The Explore All 50 States Project
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Think of the state of Illinois and you instantly think of the big city of Chicago, the famous Windy City. Sitting at the shore of Lake Michigan, Chicago teems with life, culture, history and art all of which we had the opportunity to experience as we explored the city. From gleaming skyscrapers to historic immigrant areas like Greek Town and Little Italy Chicago is a diverse city that comes together by a shared … [Read more...]
The Chicago Architecture Boat Tour is wonderful way to relax and learn about some of Chicago's most iconic buildings and must for anyone visiting the city. We took an hour-long cruise on the waterways learning about the history of the settlement of the city by the Potawatomi Indians who named the area Chicago which means "stinky onion"-how about that for an interesting little factoid. We cruised by many … [Read more...]
Wow, everything you ever wanted to know about the Windy City is under one roof at the Chicago History Museum. We found this museum to be a fantastic place to learn about the history of the city, it's diversity, and it's role in the American economy. We started off in the kids area which has some really fun interactive exhibits. The kids loved "becoming" a chicago hot dog and riding an old fashioned bicycle. … [Read more...]
Did you know that the Chicago Post Office is the busiest in the nation? The Chicago Post office offers tours and after making arrangements a few days in advance we headed over right after our visit at Millennium Park. We met our tour guide, a wonderful gentleman who informed us he'd been working there for 43 years. He proceeded to tell us what happens to a piece of mail after we put in in the mailbox showing us … [Read more...]
Millennium Park is a great place to start (and start early, there’s a lot to do in the Windy City) your adventure in Chicago just like we did because you can do it before 10am before most other things open. We got really lucky as we were able to walk from our hotel which wasn't that far. Millennium Park is an incredible public space filled with artwork and areas for concerts. We walked through the Lurie Garden … [Read more...]
So I have to be honest, we didn't do the Navy Pier on this trip, because we'd been to Chicago a number of times before visiting cousins and my kids had been there umpteen times, but it's definitely a place to check out if you are visiting the windy city. There are rides and attractions as well as restaurants and fun shops to peruse. My kids especially liked the giant ferris wheel and the jet boat ride. This is … [Read more...]
There are a couple of different ways to see Chicago. Besides cruising down the city's waterways, you can also get a bird's eye view (a pretty high flying bird that is) by heading to the Sear's Tower Skydeck. After we took the super fast elevator 103 floors up to the top, we headed to the windows to check out the view. It's really interesting to see the city up so high because it also makes you realize how big Lake … [Read more...]
You just can't go to Chicago without sampling some of the iconic foods, the most famous of which is Chicago style deep dish pizza and so after asking folks on the street and double checking with our guidebooks, everyone pointed us in the direction of Uno Chicago Grill. This place was super busy, which is always a good sign, but the wait was 45-minutes to an hour which I hear isn't unusual. We decided to give it a … [Read more...]
After a whole day of discovering the land of Lincoln in Springfield and dinner at Perkins, we headed to Knight's Action Park, another family fun center with mini golf, go-karts, batting cages, and lots of cool rides, along with some kind of water park( that when we were there happened to be closed). It was just our luck that as we arrived, most of the park closed down because of a lightening storm-yeah you don't want … [Read more...]
The Lincoln Home National Historic Site is the location of the Lincoln family’s home in Springfield, and it is maintained just as if the Abe Lincoln and his wife and children still lived there. After getting our free tour ticket at the visitor center, our guide led us into the home sharing some insights into Abraham Lincoln's life as a husband and father and an attorney here in Springfield. The first thing I … [Read more...]
