Chi-Town

TUESDAY, JULY 24TH:

My colleague Rob and I flew to Chicago

last week for the 20th Annual APRA Conference.

APRA stands for the Association of

Professional Researchers for Advancement.

We left Columbus at 9:30 and

arrived at Chicago Midway at 9:35.

We stayed at the Chicago Sheraton

pictured below...

Only 24 room per floor were part of

the curved portions shown below.

Both Rob and I each had one of those rooms.

Yes, I know I'm a redneck. Here

are photos of the interior of my room...

These next three photos were shot
from the windows in Room 1118.
We were at the corner of
Columbus Drive and the
Chicago River.



I rushed from my hotel, walking
two miles to Union Station, which is
off Jackson in the shadow of the
Sears Tower. What I failed to
do was remember to take cash
for the train fare...So I missed
the 11:30 train and had to find
an ATM to catch the 12:30.
Why the rush?
I wanted to travel to the
northwestern suburb of Elgin
to meet my cousin Joey and
Daddy's sister Jimmy.
It took an hour and ten minutes
to get to Elgin.

Once there Joey took me to her
lovely new home and showed me
around. Then we decided to travel
another hour to Aunt Jimmy's new
home in Poplar Grove near the
Wisconsin state line.
Pictured below are
Jasmine, Elizabeth's best friend;
Elizabeth (Liz), Grace's daughter;
Grace, my first cousin and Aunt
Jimmy's middle daughter;
Aunt Jimmy;
and Joey, another first cousin and
Aunt Jimmy's oldest daughter.

The day ended with a train ride
back to Union Station, arriving about 10:30.


-------------------------------

WEDNESDAY, JULY 25TH:

Below are some scenes from
outside the hotel...

After the conference ended, I went back

to my room before leaving for Navy Pier.

I heard sirens and counted four

fire trucks, an ambulance,

a police boat, and a US Coast

Guard boat. Don't know why...

I headed to Navy Pier Wednesday night

for the bi-weekly free fireworks show.

I loved all of the city's fountains.

Below is one with dancing shafts

of water: I LOVED it!!!

The entrance to Navy Pier...

A shot of downtown from the pier

using my night vision on the camera...

And finally the fireworks!

This little lady stood near me.

We oohed and ahhed together...

On my way back to the hotel,

the water arc was gushing.

It's supposedly a memorial

to the Great Chicago Fire.

The arc stretches the entire width

of the Chicago River near

where it empties into

Lake Michigan.

THURSDAY, JULY 26TH:

I had lunch at the Chicago Burger Co.

YUM!

I had a salmon burger with guacamole

sauce and gorganzola cheese!

The next photo is for you, Ione!

A little different view of the arc...

Behind the arc is this fountain.

It recognizes Chicago's goal of

keeping its water pure.

Too bad all the beaches were

shut down this year because

of the high concentrations

of e. coli in Lake Michigan!!!

Liz was so kind to buy me a ticket

to Blue Man Group on Thursday night.

I'd been wanting to see the show for

years now. It was a lot of fun!

FRIDAY, JULY 27TH:

Rob and I took a stroll through

Grant Park. From here we could

have walked to the bean,

but I wanted to see Buckingham

Fountain first...

The gardens leading to Buckingham...

Rob was hot and sweaty (and

pretty rancid) so he went back to

the hotel to clean up before our

last session of the day.

(I'm kidding about the rancid part.)

I went on to Millennium Park.

I know the pavilion looks tiny in

this photo, but it's actually gigantic!

The BEAN!

The walk home...Look familiar?

On Friday night, APRA attendees

were given the option of taking a

dinner cruise around Lake Michigan.

Here are some shots of Downtown

from the boat...

This lone skyscraper is said to be

Oprah's abode...

Goodbye, Chicago! It was nice to meet you!!!