October 4, 2008 - Chicago

I had a tradeshow in Chicago the weekend before my birthday (and conveniently on a UGA bye weekend), so Jill and I flew there after work on Friday.
We went straight to the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Building, our favorite bar and view in Chicago. (We went there on our first anniversary.)

We met Hynek Semecky (from our Prague office) there, but I didn't think to get a picture of him.

The next morning we discovered our view from the 22nd floor of the Sheraton.

Walking around Chicago is amazing. It is like a cleaner Manhattan with wider streets and sidewalks and more picturesque water.

The architecture is great, too.

Take, for instance, the local newspaper building.

They took stones from famous buildings from all over the world and incorporated them into their facade...
The Berlin Wall, The Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal...

The Chicago Water Tower, one of the few buildings to survive the great fire, is dwarfed by the John Hancock Building, which is much, much prettier than the Sears Tower (the current tallest building in the U.S.).

I go to work for a while in the morning while Jill goes shopping (for an extra shirt for me - so nice of her!).
We met up and had lunch at a local favorite pizza joint - Lou Malnatti's. Awesome stuff!

Jill had taken this picture of her travels that morning.

Again, the Chicago Water Tower.

That evening, we head out to Navy Pier, just to check out the scene.

Tour boats and personal craft sail by...

The Chicago Harbor Light.
What a great town. It isn't as magical as Manhattan, but it is more relaxed and tourist-friendly, imho...