[MSJ] - Day 1: A Wild Ride

I guess this is the first "real" blog of the trip since it's the first time I'm going to be writing about me actually in Chicago. The day started out at the ungodly hour of 2 in the morning. Luckily, I didn't forget anything super important, but I did forget the croissant I wanted to eat in the car. This meant that when I got to El Cerrito High, I had a protein bar and some Redvines, which is clearly a very nutritious breakfast. 

Chicago Cohort ready to rumble

While we were waiting for the shuttle in the cold dark night (even colder because I was wearing shorts meant for the 90° Chicago weather) Don went over some final tips n tricks to make the most of our trip. He also had snacks and Tide pods (which, although some people may think otherwise, are NOT snacks) which I packed in my suitcase for laundry days.

I was expecting the airport shuttle to be, you know, a shuttle. For me, that's a small van. We were instead greeted by a large bus which was the kind groups of fifty people use, not usually for groups of ten. The bus was warmer than outside though, and for that I was grateful.

Big Bus

Crossing the parking lot was another cold experience which again made the warm airport much nicer. We checked our bags and crossed security with no problems, and I even managed to snag a croissant sandwich before boarding which did a lot for my energy level.

Passing security

Landing in Chicago

I can't usually sleep on planes, but I guess getting only 3-4 hours of sleep can work miracles. After landing, the Chicago and Vanderbilt cohorts split, Vanderbilt going to their second flight, us to the baggage claim. We got our luggage without a wait and followed our driver outside. OH MAN. As soon as you leave the cool airport, the heat and humid hit you like a sledgehammer. I was thankful for my tank top and shorts, glad now that I endured the cold at El Cerrito.

Shreejal at the baggage claim

On the drive to our hotel, we got to see part of the Chicago skyline, namely the Sears Tower and the Trump tower. As soon as we pulled up outside our hotel, the Omni, I could tell Don had definitely not skimped on us. A bellhop grabbed our luggage, and since only Kayla's room (room is an understatement, Kayla has a whole suite to herself) was ready, we dropped off our backpacks there before heading out to lunch.

Views from the ride to the hotel

We strolled around the neighborhood for about half an hour first, then grabbed a table at Giordano's, a chain that serves pizza, namely deep-dish, and other Italian fare. I ordered a BBQ Chicken and Bacon deep dish, which ended up taking close to an hour to order, which was fine because it meant we stayed in the restaurant for most of the rainstorm.

Mozzarella sticks as part of the appetizer

We went back to the hotel to freshen up before doing some sightseeing in the afternoon. I hit the fitness room so I don't come back to California 21 deep dish slices heavier than I left, than I took a shower and met the cohort in the lobby.

We walked to the John Hancock building (which I talked more about in a previous blog post – Adventures in Chicago) which houses 360 Chicago and Tilt. It looks incredibly tall from the bottom. We took the very fast elevator to the top of the building and experienced amazing views of the Chicago skyline. I think I'll let pictures do the explaining here.

So tall

Views of the skyline

Lake Michigan

One interesting observation: on the West face of the building, you can see LOTS of spiders outside the windows, but on the North face, there are no spiders. I'm not sure why. I'm tired right now, but I might do some googling later and include it in a later blog.

The dots have legs if you look closely

No dots or legs

We came down from the John Hancock building and walked about a mile to the Navy Pier, which is a region of Chicago on the lakefront which has a movie theatre, museums, a fare area, and much more. We walked along its entirety and stopped for an ice cream along the way. The pistachio was EXCEPTIONALLY good.

Kayla in the tunnel to the Navy Pier

Despite what Shreejal's face seems to say, the ice cream was excellent

And with that, we walked back to our hotel. John "The Admiral" Hillyer estimated, with help from some technology, that we had walked about eight and a half miles total the whole day. Whew!

And now I sleep.