streets are really busy, I guess due to it being Monday. Today we visited the Sears Tower Skydeck. I think I would have felt shorted if we didn't visit the Sears Tower. It was interesting. We had to watch a small movie about the history of the tower before we could continue up. We really have learned a few things on this trip. After the movie and we eventually got on the elevator and rode up. The elevater moved was fast and your ears popped as you climbed to the skydeck.

The view from the top was amazing. You could see for miles. We located our hotel and all the other landmarks we had seen since landing in Chicago. We tried to find Wrigley Field since we had Cubs tickets for the game this evening, but it was crowded and you couldn't really occupy one window for too long without someone else wanting to see. I think I located it, but I can't be sure. I know I was looking in the right direction because they had maps  with markers pointing out the locations of certain landmarks.

Like I said, I would have felt like I missed an opportunity if we hadn't gone to the Sears Tower, but we were over it pretty quick. We hopped off and decided it was lunchtime and the famous Billy Goat Tavern was our destination. It was a very short walk from our hotel, so we just hopped a bus back to the hotel then walked to the place. There are several in Chicago, but we went to the original. It was right under a bridge and we almost walked right past it. The big deal is the "Doobla Cheezborger," which is a double cheezeburger in their some odd German dialect I guess. It was good and filled us up for the time being. However we figured it was not a very healthy meal, so we decided to head over the Magnificent Mile to shop.

This time I found the Magnificent Mile with no problem. I did get us going in the wrong direction to Bloomingdale's. Our City Pass booklets had 15% off at Bloomingdales, so we decided to go for a look to see if we could find anything. We were supposed to be a 900 N. Michigan and we were at 1 South Michigan. CTA passes to the rescue!. We jumped across the street and hopped the bus. It dropped us off still a few blocks short, but we did want to shop and the Ralph Lauren store was right across the street. Wasn't really impressed with the Ralph Lauren store. Same as any department store except it was all Polo. We left and went to the H&M. We don't have one locally and Amanda likes their clothes. They are reasonable priced too. She got a  few things and then we went to Bloomingdale's. By the time we got to Bloomingdale's I was over shopping. I only go shopping when I know what I want. I just don't do the browsing thing. It was getting late in the afternoon and I wanted to take a breather before we headed down to Wrigley.

On the Untouchables tour, I mentioned we passed the Holy Name Cathedral where there were bullet holes still in the cornerstone from the shooting of gangster Hymie Weiss. Amanda wanted to go get a closer look and it was on our way back to the hotel. We stopped by and snapped a few pictures and just sat on the stairs and watched people for a bit.

Finally we arrived back to the hotel. Yesterday I purchased a 6-pack from the 7-11 next to our hotel. For some reason our mini-fridge was unlocked, so I put any left over beer in their to stay cold. We both decided to drink a beer and the fridge was now locked. Well if I hadn't revealed my lack of sophistication to our hotel staff yet, I did so now. I had to call and ask for the mini-bar key so I could get our my Miller Light. The staff person didn't speak much English, so I doubt I should be embarrassed, but I still felt like the smalltown hick in the big city.

We drank our beers then started walking to the subway. This would be our first time using hte L-train since we got here. It wasn't really hard to figure out. Google is pretty good telling you the public transportation routes and times. As Amanda said, you have to have your freshness in check when riding the L. It was very crowded. We couldn't even stand next to each other. I was on one side and she was on the other. It was like that the entire way to Wrigley, but when we got there nearly everyone got off.

We decided since we didn't get to eat at Harry Carrey's, we would try out his place in Wrigleyville called Harry Carrey's Tavern. It was a really nice bar, but I don't think it compares to the original other than by name. The food was very generic. We ate and drank a beer, then decided we needed some Cubbies gear. We checked out the store next to the restaurant. I wasn't looking forward to this. I really expected them to be expensive on the gear, but it was reasonably priced. Amanda got a t-shirt and I got a hat.

Okay, I will get chastized and called a "bandwagon" fan for this, but I think I am officially a Cubs fan now. I haven't had a favorite ball club in a long time. When I was a kid it was the A's, then McGwire went to the Cardinals and I went with him, but he's been gone from there a long time. Go ahead and call me out when you see me if you like. It's okay. I can take it.

Wrigley Field was pretty cool. In the words of Ironman..."Yes, it's very cool." We took pictures in front of the marquee and next to Harry Carrey's statue then made our way into the park. I got us bleacher seats because they were the cheapest and I felt that would be the best experience. I didn't pay attention that the tickets were General Admission, so it was first come first serve on seating. We ended up at the very top, behind the scoreboard. However, we ended up liking our seats. It was pretty cold today and we have a ceiling over us with heat lamps and the beer guy was 2 feet from us.

The Cubs were playing the Padres and it ended up being a slaughter. We didn't stay the entire game. We made it to the 7th inning stretch and joined in in "Take me out to the ballgame." Well, Amanda joined in. I went to the bathroom at the wrong time. Normally I would have felt bad about leaving early, but we weren't the only ones. The field was emptying out quick.

That was about it. We grabbed our bus back to downtown and then called it an evening. Amanda is ready to get home and I'm pretty much there too. We have enjoyed ourselves immensely, but I think we are both homesick. Tomorrow we will be back in Memphis. So long Chicago!