Chicago: Day 4

(backdating this post to the appropriate day, even though I’m posting on the 23rd)

- Only a half day of seminars today, as it’s the last day of the conference. Woot!

- Since the weather is decent, strike out for some sightseeing. Decide to hit up the John Hancock building because it’s within walking distance while the Sears Tower is not.

- Have a look inside a high-rise shopping mall. Aside from the fact that it spreads up instead of out, it isn’t any different from the malls around here.

- Finally hit the John Hancock Observatory. Which I guess is a fancy way of saying “observation deck.” The line to get in is refreshingly short. The view is good despite it being overcast outside.

- Doesn’t take long to have my fill of the Hancock building. However, the line to get back down is far longer than the line was to get up in the first place. It’s about this time a sinus headache sets in.

- Choke down a couple of Tylenol with no water. Then discover a water fountain about five minutes later.

- Find a nice bench to rest on and wait out the line for the elevators, but the bench faces west, and the sun is low in the sky and sort of on the blinding side. Move into the shade. Decide to kill some time with the iPhone, but there’s no Edge service 1000 feet in the air. Go figure.

- Finally give up and just close my eyes and sit on the bench until my headache goes away. When it does, I discover that the exit line is much more manageable now.

- Back on the ground floor, I discover a Cheesecake Factory right there in the building, so I decide to eat there rather than try to dig up someplace local just out of principle.

- Pay the price for my poor dining judgement by having a lackluster cheeseburger.

- Decide that I don’t feel like wasting another night in the hotel room, so I locate a nearby movie theater.

- Head down the street and notice a ton of cops and police cars. As I’m shooting various photos, a woman asks me a question about “the protest.” I reply that I don’t know, I’m a tourist. She says that I looked like a journalist. I take this as a compliment.

- Continue walking and discover an anti-war/anti-bush/anti-fill-in-the-blank march heading in the opposite direction. Snap some random photos as I pass by. Am amused to see that the march is being closely followed by two street sweepers and a garbage truck.

- Make my way to the theater, where I check out In Bruges. Pretty good flick. Equal parts drama and comedy. Great cast. Not as much gunplay as you might think for a movie about hit men, but it doesn’t hurt the film. Recommended.

- Back to the hotel!