Being December and all, Chicago was abuzz with the Christmas rush, and the streets were filled with out-of-towners who drove miles to fight traffic and pay high prices at fancy stores. Gangs of jolly santas also roamed the streets for some reason, confusing lots of little kids. Even the L was outfitted with Christmas decorations:
Sadly, Santa did not slow down the train to pick us up.
On Friday, after visiting Ikea and reconnoitering the location of our downtown hotel, we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which was delicious. They make a mean cheesecake.
We spent most of Saturday at the Brookfield Zoo, unlike 99.9% of the rest of city. You see, the zoo is not very popular when it is December and the temperature is below freezing. Fortunately, this made for some pretty good zoo-age. With no crowds to interfere, we had more opportunities to commune with the animals. Plus, the cold weather was negated by the fact that the animal houses were kept toasty warm. Highlights of the zoo included the monkeys and gorillas:
and the dolphin show:
Sunday we took in the Museum of Science and Industry, which was also in the Christmas spirit, and featured Christmas trees from around the world. Despite the excitement of the big Star Wars exhibit that others may have been interested in, we stuck to the main exhibits like the coal mine, U-505 submarine (now 100% more underground!) and Jollyball.
After the museum, we grabbed pizza at Gino's East, saw the Second City (not as good as last time), and headed home. It was a great trip, and probably our last as just the two of us for quite a while. Still, I'm looking forward to trips as the three of us, when it will be even more fun.
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