The True Chicago Experience

Cold and windy weather, stuffed crust pizza, and the Sears Tower: all elements of a true Chicago experience. We got in two of them. After church we went straight to the train station. Which is closed on Sunday. Forcing us to sit out in the cold. The very cold. I have to say I've never been so cold in my life. I'm sure 25 degree weather with 25 mph winds is like summer to some northerners, but to this American-African who now resides in Georgia, it was pure torture. Although the 15 minutes seemed like 15 hours, the train finally arrived.

The kids had a fabulous time on the train where we found a spot on the second level.

Once downtown, we braved the weather again to walk the streets of the Windy City in search of a pizza place. We finally found one and settled in. By "settled in" I mean that it took us a full 20 minutes to take all the layers of clothes off of everyone. We then took up a whole extra table to pile 11 people's coats, scarves, hats, gloves, and mittens. We had our pizza. I can't say it was fabulous; I think I'll stick with Atlanta-style New York-style pizza. Then it was another 20 minutes to get all of our clothes back on to head back out in the cold.

WHO willingly chooses to live there anyway?

We had grand plans to take on the Sky Deck of the Sears Tower. I really wanted Alex to see Lake Michigan. On our drive to Chicago, every time we would drive over a small lake or river, she would ask, "Is that Lake Michigan?" I kept explaining that it looks like an ocean from the shore, but it would have taken seeing it to understand. Anyway, we didn't make it to the top of the Sears Tower because it was a two hour wait, half of which was outside in the cold.

Don't get me wrong. We had a great time. I'm happy to say we had a true Chicago experience.