Chicago Day Three

Downtown Chicago is buzzing as this evening the Magic Mile parade and Christmas light event is in the offing. Knowing it would be packed and starting to slow down a bit, we opted for another trip to the Museum Campus (as it's called) and a visit to the Adler Planetarium. Much smaller than the two other museums we'd visited, this one was well laid out and quite informative. We got to play with planetary models, watch a couple of the shows and generally muss around.

By early afternoon we were tired and took ourselves to Millennium Park to watch the skaters. After a bit of holiday shopping for friends, we visited the Chicago Architectural Foundation to check on boat tours for Sunday. There are a lot of tours you can take in Chicago, some of which go out into the lake and others that go up the Chicago River. After finding out the info we needed, we crashed at the hotel and then went out for a fabulous Italian meal at the Italian Village. The wait was forty-five minutes, even at eight at night, but it was worth it. I've never had manicotti that literally melted in my mouth. Heaven. The same family has owned the place since 1927. Across from the hotel is a business that has been there for 151 years. Yeah, since 1857. Iwan Reis is a tobacconist and they have the most incredible supply of pipes and pipe tobacco. I loitered there, I admit it. What a wonderful smell.

Because we opted to rest we missed the Magic Mile festivities. Given our colds are still not quite resolved, we thought that best. A quiet evening of reading and recuperating proved to be perfect.

Tomorrow -- the boat tour! Did I mention it's barely going to hit 46 degrees? We Atlantans are in for a treat.