The Zyriek Zoo: Chicago Day 2

After such a full day 1 in Chicago, we knew the girls would be ready to rest (after some silliness in the hotel room) and ready to be on the road on Thursday morning. They were excited about going to the Shedd Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the US except for the recently opened Atlanta Aquarium. It is beautiful and part of the Museum Campus in Chicago on the lakefront. We traveled by taxi cab about 2 miles from the hotel. The girls were thrilled to be riding in a cab. Even had me snap their picture inside!! We spent 6 hours at the aquarium. They had so much to see and do including a beluga whale show, sea lions, jellyfish exhibit, a "chat" with a diver inside the main tank, 2 4-D movies, and much more. We ate lunch there overlooking the lake and had a great time. We were pretty tired when we finished, so we headed back to the hotel to rest a bit and plan something for dinner/evening time.

We decided to walk down Michigan Avenue to the John Hancock building which has a beautiful observatory on the top floor. It was included in our CityPass booklets as an attraction, so we checked it out. It was great. They had audio tours that were self guided using a headset with a separate tour for the kids. Each window you viewed the city through had 3-5 things to see and listen about. The girls really enjoyed it and so did Gary. We spent a while going around the entire observation deck and learned a lot. Even though the Willis Tower is taller and more of a tourist attraction, the John Hancock observatory was much better for learning about the city and having a 360 degree view of the city from above. We enjoyed some hot chocolate and then headed to the Cheesecake Factory which was at the bottom of the tower. The girls loved it and we enjoyed seeing the new "Skinny" menu which had caloric counts included and all entrees below a certain caloric threshold. Made for easier ordering for the parents!

We walked back to the hotel and settled in at the end of Day 2. Great day and really are enjoying being in Chicago. The weather is low 70's during the day and upper 50's at night. Perfect!