Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Memorial Day in Chicago (2009)

Memorial Day weekend in Chicago (23rd, 24th and 25th May, ’09)

As soon as long weekend is approaching, we start churning the wheel about where to go and what to do. Winters are always boring hence this is what we do - 'Plan for summer'! That too, Memorial Day long weekend is like opening gateway for summer.
We were 'last minute planner' this time. Just a week ago we finalized everything and yeah, we got really good deal! 3 days are just perfect for Chicago; you can comfortably cover almost all attractions and at the same time can relax as well.

Chicago is just 2 hours flight from Philadelphia and it was perfectly on time, good omen to start with :) But then be ready to spend another hour or so to get in rental car facility (free shuttle from airport) and then wait in a long queue. Being a big airport, lot of options are available for car rental, this time luckily we got sweet little Hyundai. Our stay at Holiday Inn was just the perfect location, around 15 minutes from airport and 15 minutes from downtown (which is called Chicago Loop)

We portrayed Chicago in our mind somewhat similar to New York- crowd, traffic and multi-cultural tourists. But none of these turned out to be true. Manageable crowd, better-organized traffic really saved us lot of time and efforts. For all attractions except museums, you have to find either street parking or be ready to spend $25 for one-time parking. Good to have street maps because GPS will not work sometime.

Day 1

We started our day with world famous, renowned attraction, Sears Towers - tallest in US and third-tallest building in the world. Mainly office area offering total space of more than 400,000 sq feet. Like Empire State we expected wait time both in queue and observatory. But we were lucky enough to go up just in 10 minutes. We took audio tour by paying little extra, which we later figured out was useless. Usually they take you to 103rd floor, but because of construction we had to settle for 99th floor only. It is a covered observatory with nice maps and instructions in each direction mentioned which attraction/building look for. The moment I looked down, first though came how structural and organized it is. It looks so well planned whether you talk about roads or buildings. The most beautiful view is city area near Lake Michigan (where all museums are located). Bad part is, since it is covered, you cannot have photos with beautiful backgrounds :(
Anyway, 30-40 minutes in observatory is good time to cover everything.

After Sears Towers, we walked down to Chicago Cultural Center. It was free admission since we were not interested in particular exhibition. (It is like NY Metropolitan Museum of Art). It is a nice walk in downtown area, not too many people and while walking you get a close look of several other buildings as well. Several snack shops and cafeterias on your way to keep you energetic :)

After this point, we should have brought car back and parked somewhere near Michigan Ave to cover Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountain and Magnificent Mile. Millennium Park is a rare combination of architecture, art and landscaping. It has got open theatres for performance. You can sit or literally lie down and relax. Near entrance, there is a 'Big Bean' designed by Indian, which reflects panoramic view of all surrounding buildings. (Also known as Cloud Gate). You can encircle the entire park if you want. There is also a water stream running where people sit on steps.
Buckingham fountain is one among the largest fountains in the world, which you can walk to from Millennium Park. This park is considered to have got the most sophisticated theatre for any kind of events across US.

And then comes, 5th Ave of Chicago, The magnificent mile. It is a shopping area located on Michigan Ave to gratify the desire of shopping :) It has got all big branded stores just on one street, which is again uncommon sight. I have seen all such stores in some covered malls. Even in NY, one cannot find all of then on the same street. The view does look Magnificent in the evening. There would be lotta people on the street, which will drive you crazy! If you do not intend to shop anything, just stay in car and drive those 3-4 blocks. Free street parking is not available at all so walking is the only option.

And finally the dinnertime, Chicago is full of options for Italian, Mexican and Indian food. I did some homework and we landed at Giordano's Pizza. I thought we were little early for dinner but then it was waiting time of half an hour. It was the best-stuffed pizza we ever had!!

Day 2

Chicago is a cultural city, full of museums. Few famous to list here are, 1) Adler Planetarium 2) Shedd Aquarium 3) Field Museum and 4) Museum of Science and Industry. First 3 are located in same area, near far end of Lake Michigan. Each of them has got their own free parking and average admission fee would be $20-$25 per person. We were not interested in any of these 1) We have seen the best planetarium, Smithsonian in D.C. 2) Aquarium is not my cup of Tea 3) Field museum is an underground museum, mainly aimed for school-going kids

Museum of Science and Industry had an exhibit going on for Harry Potter. It's about 6 miles from above-mentioned museum-area. Drive is very beautiful and scenic. You have to drive all the way on 'Lake Shore Drive', parallel to Lake Michigan. It is a not a very busy street with one side Lake Michigan and other side portraying few of the nicest buildings in Chicago. As far as Harry Potter exhibit is concerned, I would recommend booking tickets in advance. We were among first 100s of people to get in ticket line still we got time slot for 4:00 PM!!
Even if you are not a big fan of Harry Potter, you must not miss this. They have display of almost all dresses, shoes, game articles etc associated with all main characters and certainly you cannot ignore some of the finest details.

In a warm weather, it's nice to spend 2-3 hours at Lake Michigan. They have plenty of parking spots and seating facility at lake. It will always be pretty windy here. They have nice picnic spots as well, you can grab some food, bring it here and enjoy...

Just to utilize the time in afternoon we decided to go Navy Pier. It is another end of Lake Michigan with small amusement park and river cruise. You can comfortably spend around 3 hours. They offer covered parking with flat rate of $24. If you are willing to walk and lucky enough, you can go for free parking couple of blocks away. This place I can most closely relate to fun fair (which is permanent though:))
It has got museums, street-side games, few eateries, a big Ferris-wheel
etc. If Kunal would have accompanied me, definitely I would not have missed Ferris-wheel. The main attraction is the river-cruise. There are quite a few options for cruise based on duration and time offered by different private companies. Duration ranges from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Some of them do have options of food being served on board but not good for veggies like us :) Fees vary from $15 to $60 based on which option you choose. It is advisable to allocate some time for this since frequency is not very high. We went for 45 minutes cruise and it was worth every penny we spent. It did not have even tourists half of its capacity hence it turned out to be our personal cruise :) Make sure to choose something, which has ample of indoor sitting facility since it would be pretty windy and cold outside.

By the time we headed back to hotel we were so hungry and craving for some hot, spicy Indian Food. Chicago is densely populated with Indians, especially suburbs like Schaumburg. We found one Indian Restaurant (Indian Garden) in street mall and we were astonished to find it cheaper and better than NJ!!


Day 3

Our third and last day was occupied by visiting relatives in Streamwood followed by visit to Swaminayrayn Mandir (BAPS) in Bartlett. We could not get a chance for Darshan, but just roamed around for 15-20 minutes.

I found Chicago perfect for 3 days visit. I wish could have spent more time by Lake Michigan. I wish I know how to sail and I have my personal boat as well:)) If time permits, you can cover one more museum as well. If you are hard-core shopping fan, Chicago premium outlet is something you should not miss. It is a perfect combination of big-city-like architecture and local variety of food and culture. It is the best trio of fun, relaxation and knowledge!

I Love Writing...:)

It's a different story that nobody else likes to read but I thouroughly enjoy it! Flow comes easier and better then I had thought.
Few weeks ago, I came across website for Gujarati poems maintained by two friends-one in India and other, here in USA.
And then thought popped up to do something similar- we (Rachana and I) are in a process of creating/publishing our joint blog. And Rachana being close to punctual and stickler, I am sure our blog has got long life :)

Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks

After reading The Wedding, The Notebook and A Walk to Remember, no wonder I had high expectations from Nicholas Sparks. He made me believe true love and long-lasting relationships can and do exist in West, it’s not just anybody’s property. Also, after reading his books, desire to visit North Caroline is getting stronger.

But after reading ‘Message in a bottle’, my heart is broken and I am totally disappointed in him. He sounded very monotonous, no complaint about it since every author has his or her own style and secondly, I am no expert to comment on somebody’s expertise.

It is a nice flow, how two lonely persons (Theresa and Garrett), leading completely different kind of life are destined to meet each other to make themselves complete. Everything was going good, Theresa flew in to NC from Boston, met Garrett and they had a ride on his boat. Very coincidental, but still convincing. Then Garrett invited Theresa to his home and what happens when two lonely persons are alone? That’s right, SEX. Author has devoted good 3 pages to describe this, why? They don’t even know each other for 24 hours. I can understand that they fell in love immediately, but why it has to be concluded like this and that too so fast? He is an established author, he does not have to use this trick. Even if he wanted to portray physical intimacy why to write such detailed description?
Another similar incident, Garrett gets upset with Theresa when he finds out she knew about him through letters he wrote to his dead wife. Theresa comes to NC to patch up with him and everything is suddenly okay after they have sex!!

I am not over traditional or conservative. I agree that physical intimacy is final step for any close man-woman relationship. For man, this is ultimate aim and for woman, it’s byproduct of love and security. But it should be done at right place, right time.

After reading this book, I was compelled to think whether I am over-reacting or my expectations were very high?