Tuesday 31st October
We had a really big day planned today. Yesterday had gone really well. It was a big day with lots of moving parts and things that could and maybe should have gone wrong, but they didn’t and we executed our plans to perfection. We arrived in the City Early, navigating to the hotel Rental Center and back flawlessly and overall having a great day getting to see some great parts of the City.
Today, we had less ambitious plans, but they would not quite go as swimmingly, mainly due to one big event that all started as we ate breakfast…
Breakfast Flurries
Breakfast was included in our room stay and we got to eat at the rather fancy Ventuex restaurant on the ground floor looking out over Michigan Avenue. We both picked out three items on the breakfast menu we wanted to try, and as luck would have it we had three days to eat here so would get to try all three. We went for an Eggs Benedict, and a Cheese and Egg Crousant for our first breakfast. Both of which were wonderful.
We had $30 credit each day to use, so that covered pretty much anything on the menu, so as we tucked in, contemplating the day, we started to notice something happening out the window…
We had a lot of plans for today, but most of these looked like going down the drain as it was clear, outside Snow was starting to fall. We had a touch of snow on the way in, but it was more sleet and not settling in any way, but today’s snow was more real.
Look we are not stupid, we know it Snows in Chicago in winter, and we also know it can be cold, very cold, but this was still mid-fall and we were not expecting Snow yet, and nor was anyone else we spoke to. Despite the fact it had been forecast, we kind of thought it would be wet and sleet-like on the way in, but this was white, fluffy proper snow, we just didn’t know yet how much would fall.
We had gone from 90°F a week ago to below zero and snowing, quite a change, and to be honest we were pretty excited! Yes, it would change our plans, but we were really excited to see the City wrapped in a white blanket!
After Breakfast, we ventured out. As the snow was now falling pretty heavily, we decided to take the morning to do some indoor activities, heading over to the Museum Campus to visit the Shedd and the Field Museum. As it was snowing, we decided to walk. It’s not too far and while we could have jumped in an Uber, we wanted to experience the snow as it fell.
We headed through Millenium Park, which was, unfortunately, being heavily renovated, watched the snow fall onto the Cloud Gate, and then down to the Lakefront trail to hike over to the Museum Campus. It was a brisk hike, with the City Skyline dipping in and out of view as the intensity of the snowfall varied.
Shedd Aquarium – $46
We arrived at the Aquarium to find more renovation work going on. The entrance was to the rear and there were a few exhibits not open to the public, such as the Caribbean Reef which is one of the Aquarium’s main exhibits so this was pretty disappointing and one of the negatives of visiting Off-Peak.
The Go City Chicago Pass got us straight in and into a 4-D movie about Sharks. The first port of call was the Ray Touch pool where we got to interact and even feed the friendly Stingrays. We then Headed to the Oceanarium where a Dolphin show was about to Start. Then it was onto the Beluga Whales, Sea Lions, Penguins and Dolphins underwater viewing area. The Oceanarium is really what sets the Shedd apart from its rivals and why it sits at Number 3 on our Top Aquarium List.
We are always a bit torn on seeing Marine Mammals in Captivity, especially Beluga’s. They are truly magnificent, but always feel they would be better off in the Ocean. However, Shedd does some amazing conservation work and the Whales are part of what funds that. It’s a tough call, but as long as the Aquarium does not Aqauire any more Wild Caught animals, and does their best, which they are doing, to keep the Whales happy and entertained we can’t really ask for more. It’s worth noting the Beluga tank IS huge, and there are massive issues with releasing Whales back into the wild as we found out in Iceland.
The rest of the Aquarium is a little less contentious and has a colossal array of aquatic life on Display. The Wild Reef has a large Indo Pacific Coral Reef where younger guests can find both Nemo AND Dory. They also have a large Shark tank with Zera Sharks, Sandbar Sharks, Balck Tip Reef Sharks, and Guitarfish.
The final destination was the Waters Of the World. This is one of the oldest parts of the Aquarium and has a staggering array of creatures. The design is a little bland, just a series of tanks in large hallways, but the amount of specimens is staggering. There really is almost every kind of fish and aquatic creature you can imagine in this display from all kinds of waterways in the world. Giant Snapping Turtles, Sturgeon, Trout, Lamprey, Caimem, Ciclids, Lung Fish Paddlefish, Archerfish, Piranha, Lobsters, Moray Eels, and even Giant Pacific Octopus. it really was crazy just how much was on display.
We are huge Aqaurium fans and we really loved the Shedd, we had already visited the New England Aqaurium on this trip, and the difference was clear as to why the Shedd is in the top three in the country…It might even nip the top spot once the New Carrebean Reef Exhibit opens up next year!
Field Museum – $35
Next on our list of indoor activities was the Field Museum. This is one of the best natural history museums in the world and a huge rival to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. As to which is best, well it really depends as they both have different high and low points. However, the museum is one of the best collections in the world and is definitely worth heading to when in the City. It’s also around a 100-meter walk from the Shedd, so it was very convenient.
The snow had largely passed but the city was still cold, with poor vis so another indoor attraction was perfect.
You are welcomed to the Museum by a huge Silverback Gorilla, then two gigantic fighting Elephants, and finally Maximo the Titabasaur. This is all just in the main hall and is quite the introduction.
As part of the Go City Pass, we got entry to one of the Temporary Exhibits and we headed for Blood Suckers, seeing as it was Halloween. This exhibit was quite horrible, filled with all of nature’s nasties. Leeches, Mosquitos, Ticks, Lapreys, Horsefly, and Vampire Bats. We came out quite itchy and freaked out in a good informative kind of way.
Next, we headed to the Egyptian Exhibit and checked out the Mummies. This was very impressive and included large excavated tombs and lots of examples of actual Egyptian Mummies complete with their sarcophagi. A really stunning exhibit, not quite up to the Mets collection in New York, but impressive nonetheless.
Following this we headed to the Animal Halls. These are mindblowing in scope and it feels like they have a specimen for just about every bird mammal and retile on the planet. There are two parts to these halls, the specimen and the Dirama. The specimens are just cabinets filled with different creature specimens whereas the Diaramas put these specimens in realistic environments. It was a wonderful space, but a little confusing and disorientating with just so much on display.
The final part of our trip was always going to be the highlight. The Stunning Griffin Halls Of Evolving Planet…The Fossil Halls.
Unlike the Animal Halls, the Fossil Halls were really easy to navigate. You start at the beginning and walk the path through the halls. This was particularly rewarding as when we say start at the beginning we mean it! the halls are laid out as a timeline of the earth’s evolutionary history. Starting with the oldest fossils and moving forward as the earth evolves. There are notable points along the way that explain the various extinction events and clear dividing lines as life on Earth changes and adapts after the disasters.
Obviously, the Juraasic and Cretatious are the most exciting Epochs with a host of recognizable creatures, stegosaurus, Triceratops, Allosaurus, Bhrachiasaur, and loads more. Then of course there is everyone’s favourite…SUE.
If you only needed one reason to come to the Field Museum SUE is it. This is the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Skeleton ever found. And she is absolutely magnificent. Sue gets a hall and a display all to herself and she really deserves it. Like most kids I have loved T-Rex for pretty much my entire life, Jurasiic park only cemented this love, and getting up close and personal really brings home how incredible these creatures must have been.
Even after Sue, there is more to see in the Fossil halls as we head into the ICE-AGE and see Giant Sloths, Wooly Mammoths and Sabre Tooth Tigers, fans of the Ice-Age films will be very happy here!
Finally, we get to meet Lucy, and find out what the last and current extinction event is! Lucy is one of the earliest examples of a hominin and our early distant cousin. A forerunner of the catastrophe that is currently befalling earth…us!
We really loved the Field Museum but enjoyed the Fossil Halls most of all, they really were well laid out. There was still a lot to see in the Field Museum, but we knew we had peaked and had been museuming all day so we decided to head out and see what else we could do on the Pass.
Serious Snow
However, we hit a problem. Heading outside and the Snow had returned and this time with a Vengence. It was a total White-Out, we didn’t even know where the City was, the whole skyline had been erased by the storm.
There was no way we could hike back in this and we did not want to mess with public transport in a whiteout, so we pulled up the Uber App and summoned a ride. Unfortunately, pretty much the whole of Chicago had done the same and the surge charge was eyewatering with the wait times LONG.
Eventually, our ride arrived, as the snow eased off and we were whisked back to our hotel. From here we decided to get some food. We had not eaten since breakfast and decided to get out of the weather with some time in a restaurant. Sometimes you just want the Familiar and as it was Happy Hour time, we headed to Cheesecake Factory for some cheap and cheerful food.
We ordered a couple of half-price appetizers, Nachos with Spinach Dip and Buffalo Blasts, a couple of cheap cocktails, and a slab of Cheesecake for dessert. We know it’s predictable but we always have a Cheesecake factory at some point on our trips.
After this, we noticed something a little strange on our weather App…the skies were showing clear, and more snow was on the way, but currently clear. We checked the Rain Radar and again, it showed clear…we then headed outside and sure enough, the skies were blue. It was also around 4:30, only an hour or so before Sunset. We had kind of written off the Go City pass for the rest of the day as the weather was just playing havoc with our plans as we had other plans for tonight (Halloween) But we realized something about this weather window…
360 Chicago – $35
The Skies were clear, Sunset was approaching and as it happened we were directly under the John Hancock Building which houses the 360 Chicago Observation Deck, included on the Pass. Before we knew it we were in the elevator and heading for Sunset at the Top…Exciting!
The 360 is a really good Observation Deck offering, predictably, 360-degree views of the City. We were really lucky in timing it this way as once at the top it was still light, with just a touch of colour coming through the sky. In an hour or so we spent at the top, this light faded, the sky burst into color and then darkness fell on the city. We couldn’t have timed this better if we planned!
The deck itself is quite basic. It’s indoors, which is always a drag and the reflections really do not help. It’s also quite small as the John Hancock is not too large of a building. The Unique selling point is also a bit Lame. It’s called tilt and is a movable window that leans you out over the drop. But it’s only 30° and is not that scary and for us, not worth the additional cost.
What is not Lame, is the View. You get a full 360 view of the City and as the Building is a little set back from the main Downtown area you get a really nice removed viewpoint of the Cities Skyline. It also offers great views of the Navy Pier and Lakeside Drive hugging the coastline in both directions. With the amazing light and color of this evening, the added contrast of a layer of snow, and large snowstorms off in the distance. It was an amazing end to the day…
Haunted Halsted
However, this was not the end. As it was Halloween we still had one thing left to do, and like most people in Chicago, there is only one place to be on Halloween Evening, North Halsted for the Haunted Halsted Halloween Parade.
After the 360 we hopped onto the L and headed out to the Halstead Neighborhood. The train was pretty full when we got on, and just got more and more packed as we picked up more and more Revellers.
We arrived at the PArade Route nice and early and managed to get a great spot right on the rail ready for the parade. The weather was cold and the clear skies from the break we now clouding ver and the snow was clearly closing back in.
The parade was shorter than we hoped but the quality of the costumes was really incredible. The participants, all amateur, came through in various waves all separated by Jeeps, also themed and filled with monsters. It was great fun as they threw out candy as they walked the route.
It only took around 30 minutes but we got some great shots and really enjoyed the Halloween fun. This was the end of our Halloween Adventure (but far from the end of our trip), while there was more to come we had finally finished, and we finished strong. Ok, it’s not quite up there with Salem or the Lahaina Halloween party we visited last year in Maui (which is possibly the last EVER), but it was still great fun.
We got a bit of a run on the crowds and headed back to the L to get back into the City Center. The Snow began falling just as the parade passed us, so we got lucky and avoided another coating of the white stuff.
All in all, a memorable day.
Go City Chicago All-Inclusive 2-Day Pass – Running Total
- Attractions Today – 3
- Total Attractions – 3
- Attractions Cost – $116
- Running Total – Day 1 of 2: $116
- Cost Of Pass – $170
- Savings – -$54
A Quick look at how we are doing on the Pass
The pass cost us $170 and today we used a measly $116 worth of attractions.
This is a pretty poor return for us, we normally break even on Day one, but we have so many attractions planned for tomorrow and really plan on making the most of the day. The poor weather today just really stopped us from getting the best of the pass, but tomorrow looks bright and sunny, if a little chilly, and we really plan to cram a lot of fun in!
With or without a Pass we always plan some indoor activities to do during a trip, just in case the weather is bad and we need some fun things to do to escape the rain or snow.
Walking Total – 22,261 Steps – 11.3 Miles
Today was a big day on the feet. Museums are always tough going with a lot of time strolling, and standing which can actually be more painful on the feel than stomping around. We were on the go from early on until very late with almost no let-up and the 11.3 miles we covered was actually mildly disappointing as we really were on the go all day. The hand location of the Hotel and the compact size of the City Center helped us get around the attractions without covering too much distance.
<<< Day 13 – Epic Drive from Sandusky to Chicago – Deep Pan Pizza
Day 15 – Chicago – Bus Tour – Sky Deck – Navy Pier – River Cruise >>>
