April 19-24, 2012
This week I was in Chicago with the units and some office people for the ASCRS Ophthalmology meeting. I got sick one of the days, which was unusual and annoying, but other than that it was a pretty fun trip.
On Friday after leaving some previously purchased pants off to be hemmed at Nordstrom’s, Mom, Dad and I went to the Shedd Aquarium. I left in the middle of aquarium time to walk over to Soldier Field to take a stadium tour. In all my trips to Chicago I had never been up close and personal to the columns that most sports fans picture when picturing Soldier Field.
Hearing the history behind the stadium name was interesting. Unlike most professional stadiums the Bears don’t have a stadium naming rights sponsor. The Bears owner has vowed to never sell naming rights, even after a major renovation in 2003, in order to continue honoring the history of Soldier Field as a memorial for soldiers returning from WW2. Since then the memorials in and around the stadium have evolved to include fallen soldiers and servicemen since WW2. Below are some of my favorite snapshots from the tour:
I feel like I have been to a fair number of aquariums in my life. As a result of this on recent aquarium visits I’ve rarely found a species that I haven’t seen somewhere before. On this trip I was pleasantly surprised to find this little Duck colored guy whom I'd never seen. He is an Ocellated Dragonet aka a Synchiropus Picturatus.
On Saturday Mom and I went to the Cubs vs Reds game. Our seats were in the second row, along the third base line about half way between the bag and the outfield wall. All of that goes to say the seats were in ideal foul ball territory. In the second inning a hard line drive hit the wall just in front of the kid in front of me. Had he been a little more coordinated, I’m certain he could have caught it. In the sixth inning a ball was coming straight for me. I stood and watched it into my mitt. At the LAST minute the dad of the uncoordinated kid in front of me stood up and reached for the ball. He managed to get his hand in front of my glove and knock the ball over my shoulder on to the woman beside me. I was so ticked. This was hands down the best opportunity I’ve ever had to catch a foul ball at a major league game. The funniest part of the whole foul ball incident is that a friend of mine was watching the game and saw me on TV. I thought he was lying when he texted me but he then proceeded to tell me exactly what I was wearing, so he clearly did see me. Thankfully he confirmed through his DVR that the guy in front of me sabotaged my efforts. Alas my quest for catching a ball off a major league bat will have to continue.
After the game Mom and I made our way back to the hotel. I was tired and not feeling great so I decided to take a nap before dinner. When I got up for dinner I still felt like crap, so I decided to stay in while the rest of the gang went out. Whatever the bug was it kept me down Sunday too.
Monday morning I talked Mom into going to see the “Cloud Gate” aka “The Bean” with me. It is probably the coolest piece of city art I’ve ever seen. I liked it so much that in the afternoon after Mom and I had done some shopping I took Rebecca and Sue back to see it.
For dinner Mom, Dad, Sue, Rebecca and I went to The Palm. We had been there once before and I remembered it being overpriced. I left the restaurant feeling the same way this time but I did thoroughly enjoy the company and dinner conversation.
Tuesday we didn’t really have time to do much in the morning but pack up and head for the airport. All in Chicago was a solid trip. The next adventure will be Granny’s hip replacement in two weeks.
Until then,
Katy
