chicago: day 1

wow.. hella long ass day today. so first of all i head out of SFO like 1230/ 1245 last night. the red eye was quite a good experience. my first flight was to minneapolis and i could hardly sleep. there was an autistic kid behind me that was quite erratic. when he was getting to his seat he smacked me in my head and i turned around. his mother apoligized to me and mentioned his illness. i completely understand just it wasn't the end of his unpredictable behavior. it was a bit difficult to sleep with his shreiks of high and low tones. he also continued to tap my head a couple more times. the flight was about 3 hours long and walking off the plane to my next flight was absolutly shocking. it was freezing, like walking into a freezer. my gate was super far away and i was tired by the time i reached it. this flight was about 2 hours long. as i slept fairly well and was satisfied with my seat selection. i was able to take up a whole row, in this case it was two seats and it was nice to have both of them. as we approached chicago, i looked out my window. it was amazing to see how dense the greater chicago area is. there were so many houses and all topped with snow. it was pretty cool to see. then maybe about a hundred yards from the where the tires of the plane met the pavement, there was something that just made my day. there was a whitecastle! so awesome, i can't wait to get some. stepping off the plane again i felt super cold. i walk through the terminal to the trains to the city. i end up taking the orange line into the city, into the famous transit loop. i get off and ride the red line to my hotel. the exit i took was the grand avenue exit and i end up at a place that i was meaning to hit up while i'm hear. there it is the weber grill restaurant. my friend at work mentioned to me the unique method of preparing food there and i was intrigued with it. so in most bbqs i have attended, the food is usually cooked on a grill and being the observant type, the brand of grill i mainly see is weber. so this place must be pretty good because i love bbq. i hear that they even cook pizzas on the grill. so i need to hit that up. i stood in the cold right in front of that place for a good ten minutes or so just to figure out where i needed to be. so i head down state to ontario where my hotel is. on my way to my hotel i pass by the famous magnificent mile. it was filled with nice shops and brand name stores that i would absolutly go wild for if i had more money. but i had a destination that i just needed to get to first so i don't roll around town with my luggage. i walk into the lobby of the fairfield inn and wow. marriott has stepped it up in their interior design. it was super trendy with the color changing mood lighting and the led tickers with inspiring quotes. hahaha.. anyways i drop my stuff off and head back out into the city to explore. i was starving so i had asked the front desk clerk for a reccomendation for breakfast. she lead me to the west egg cafe. ooo that was some good chorizo. hit the spot before i hit the city up. i walked up and down michigan avenue. i went as far north as the beginning of the north lake shore area and ended up down to the ice skating rink at the millenium park. it was quite a journey. i stopped by places like the apple store and niketown just to warm up for a moment. i started my touristy kinda stuff at the john hancock tower and was able to get beautiful veiws of the city. my admission to the tower came along with my purchase of the city pass. which means i have alot more sightseeing to do tomorrow. but to continue with the john hancock tower, it was just spectacular. i was 94 storys up in the air and wow it was quite high. there was one thing that kinda freaked me out though. as i was coming up to a window i put my hand up the little frame part, a baseball size peice of ice falls. thats 94 stories down! o man super scary. anyways i ended up talking to this quite redhead that works their and i finding out the crackin places in town. after the tower i kinda went on a photo spree talking pics of just whatever i saw. walking down michigan, i passed the two water tower dealy things, a couple famous churches, the chicago tribune tower, the chicago river, a couple museums and millenium park. woo i was tired after all that walking. and i was walking in my timberlands. my ankles were killing me. so i ended up taking the train back to the hotel. i checked in and knocked out. i slept from like 430ish to like 9pm. i headed out like 930 to get me some pizza. i know that deep dish was just calling my name. there was this place i remember passing by called pizzaria due on the way to the hotel from the train stop. unfortunately the deep dish takes a while to bake. so i sat and waited for that goodness. i had that with some beer, it was heavenly. i was still a bit anxious and wanted to stay out so i ended up at a place called rockit bar and grill. i got me a couple drinks and watched the gators and sooners game. it was pretty exciting. gators win and my focus was on the ladies in the place. but i was just not feeling the crowd. there were cute white girls but i was just ready to knock out. so i walked back and been chillin since. so tired now. must sleep. day one, done.. its in the books. now i better rest up because i wanna hit up the museum, planetarium, aquarium and other places tomorrow. good night world..