Checking out Chicago

This past weekend Kevin in I were in for a very fun adventure. We left work a little early on Friday and made the drive to Chicago. Moria had been there since Wednesday for a conference and Brian was flying in the same day we drove there. It was only about a 5 hour drive for us and we really didn't hit any delays until we hit the tolls going into the city. We checked into our hotel and then headed over to meet up with Brian. Our friend Ethan from Stanford (who is now in Baltimore for his Post Doc) was also there for the conference. We grabbed a bite at the Billy Goat Grill & Tavern which is where all of the writers from the Chicago Tribune supposedly go to eat.

Yay for good friends!

It ended up being quite the late night for us. Kevin, Brian, and I found a great place for drinks close to both of our hotels that was reasonably priced and we had such a great time catching up that we lost track of time. Since none of us had to be anywhere for the conference it was a little easier to do. After a late start to the next day we were finally ready to check out the city on an absolutely beautiful day.

Chicago River

You may have notice that we haven't seen Moria yet. She had actually taken a bus up to Madison for a Post Doc interview and wouldn't be joining us until later on that day. We just enjoyed wandering around the city and taking it all in. I am now sort of in love with Chicago.

We had to go check out Millennium Park while we were there.

 Kevin and I had seen plenty of pictures of The Cloud aka The Bean and we were excited to see it for ourselves. It was pretty amazing in person!

I laugh every time I see this one.

Once we'd had our fill of the park we wandered over to Lake Michigan. We spent some time taking in the gorgeous afternoon and relaxing with great company.

After our walking tour of part of the city we headed back to the hotel to meet up with Moria. We only had a little bit with her before we had to split up again. She had a dinner with the rest of her lab that evening and since she'd been gone from the conference for a bit she couldn't really skip it. While she was with her group, Brian, Kevin, and I went out for some Chicago style pizza.  

The pizza was amazing but I made the mistake of eating almost two entire slices. I was pretty stuffed for the rest of the night! 

 Once we'd finished dinner we met up with Moria, Ale, and Ethan to do more catching up. It felt strange to be meeting up with all these friends from California who are spread out among three states in a city that none of us are living in. Strange but wonderful!

Brian, Moria, and Ale

Ethan, Cara, and Kevin

 Most of us were fairly exhausted so we didn't make too late of a night. We still had stuff to see the next day and a 5 hour drive back to Michigan.

Friends!