Our journey was short from Little Calumet River to DuSable Harbor Marina. The lake was calm and comfortable, so... very tolerable compared to what I was preparing myself for, thankfully!
First up in Chicago was a walk to the Maggie Daley park and playgrounds to stretch legs. Today was the most stationary our bodies have been in a long time.
Ben decided the kids needed some ice cream to hold them over until dinner and found the History of Ice Cream Museum. We walked to it and found out the tickets were going to be $24 per person, so we went to JoJo's Shake Bar instead. I suggested sharing 1 or 2 shakes, knowing I would only have a sip or 2, looking at what each shake included on the menu, and knowing the eating ability of my kids, despite it being ice cream... but what do I know?! We got 3 shakes and a cookie (for me!) because no one liked my intuititve thoughts. The girls shared one, Moose and Ben each got their own and regretted it when they couldn't finish even half of it. We should've gotten 1 or 2 shakes to share. It wound up being $60 for everyone, compared to the $120 we were going to spend at the museum that no one would've paid any attention to while they rushed through it for ice cream, so it was still a win in my book.
Since we ordered at the window, we didn't have a table inside to eat at. There we were, no where near a spot to stop, with 3 completely overflowing cups of sweets that were going to wind up on the ground if we were walking and eating. Ben saw a few tables setup on the street curb and sat down to eat there for a bit until we got kicked out of those because we weren't customers of that particular restaurant (which I said would happen, but figured it would buy us some time). We moved just outside that seating area and sat on the curb to finish up the toppings as best as they could before walking back to the boat, while stating they changed their minds and think that ice cream was actually our dinner for the night- everyone was stuffed.
The next morning, we cleaned house, organized things that still were left out from when we got to the boat, and got ready for Gramma and Pop's highly anticipated arrival.
Once they were settled in, I figured we would get linner and see the Bean. We walked to the Bean, but on the way, there were some signs about free ice cream sandwiches, so we stopped to see what that was about. Dreyer's was giving out samples of their new s'more ice cream bars and sandwiches. Several little seating areas had firepit-looking coolers in the centers, which is where the "park rangers" from Dreyer's kept their frozen treats frozen. Everyone got to pick if they wanted a bar or sandwich and we were 50/50 on the decisions. They both were good, but didn't taste as s'morey as I'd expected. This seemed to be the consensus among our group. Regardless, they helped hold us over a bit longer.
Quick stop at the Bean for an obligatory family photo. We walked around and under it, before moving on, walking to linner.
Portillo's was recommended as a great place for a Chicago hotdog, and this was one of the must-eat items my parents had for this trip. It was a 1.1 mile walk, that seemed much longer! Every now and then someone asked how much further we had and mentioned how far it felt, despite being avid walkers/pickleball players/hockey players at home. (I just read that Portillo's is looking to open a few locations in Colorado!)
Before we got inside, Ben said, "Oh great! It's inside a gas station!" I thought I messed up and sent him the wrong pin and now we were SO far away, but realized the building was next to a gas station, so we were good. Walking in, my dad said this reminded him of New York
-New York in Las Vegas. I could see that! It was decorated with so much attention to detail and made it fun to look at everything.
Orders had to be placed at kiosks and we waited for the order numbers to get called before taking our meals upstairs to enjoy. Everyone except Roo and I got a hotdog. She and I shared an Italian Beef sandwich.
There were talks of getting a Lyft to the boat since it was so far away, but Ben and I decided we would walk, so the others joined us. Instead of going to the boat, we decided to go to Navy Pier, which was closer than the boat anyway.
My mom, the kids, and I rode Flyover, a new attraction at the Navy Pier. We wanted to do this for a few months, since we were told it was just like Soarin' in Disneyland and EPCOT (although Flyover is not owned by Disney, it is more like a cousin). There was a cool preshow highlighting different people/lifestyles of Chicago. The ride itself felt the same as Soarin' and used the same ride vehicles. I asked for the very top so we wouldn't have dangling feet in our view. There were 9 vehicles arranged 3x3. Each vehicle held 7 people. All rows load on different platforms and move forward to the screen. We didn't lift up like Soarin' does due to being the only row on our level. I didn't realize there were 2 more rows beneath us until after it was over and I asked. There were some drops from tops of buildings as we were flying down, some scents, mists, and stuff like that. It was pretty expensive, but worth it!
After Flyover, we met up with the guys and walked to the end of the pier before walking back to the Cartermaran.
The next morning, we were up and out by 8:45 AM for our Lyft to Griffin Museum. We bought regular tickets, with 2 extra add-on tickets. The first timed-entry ticket was for the Spider-Man Exhibit. This was a fairly new exhibit that featured the timeline of Spider-Man, started with Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and evolved into what it is now.
We were able to explore the whole museum after Spider-Man. I didn't think it was possible to see everything in one day, especially with our additional timed-entry tickets. The regular part of the museum had a neat weather/storm exhibit with a lot of hands-on activities to try out, a Tesla coil, a farm exhibit, evolution of the bicycle (one of our books from 3rd grade!), a body exhibit, and several others.
Ben, my mom, and the kids got timed-entry tickets to the German U-Boat tour. My dad and I wandered a bit more of the museum while they did that before meeting up again. Ben said we have been on better submarine tours and I didn't miss out, which is what I was expecting and was the reason I didn't buy a ticket for myself.
My mom, the kids, and I all agreed- our favorite exhibit was the Hall of Mirrors- the dads sat this one out. We all laughed so much and did it 3 or 4 different times. It was very deceptive and exciting, especially when our group got broken up and we could hear each other but not see them, or saw one of their mirror images without actually seeing them.
Remember how our friends, the Morreales, suggested Pequod's Pizza last July and we were turned away until 11 PM because we didn't have reservations? I definitely didn't forget. A few days before my parents arrived, I made sure to make our reservation so we could all enjoy it together and check off another must-eat item- Chicago deep dish pizza.
Our time at the museum came to an end and we got our Lyfts to Pequod's Pizza. A large pizza has 8 slices. We figured with 7 of us, we'd each eat 2 or 3 slices because we didn't eat lunch and were all super hungry. 7x3=21, so 3 large pizzas should be good- a Hawaiian, a pepperoni and sausage, and a half pepperoni and jalapeƱos, half peppers and onions pizza.
The adults and Bear averaged 2 slices (Ben had 3) each. Moose and Roo had 1 each. Thats 13 slices of the 24 that we thought we'd need. We were left with 1 and a third pizzas to take home. No one had complaints about eating more later! The crust was my favorite part- cheesy and crispy. I knew Moose and Roo were not likely to eat theirs, so I immediately volunteered to help them. š¤¤ Back to the boat, after getting in a Lyft.
Dad fell asleep for the night as soon as we got back. The kids, Mom, and I waited for the Saturday night fireworks on the Navy Pier at 10 PM. To help pass the time, we played some games. I got 2 surprise card games from the mall in Indiana before we got to the boat, so we played one while waiting for the fireworks. It was Kids Against Maturity and I didn't realize it was entirely potty-themed humor (Let's Go!! Version) until I opened it tonight. Hilarious game. The kids got into pajamas and brushed their teeth so that when the show was over, we would all go straight to bed.
Good fireworks show by the pier. It lasted about 10 minutes. Several boats watched from between the breakwaters by the launch site. Off to bed by 10:15.
