Chicago!

We departed early from Cedar Rapids, leaving Frances behind in exchange for leftovers from the night before, and headed for Chicago. We arrived in the city and headed straight for the Museum of Science and Industry to speak to museum patrons. For those who haven’t visited Chicago and seen this building, it was erected for the World’s Fair in 1893 and is quite the specimen of the city’s remarkable architecture. It’s grand underground halls host a submarine and coal mine, among many other interactive exhibits. While there we were joined by surprise guest Eric Larson ’10. After several hours talking to visitors, we headed to our home for the night – the apartment of Mike Vidmar ’03 about a lively restaurant in Chicago’s Greek quarter. It was great to chat with a recent Dartmouth alum and dine on a simple, yet comforting, meal of salsa chicken quesadillas fresh from Mike’s treasured Crock Pot.

After dinner, Mike half of the crew on a walking tour of the neighborhood to admire local architecture and visit the filming location for the next Batman film, complete with the Gotham City Police Department. While Mike and the gang were out on the town, Whit and Hayley sampled the movie collection with Kill Bill and after the rest of the crew returned home, we all fell asleep on the comfortable couch and air mattresses provided for us.

With no events planned until 7 in the evening, the day was ours to enjoy in Chicago. Merritt won the gold medal for the day by driving Hayley to the airport for her 8 am flight (ciao chica! We’ll see you in D.C.!) and then he and Kate hit the streets for an early morning run while the rest of us enjoyed the opportunity to sleep in. After a late breakfast, we all walked toward the lake to visit the Millennium Park, the Bean, and surrounding waterfront attractions (see photos). It was great to enjoy these sites as a group before splitting off to explore other sectors of the city. While walking the Magnificent Mile (Chicago’s premier shopping district), Kate, Whit and Merritt stopped off at the Apple Store to play with the iPhone and marvel at its user-friendly features. Take note gift givers – this is certainly the item of the year.

Later that evening we all met back at Mike’s apartment and drove to a hole-in-the-wall pizza joint to dine on some of Chicago’s specialty deep-dish pizza with some young alums and a bunch of ‘10s who were visiting a friend (who happened to work for Mike) in the city for the weekend. We all had a great time and loved having the chance to try some real Chicago pizza!

-Whitney