Chicago trip day 2

I got nearly 2 1/2 to 3 chapters written yesterday so I took off for the coffee shop again this morning. The women working there remembered me and some of the locals did also. This time, they all talked me up like I was a local! Dang.. not sure if that means I'm the 'token tourist' they all like or what. Pretty fun though. Got a bunch more written.

I ate at the Cheesecake factory last night... and ate WAY too much. Not doing that again. Gotta watch how much of this rich food I eat.
Spent time this afternoon at the Navy Pier with Mom. Navy Pier is a really cool place, it was part of the US Naval training Academy but now is a giant amusement park and such.

Inside there are boat tours, and even a stained glass museum! The stained glass museum was really cool, lots of stuff from the 1800s and earlier. Some modern stuff but not a lot. I took some pics, they'll be posted when I return.

Bought a tshirt so I think I've filled my 'silly tourist purchase' obligation. Not really seen much for anyone else though. I'm hoping to see stuff at the aquarium on sat and at the natural history museum tonight.

Yeah I get to go to this big fancy banquet at the Natural History Museum and after dinner I get to walk through the King Tut exhibit. I'm really hoping its the real deal not replicas. But if not, there's dinosaur skeletons, actual classical paintings by famous painters (not duplicates), and other things. Maybe the gift shop will have some cool things.

Chicago Trip day 1

I'll skip the day I arrived by plane, that ate up most of the day.

This day, mom spent the time in conference meetings. Which left me to write and nose around Chicago. First thing was an old Presbyterian Church that was across the street and the left from the hotel. Really cool architecture. I've got pictures, when I get back I'll post them up. Vines covered one wall and there was this really cool courtyard with a fountain. The fountain had ornate marbel scrollwork and relief carvings of saints on them. Four drainspouts sat a foot above the water basin itself. Really cool.

I'm staying in the Westin on Michigan Avenue right downtown in what is called the Magnificent Mile... why I dunno. I'm still working that one out. Across the street is the John Hancock building, the second tallest in the US. Really neat place, At the bottom is a dias for bands and there is a outdoor cafe for several cafes and the Cheesecake factory. I 'discovered' a coffee shop there that I think I may take up temporary residence in. The staff thinks I'm funny with my 'laptop' ( aka PDA + keyboard + mouse ). Though their coffee is really good and the atmosphere is very condusive to writing. I guess I'm my own best gimmick this way.

Bought a couple of pens at a store in the John Hancock... $7!! gah... They'd better last is all I've gotta say.

Chicago people find me interesting. They stare a bunch and so I look them right in the eye, give'em a plesant smile and say 'hello'. They either blush (the ladies tend to do that, a couple of guys did once also... ) and smile or just blush and run off. Guess the ones that run are embarassed they got busted staring at the guy dressed in the knee high boots, cargo pants and western-like shirt. Oh and I'm sporting that shoulder bag made from a Mark 7 gas mask bag. So I suppose I'm pretty strange looking to people around here.

One of the people at this conference Mom is going to said I have a certain unique 'charisma' about me that most men don't have. She said that people around here are just drawn to staring at me. heh.. I just think its funny.