LAST NIGHT ON ICE in ILLINOIS

ICE HOCKEY GAME IN ACTION!


Night 222

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Ice Hockey Game - California San Jose SHARKS vs Chicago BLACKHAWKS

United Center
Madison, Chicago, Illinois

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Chicago, Illinois

We headed into the revolving doors of Navy Pier (I HATE those things!) and who did we bump into?

Kate and Jodie!

They'd just been to "potty" (don't you love that saying!) and poor ol Kevin was doing loops around the block in the big white van waiting for us all!

We were off to see Ice Hockey!

But first...we had to get there!

Chicago is not an easy straightforward place to navigate one's way! As we found out.....like ma, like son :-) We got slightly tangled up in traffic (As if could do better. We all know what my road skills are now don't we..........!) but finally found our way to the United Center Stadium ticket box!

With tickets in hand, (thanks kate...do we repay you with a visit to a winning Docker's game?) we headed off to Billy Goat's for dinner!













How are the names of restaurants....Billy Goat, Bubba Gump, Pot Belly...haha, so funny!

Burgers and chips later (you'd love it Cazza!) we anticipated our first Ice Hockey game..

















Adorned with hats, gloves, coats, and everything else we entered the stadium. I think Kate's sexy tiger print shoes might have been better made of the fur than what they were...her feet froze! It was 48F! (9C) Brrrr...

Then we got stopped. By a HUGE Chicago Hawks blanket and a Bank of America Credit card!!!!!

Kevin's job was to fill out the application..so guess who..could have a Chicago Hawks blanket!!!!!

Whose idea was that?

It was Gramma's! hehe

And although i felt bad, it wasn't bad enough for me to stop him proceeding. I ended up with my blanket and i love it!!! I'm going to frame it when i get back as my Chicago momento...my pink Chicago windsheater paled into insignificance! Poor Kevin is now the proud owner of (another?) credit card! Thanks to a good marketing ploy. (And Greg considered joining so both families could have a blanket! But he didn't have a social security number!)

Aren't we vulnerable....

Wasn't the blanket worth it????














Once we entered the stadium...we found it to be MASSIVE!!! What a huge arena. There were huge screens televising and people everywhere, noise and the whole hullabaloo! It was an electric atmosphere...and an exhilarating experience. I got really excited!

What a game. 6 players, including goalie. Lots of fast action. Fights. Fervour pitch as they attempted the goal net. Goals are few and far between, and rare. The score ended up being 2 - 1 to the California Sharks..but who was counting? (Kate and i were yakking so much we actually missed one of the goals..but shhhh...)

I couldn't resist a Budweiser to complete the all american sporting game..and just sat back and listened and watched...(ok, and talked!)...the songs were motivating...pink panther was a good choice to get the crowd going!

We loved the night.

It was a very special and fun last night in Chicago. I'll miss being around friends.

Kevin drove us home again...back to the sticks....(what good people Indiana folk are!) and here we are.....back 'home'!

Tired, emotional after saying our farewells to such a gorgeous lady and her great kids we are now going to go nigh, nighs before we head off to Seattle...

We WILL be sleepless in Seattle!!!!!

xx

LAST DAY IN CHICAGO

Jenny with the man opposite Bubba Gumps!







Greg objecting! hahaha!














Day 222

Our last day in Chicago today!!! Awww......

And it was COLD! 53 F today...and even though i knew it would be cold, i never quite believed it until we hopped off the subway and faced the wind shooting over from the great Michigan Lake!!! It had me wanting to huddle up with the pigeons gettin warm by the flame in central chicago! (No joke! That's what the pigeons do!)

We ended up having to roam the streets looking for a shop to buy something warm to add to my already warm coat and pants. So...i am now the proud owner of a pink chicago windsheater and some gloves! Winter, along with the wind, has set in in Windy Chicago!

We got our Brazilian visa. What a process! And we got it in a hurry..but it still took 3 visits to have it sitting in our hot little hands! We were wondering why we had to have a visa for Brazil and all we can think of it's due to the extradition laws there (remember Ronny Biggs!?)...

One woman asked us how long we'd been waiting to get our visa..and we'd already been told not to advertise the fact to other people waiting that we applied one day, issued the next. We told her we started the process last Friday! Which was technically correct as we were at the Embassy..but it was closed.

Anyway..we're set. That's all that matters!

We had prearranged to meet Kate and her son and his wife outside Bubba Gumps at 5pm so after getting our visa, we had a few hours to fill in, so we went on a boat cruise! And learned more about the city's architecture....we couldn't get enough of this type of information.

The cruise was COLD! As we were cruising out of the harbour..and through the multiple Locks before we headed out on Michigan Lake the temperature dropped 20F! Which meant by the time we were cruising out on the open lake it was 33F! Arrgh. I headed inside to peer outside..along with everyone else, and sailor Greg stayed out on deck to get a good view..and to take a few (more) pix!!!

Chicago has a lot of tall buildings! Skysrapers. In fact, the Sears Building is the highest building in the USA. It has an antenna sitting on top of it that is 278 feet high!

There are a whole lot of others in the Loop or along the Magnificent Mile.

Chicago also has the honour of being the only city in the world with more than one building containing at least 100 floors!

These are the John Hancock Center (Centre) with 48 floors of condominiums from the 45th floor to the 92nd floor in between business and restaurant spaces, holds the world record for the highest residential floor.

This is the building where Oprah, Goldie Hawn and Patrick Swayze have apartments!




















Talking about tall buildings...Apparently there's a building in Dubai going up, called Burj Dubai, to be completed in 2008, that will be as high as the Sears building and the Handcock building put together..imagine that! It'll be 2,313 feet high! Currently Taipei 101 is the highest building in the world.

The tower which has faces appearing..see the face drinking from a straw! (Forgotten the name of it!)



















Something that we learned on the tour, which we found interesting, was that Michigan Lake completely iced over in 1979. The only year it has. Imagine that?

And also, after The Great Chicago Fire in 1871 (which killed hundreds of people) Chicago was rebuilt..so the buildings competitively took an innovative approach to architecuture which is why it is so modern and quite outstanding.

Apparently, according to folk law a cow kicked over a lantern in the barn owned by Patrick and Catherine O'Leary!

This has been vehemently disputed by historians..but it sounded good to me!

Ended up having lunch at Starbucks...(they sell good sandwiches, not just coffee!) and then headed down to Navy Pier to meet Kate and Co...

PS Here's Greg and his ghost in Navy Pier!