Just a brief rundown of what I did in Chicago.

Monday: Got up around six, yet didn't get out on the road till around nine, which kind of bothers me, then a five hour car ride with about four stops. I got my first glimpse of the city when we came over a hill and I saw the Sears (no, I will not call it by its new name) Tower and a bunch of the other skyscrapers. We arrived at our hotel, Hotel 71, around four, then immediately got lost trying to find a parking garage. We found one, then returned to the hotel and threw all our bags in the room before meeting my cousin Jessie who lives in Chicago. We wandered around for a while (I found a boat called "The Summer of George"!) then took a taxi to Navy Pier where we took boat arcitectual tour of the city. While on the tour, we learned that the scene in "The Dark Knight" where Bruce Wayne is throwing his party was filmed in our hotel! Yes, I had a complete spazz attack after hearing this. We returned to Navy Pier and looked around a bit, then my brother and I got completely lost in a stupid maze. After this, we got a taxi and went back to the hotel.

Tuesday: Got up and popped down to the South Water Kitchen for breakfast. We then got a taxi to take us to the Museum of Science and Industry, where we saw the Harry Potter Exhibition, a German U-Boat, a bunch of trains and airplanes, and much more. Got a taxi back to the hotel and went to eat supper down by the river. After this, we walked around the block and went into a big-ass Macy's, where I nearly experienced a nervous breakdown.

Wednesday: Went to the Corner Bakery for breakfast, which we then did for breakfast every day afterwords, then got a taxi and headed out to the Field Museum. We went to the Real Pirates Exhibition, saw a dinosaur movie thing in 3D, saw a bunch of fossils, some ancient Egypt stuff, then walked through a hall of dead animals that made everyone depressed, seeing as how a lot of said animals are now on the endangered species list. We left and walked up the Magnificent Mile, on which we ate at TGI Friday's, stopped at a Hershey's store and a Disney store, where I bought a Jack Skellington snowglobe, then went to Navy Pier to watch fireworks, where I was almost attacked by spiders.

Thursday: Got a taxi up to the Shedd Aquarium after breakfast. Once there, we viewed Amazon Rising, where my dad got freaked out by a huge anaconda and I got freaked out by a huge spider, then went down to some sort of reef exhibit, which had sharks which I found very cool. We walked to the lower level and saw beluga whales, dolphins, sea otters, and sea lions, and I think there was something wrong with one of the otters because it was all flippy and different. Then we saw Waters of the World and Local Waters, where there was a big ass Rock Lobster. We left the Shedd and took went to Navy Pier again where we sailed on the "Tall Ship Windy" on which my brother and I got to help hoist the sails. We went back to our hotel, ate at the Corner Bakery and went back to Macy's.

Friday: Got packed then went out to grab breakfast before walking to Millennium Park to see the Bean. There was a fighter jet that kept flying really low over the city (it was practicing for an air show) that freaked everyone out, but I thought it was cool. My dad went and got our car, then we checked out and left. It was pretty sad to see the city shrinking into the distance, I must say.