The Legend

The Legend

Monday, October 5, 2015

Chicago and a Thwarted Kidnapping

My wife and I were invited by the WVU Children's Hospital to attend the Vermont Oxford Network conference in Chicago. The Vermont Oxford group is a collaboration to help improve neonatal care. Our daughter was born at 25 weeks, weighing only 14.5oz so it is a topic near and dear to both our hearts.

While in Chicago I was hoping to kidnap Jake Arrieta until after the Wild Card game, but he was away in Milwaukee. As disappointing as that was I still enjoyed my time in Chicago. It was nice to finally get some time to sight see as most of my time in Chicago had been airport layovers. Check out some pics....

Couple of views from our hotel room. The big shiny building is Trump tower.  If the building wasn't unique enough for you, TRUMP is plastered in huge reflecting letters on front of the building.  We were told that the city passed an ordinance that you are no longer allowed to place the name in such grandiose fashion.

 Cool night shot my wife took while we were walking around.


Some deep dish pizza. My wife likes NY style so she is not a convert, but still enjoyed it. I'm not a huge pizza fan to begin with so I'm not a good judge. It tasted good so that is all that matters. Maybe my wife would have liked it more if she was able to fold it. You need knife and fork to go at the crust.




Friday afternoon was our only significant down time from the conference so we made the most of it. The three pictures above were taken on a river architectural tour. It was very well done and lasted about 90 minutes. Plus the boat had a bar!

This is me with Satan eyes. My wife really should work for TMZ. As soon as I turn around she is ready for a shot. This was a taphouse attached to the Chicago Tribune building. I believe it had 115 beers on tap. Cool place that I wish I had more time. This picture was taken about 1230am so last call was coming. The bartenders were cool guys and gave us a good late night spot that was right next to our hotel.
This picture was taken inside the Signature Lounge which is on the 96th floor of the Hancock building. It is the ultimate tourist trap, but still cool nonetheless. The setup to get on top is much like that of the Empire State Building. Lots of waiting for a limited amount of elevator space. The cool thing is they have a fully functional restaurant and bar on top to go along with an observation deck. We chose to do the bar since the observation deck had a charge. View with drinks is always better than a view without....


As for my daughter here is a progression of photos that shows her progress.
 This is Luisa not long after being born.  As you can see my hand is bigger than her.
This is Luisa not long after we brought her home.  She was on oxygen for about 6 months after we got her home.

This is Luisa now! She is a tough little cookie. Knock on wood, but we are not showing any developmental issues. 

Thanks for reading! 

29 comments:

  1. 115 beers on tap! Deep dish pizza!
    Top floor views with a bar! I'm on the next plane to Chi-Town!

    Cool photos of the city and fantastic pics of lovely Luisa. What a smile on that gal! Her smile goes straight to the heart.

    Most excellent post, my friend!

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    1. Thanks for the kind words! Chicago was a blast. I would love to go back just as a tourist. My free time was limited to mostly late night so their is plenty more to do.

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  2. Great pics. Thank you for sharing.
    Pizza good and the young lady is cute as a button.
    Heartbreaker when she grows up.

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    1. Thanks! It was a fun trip. Would have loved to see a game, but just didn't have the time.

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    1. She says hi Elmo. I told her that all French people are named Elmo....

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  4. Top of the Hancock is the best place to see Chicago, for sure.

    I agree with Mark, great post!

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  5. That looks like Geno's East.

    The building with the purple lighted top is the Tribune Tower. It has pieces of many different building embedded into it's facade. You can see the Wrigley Building at the left side. They bath it in milk once a year to help keep it white.

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    1. That building had a West Virginia component. I think it may have been Harpers Ferry. I really liked the Tribune and Wrigley building.

      I'll have to ask my wife what pizza place that was again. It slipped my mind. We basically just asked Yelp for best deep dish within walking distance of our hotel. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Geno's.

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  6. NY style pizza > Chicago style pizza
    Always.

    Nice post though :).

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    1. My wife would agree with you Zippy. I'm not much of a pizza guy to begin with so I'm kind of in the middle for each. I do like Chicago style hot dogs.

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    2. "This is tomato soup in a bread bowl."

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  7. Nice shots of Chicago! Hancock building does have good views though despite the 13 dollar drinks! I personally like Pizzeria Due on Chicago and Wabash but I know other people like Lou Malnati's or some other places.

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  8. This was my favorite post of yours this year. I'm proud of you for trying the deep dish, and it warms my heart that you would put so many pictures of Chi-town on your blog! But, not nearly as much as that last picture of your and Luisa. Beautiful!

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    1. Thanks Tom! I had a good time there. Looking forward to going back when I don't have as much to do.

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  9. At least you didn't take a selfie of your glass elevator ride at the Hancock, because, tourist or non-tourist, EVERYONE seems to do that when they're in Chicago. This really is a beautiful city, and I find me reminding myself of that every few days, it seems, just like this post did.

    And thank you for sharing the pics of Luisa, I'm glad she's doing well!

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    1. People were doing that on our elevator ride. It was annoying, but I took solace in the fact that I would soon be drinking.

      Luisa is tough as nails. I'm just glad they don't remember the early years.

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  10. Thanks Mark. Hope life is slowing down a little for you.

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  11. Deep dish pizza isn't pizza.

    I've always enjoyed my visits to Chicago. I took the boat tour as well and enjoyed it.

    Thrilled to hear your daughter is doing well!

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    1. Ha. I figured the NYC contingent would fight the Chicago group in this post.

      I wanted to do the crime history tour, but it sold out. That is on the agenda for next time.

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  12. Awesome news about the little one.God bless her,man!I'm with you on the pizza,as long as it tastes good....

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  13. Luisa is blessed to have such wonderful parents! She is a beautiful little miracle!

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