Month: April 2007

We did it! We finally made it to the Shedd Aquarium and I’m glad we waited as long as we did because it was a gorgeous day! Getting there was a bit tricky however since most streets connecting Michigan Avenue and Lake Shore Dr. were blocked, and the museum campus can be confusing. I can’t imagine how the poor tourists handle it when us Chi-town natives get turned around! But eventually we made it and best yet, we secured free parking by the Adler Planetarium which is walking distance from both the Shedd and the Museum of Natural History. Usually you have to feed the meters, but not on Sundays.

When we got to the aquarium there was no line whatsoever. They ask for your zip code when you’re buying tickets and we always give my parents’ (not sure why), which unbeknown to us got us a 25% discount. Score! I guess they should check I.D. or something. We got the All-Access pass which included a 3D SpongeBob Squarepants movie but we skipped that because it’s the same exact movie we saw three years ago at King’s Island in Ohio.

We spent most of our visit on the lower-level of the Oceanarium watching the beluga whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, and penguins. Those penguins are hilarious! I could sit and watch them for hours. We also saw the infamous Komodo Dragon as well as a bunch of lizards which are easy to photograph since they barely move.

Eventually we made it through the entire aquarium in about three hours. We even took our time, but the place isn’t that big. It wasn’t too crowded, though, which was very nice. There were hardly any incidents where someone got in the way while I was trying to take a picture.

As we left, there was line out the door and down the stairs. It was incredible! I guess that’s what you get when you arrive late. I always like to get to museums when they open to avoid that craziness.

We were going to have lunch in the aquarium but I couldn’t stomach the thought of paying $7 for a hot dog, so we walked over to a concession stand outside and got food there. We just relaxed for a bit and enjoyed the people and seagull watching.

After lunch we walked around the lakefront getting photos of the skyline and the other museums nearby. We also got ice cream before we left. In all, a fantastic day.

I think our next trip to the city will be to visit the Adler Planetarium. I haven’t been there since before Joe and I got together and Joe hasn’t been there since he was a kid.

More photos from our day can be viewed here.

This morning I was up at 8 am. Joey wasn’t as he spent the night on the couch. No, we didn’t have an argument. He just does that sometimes when he wants to stay up late watching tv and playing Warcraft. I did a little spring cleaning in my dresser and got rid of some clothes I never wear. I also tried on all my shorts to see which ones fit. Luckily, most of them! I washed them later in the day to remove the wrinkles and make them smell fresh. I’m ready for the 80 degree weather that’s heading our way. Bring it on!

Once Joe was fully awake, we made breakfast. I fried some tater tots and then came out really yummy. Diet? What diet? Yes, I fully realize I have no room to complain about my weight when I’m doing stuff like that. We also had fried eggs and toast. Although since we had a big breakfast I haven’t eaten much the rest of the day. Just one steak sopa for lunch and the small amount of turkey sausage and peppers that was left over from last night for dinner.

We decided to take advantage of the nice weather today and take pictures. We went to a forest preserve, Willowbrook Wildlife Center, and Cosley Zoo. Willowbrook had the cutest baby raccoons who were sleeping but I didn’t get any photos that came out due to the lighting and how dirty the glass was on their cage. Cosley wasn’t too crowded since it was close to closing when we arrived. Joe finds it a bit boring but there’s always something a little different when we visit. This time they had baby goats and sheep who were born earlier in the month. Total cuteness!

That was our day, just cruising around and taking pictures. Tomorrow we’re finally going downtown to The Shedd! We plan to also visit Millennium Park so I can finally get some pictures of the bean (aka cloud gate), but we’ll see what happens. I always have the best intentions when we go downtown but I quickly grow tired of the traffic and crowds and want to get the hell out of there.