Chicago!

On our way to our friends Ethan and Heidi's home, we stopped in Chicago for a very brief visit. John had carefully planned out our whole route--how we would get into town, where we would park, where we would eat, etc. We arrived

downtown and ate at a famous Chicago-style pizzaria called Giordano's. It was fabulous! The menu said their pizza served 3-4, so we ordered an appetizer to make sure we had enough. However, 40 minutes later, when the pizza finally arrived, it was enough for a small army! We ate it for supper on the road, too.

Next we walked down Michigan Avenue with the rest of the downtown crowd (our stroller was a bit out of place) and admired some of the architecture. In the picture below, the Michigan Avenue Bridge is in the foreground and the Chicago Tribune building in the Gothic style is the main building in the picture.

We then walked out to the Navy Pier, an amusement park-type area along Lake Michigan where we could get a great view of downtown Chicago. Here's one photo.We took a ride on a huge Ferris wheel and enjoyed looking over the beautiful lake and the city skyline.And we couldn't pass up the carousel, which Clara Anne calls a merry-go-round. Fun times!A view of the Ferris wheel from the ground.We walked back to our car along the pier and enjoyed the view!

We all left Chicago feeling like we could have spent 3 days there instead of 3 hours, there were so many interesting things to do. So though we felt somewhat rushed, it was a great stop! Plus, if we had stayed much longer, it might have broken the bank--just our parking alone for the 3 hours was $17! We finished by driving out of the city past Moody Bible Institute and then joined the thousands of other cars trying to leave the city. It took a good hour and a half to feel like there was some space on the freeway again!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures of Chicago!