Day 2
We woke early since tak nak rugi masa. Checked out from the hotel and simpan semua bags dlm kereta. Dah settle simpan barang, bermula episod jelajah Chicago.
We took a stroll along the Grant Park. Cantik, especially time Summer ni. We did take some pics around the park, and not to missed the Buckingham Fountain too. Kata orang since fountain ni dah jadi landmark Chicago, tak complete la trip ke Chicago kalau takde gambar kat fountain ni.While walking in the park, kami start atur plan. We've decided to start with the Shedd - The World's Aquarium, the largest indoor aquarium in the world. At first our impression was like, sure lebih kurang Aquaria KLCC la ni. However, we were wrong.
Shedd Aquarium is HUGE! They seems like have the collection of the underwater world, globally. Really impressive and not to be missed while you're in Chicago. Dlm Shedd, kami sempat tgk dolphin show dgn Spongebob 4D show. It was interesting though even nothing to shout compared to those in Disney. We were amazed with the collection of the underwater creatures yg ada dlm tu, especially those dlm Wild Reef.
From Shedd Aquarium we took a boat ride on the Michigan Lake from Shedd Aquarium to Navy Pier. The ride was around 15 minutes and dpt la tgk Chicago skyline from the lake. Navy Pier nampak mcm meriah, byk activities for the kids. But we decided to skip, since our next target is HRC Chicago.We get some souvenirs from HRC and had our lunch there. The nachos, vegie burger and grilled salmon was great. The portion are big, siap leh tapau bawa balik.
From HRC we walked back to Millennium Park. On the way, we did stopped at few boutiques (as usual, mr ayah sempat lagi beli suit). At millennium park, ader Cloud Gate, design lebih kurang mcm bean. Ramai betul org kerumun bean nie. Semua nak tgk reflection masing2 :D We skipped the Crown Fountain coz we knew, kalau lalu situ, confirm littleman sangkut kat situ. Ramai betul budak main air kat situ. Joey je yg pergi snap pictures kat situ.We headed back to our car, and bergerak balik ke Kent, Ohio, joey's place.
More pics are in our FP and FB.
Dgn badan penat travel almost 10 hours the day before plus tido takat cukup syarat, we start our mission to head up north to Chicago, the Windy City. Journey around 5 jam lebih. Nasib baik la ada Joey, dia la yg drive all the way. The trip was a bit slow sebab hujan.
In Chicago, we checked in at The Palmer House Hilton hotel, area Chicago Loop. Cantik!!! and recommended. Nasib baik la dpt hotel yg strategic and betul2 dekat dgn center. After a short rest, kami start berjalan sekitar Chicago. Rugi la kan, dtg jauh2 dok dlm hotel. Target nak ke John Hancock Center or known as Hancock Tower. Jauh jugak sebenarnya jalan dari hotel ke Hancock Tower ni, ada la around 20 minutes. Nasib baik kami dah invest beli stroller for littleman, kalau tak jenuh gak tu nak dukung dier. Dtg angin dier malas jalan, mmg boleh buat mr ayah and mrs mama hilang mood, psl penat nak dukung dier.
Joey insisted us to try The Cheesecake Factory. Alang2 perut tgh lapar, we all decided to have a go. The food was good and the portion was big. Puttanesca and Cheese Pizza was good. Tu je la pun yg agak confident nak order dlm menu tu pun. Ops! tak lupa jugak one slice of original Cheese Cake. Heaven!!!
Fireworks patut start at 9.30pm, tapi mcm janji melayu jugak diorang ni. Dah dekat 10pm baru start. It was worth waiting. The fireworks took place for solid 15 minutes. Cantik... Tapi sayang littleman ni penakut sikit, especially masa mula2 start. Bunyi meletop2, sama kuat je dgn suara dia menjerit. Tapi bila dah start nampak colorful, dia ok dah.
After transfered our luggages to altima, we hit the highway again. That time was already around 1215pm, starting je dah tak smooth. Next, traffic jammed pulak once we approached NY, and another very long traffic before we crossed NJ to PA... tension... tension... Journey across PA was boring. We used i80, byk giler trucks on the road. Polis pun bersepah. Service area tak byk, we only stopped at 1 service area, at Clinton county. Itupun dah pukul 6 ptg. Makan bekal nasi and daging kicap.