Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Winter in Chi-Town

During our stay in Chicago last week, Marty and I tried to curb our spending a bit. One of us (still not sure who) introduced the idea of walking from our hotel on the Mag Mile over to the Shedd Aquarium, our destination for the day.

Hmmm. $10 cab fare vs. 4-mile walk in the blistering cold. (In hindsight, I could have skipped the glass of wine at dinner that night, and we could have taken the silly cab.) Regardless, the walk through Chicago's arctic tundra won out in the end (Never mind that Marty didn't have a hat. Or gloves. Or even a winter coat.), and we found ourselves scurrying along Michigan Avenue...


We made it to the Shedd:


So did 20,000 other people:

So we waited in line for 1 1/2 hours. Outside. (Did I mention it was cold and windy?)

I love irony.

But, it was sooo worth it! Here are a few pics; I apologize for the poor quality--these fish clearly don't understand the concept of swimming slowly, to compensate for my slow shutter speed ;)

Check out this guy: he's got a mark on his back fin that looks just like his eye, to confuse predators.



This turtle was GINORMOUS:


Seahorse!




This poor guy doesn't look too happy:


The Shedd is currently under renovation, which means that the penguins, dolphins, and whales are "on vacation." Seriously? No penguins?! I told Marty that the Field Museum (next door) has penguins galore. We could have gone there (and skipped the freezing-cold queue), but this is the reason Marty wanted to go to the Shedd:


Anything to keep the hubster happy ;)


I know. Iguanas at an aquarium?



We stopped at Millenium Park on our way back:



Our attempts at a Bean-reflection picture... My aim was off, and people started staring. So we made faces to really emphasize our coolness:




We love Chicago! (But next time, I'm bringing an extra $10 bill...)

4 comments:

marcia tumminaro said...

4 miles in chicago winter weather? good thing you were wearing that adorable hat!

looks like you guys had fun, though, regardless of the weather!

CZ said...

Sounds like a nice little getaway. Luke and I did that same thing (stayed on Mag Mile and went--by bus--to Shedd...long lines, cool stuff to look at, walked back, stopped at Millennium park and took pics by the "egg" as Luke calls it) but we chose the milder month of October. Just some friendly advice from your old cousin!!! :)

Erin_Speziale said...

Before I forget which one it is... the second to the last is the COOLEST picture ever!

Your post made me laugh out loud, I know this is your photography blog, but the posts are always so funny and entertaining! (Although, I always knew you were a fabulous writer).

As soon as I read "walked from Mag Mile to the Shedd" I was like "OH MY GOSH! That's like 2 miles! In THIS weather?!" HAHA! Boy was I wrong! (But I bet you wish I was right) lol.

These pictures were so cute Sherah! Those little pinky, corally things were so pretty! I just wanted reach out and touch them! :)

georgia b. said...

great shots, girlie! i especially love the fish pictures!

looks like you had a great time. this is why Chicago is my favorite big city!