We headed up to Chicago for Columbus Day weekend in early October. We had been told that we could do the journey in 6/6.5 hours with no stops but with a short stop, a road closure and no detour signs as we approached the city (thank goodness for GPS) and traffic it took us 7.5hrs and we all felt totally exhausted. Well we did, predictably mini monkey, glad to be freed from the confines of the car, was keen to run around and stretch her legs.
After a short rest we decided to head out for a quick look around the local area before it got dark. We got a great deal on a hotel (we love priceline.com) and were staying two blocks back from Millenium Park so we went straight there. It is full of modern art and sculptures but our two favourites were Jaume Plensa's 50ft high fountain that is basically 2 tall blocks facing each other with images of local residents projected onto them and every 15 minutes the faces 'spit' water out of their mouths. The other was 'the bean', Anish Kapoor's silver-drop sculpture officially called Cloud Gate, it is like a massive, smooth, silver drop of water that reflects the city skyline and the all of the people staring into it. We also discovered that at the back of the park there was a large open air stadium which was holding a free country music festival so we sat right at the back in an open patch of grass and mini monkey got to run around whilst Daddy Monkey drank a beer and I didn't (having recently discovered that I was pregnant - good news!).
The next morning we speed marched to Willis Tower - previously named Sears Tower and currently the tallest building in the States - we had been warned that the queues can get pretty bad so we were glad to find that they were short when we arrived and we probably only waited about 20 minutes to get the lift up to the 103rd floor viewing gallery. There are windows all around to get city views but on one side there are three small bay style windows with glass floors that you can step out into and look down. Mini Monkey was fascinated and would not pose for a photo preferring to spend her time nose to the floor, I made fun of Daddy Monkey for not wanting to step out onto it and then confidently stepped out myself and felt my stomach lurch as I looked down and even I had to admit that it was actually pretty high and a bit scary.
We then hopped onto an open top bus and did a tour around the city sights before getting off at Navy Pier. To be honest this was just a pedestrianised pier full of shops and fast food outlets but we had a good browse and some lunch. We then walked across to Michigan Avenue and the Magnificent Mile which is the main shopping street and wandered around a bit, window shopping, but to be honest we have been so spoilt by the designer outlet centre an hour from our house that we found everything way too overpriced and hadn't really come to Chicago to shop anyway. We then jumped onto a water taxi and did a bit of a boat trip down the Chicago River to the China Town stop where we got off and had a good look around - once we had actually found it!
The next day we got the bus out to Lincoln Park which has a large, free entry Zoo. Mini Monkey absolutely loved it and we saw a mass of animals. The one we all enjoyed the most was the polar bear which had a large swimming tank with a glass wall and as the weather was quite warm the bear was repeatedly swimming underwater widths right up to the glass and around and back again. That evening we listened to a bit more free country music and tried to mentally prepare ourselves for the long drive home the next day.
Monday, 14 February 2011
Friday, 4 February 2011
Graceland
A pink Cadillac driven by Elvis and later gifted to his Mother which she continued to drive for the rest of her life.
Seating area next to the bar - not the 3 TV screens, very advanced in its day. there was also a billiards room on this level.
The bar in the basement.
The jungle room. This photo does not do it justice, it it a totally over the top, informal sittingroom filled with animal skins, a thick green shagpile carpet, heavily carved wooden furniture etc
Set off to the left just after going through the front door, Elvis had a formal dining room and on the right a formal sitting room. We were not allowed upstairs. As you went back through the house there was a downstairs bedroom used by his parents, then the kitchen and the 'jungle room' and access to the basement level.
Some of his earlier jumpsuits which he became so famous for, later on these became much gaudier and a cape was added.
The final resting place of Elvis Prestley and his parents.
The front of Graceland. It is set back from the road and reasonably well shielded from view by tall trees.
Memphis Photos
Beale Street during the day before it got busy.
Peabody Ducks, not the best photo ever but there is a duck swimming around in there.
An Antiques shop in the Ozarks.
This was the only photo we took of the drive through the Ozarks but most of the roads were single carriageway and windy.
Memphis
Memphis is about a 5 hour drive away heading down through the Ozarks National Forest. It was actually a very interesting and beautiful drive - for the first few hours anyway, after that we got a bit fed up. It seems that everyone here thinks of a 5 hour drive as absolutely nothing whereas to us it seemed a bit epic. Having recently arrived here it was our first real introduction to what is often referred to as the 'real America'. Lots of tiny little scatterings of run down trailers and static mobile homes (not sure I can call them towns) with piles of junk/scrap in their yards and no apparent source of employment nearby. Nearly every home or sometimes community had a 'yard sale/flea market' set up on their drive where it looked as is they were probably offering their entire wordly possessions to the highest bidder. And all of this set amongst dense woodland, rich fields (with some very nice looking farm houses), hiking trails and rivers.
After driving out of the Ozarks we drove through miles and miles of flat nothingness before arriving into Memphis on the Friday afternoon. It was kind of strange, we could see Memphis for miles before we arrived, it was a smallish collection of highrise buildings in the middle of nowhere with seemingly very limited suburbs. After checking into the hotel we decided to head straight out and were immediately struck by the fact that we seemed to be pretty much the only people there, it was kind of creepy, like somekind of ghost town or perhaps a wild west town about to have a shoot out!
It is too long ago to remember the exact order we did things in so I am just going to list them.
We went to the Peabody Hotel to watch the famous duck parade. At 11am the ducks are escorted from their duck house on the roof of the hotel by the duck master, he leads them into the lift and then from the lift, along a specially laid red carpet to the hotel water fountain in the centre of the lobby where they swim around until 4pm when the duck parade is reversed. It was infact pretty busy in the hotel and at 4pm we jostled for space and watched the ducks jump out of the fountain and waddle across to the lift. Mini Monkey enjoyed it but would have liked the show to go on a bit longer, we enjoyed it too in a 'bit of a novelty' kind of way.
We then headed to Beale Street, famous for its 'blues' type bars and cafes. The weather was still warm enough for us to sit outside and we stayed for several hours listening to live bands, drinking Blue Moon beer out of 'Big Ass Beer' cups (which must be approx equivalent of 1.5 pints) and eating deep fryed cat fish for me and smoked ribs for Daddy Monkey and surprisingly Mini Monkey enjoyed the ribs too.
Next morning we got up early and headed to Graceland (and then realised why the streets were so empty, all the people for miles around must have been here only to pay tribute to Elvis). We queued to buy tickets, then queued to get onto the bus which took us across the road to Graceland. We did an audio tour of the mansion with its extreme decor and opulent fitments and then out to the grounds before being bussed back across the road to the Elvis car museum which was impressive, and a couple of small clothing and other items 'museums' which were not that good, we saw the main clothing collection in Graceland. Graceland it probably better described with photos which I will post, along with comments, later.
We then tried to go to Sun Valley Studios but they did not allow children under 5 on their tours and after driving around a bit more we decided we had seen enough anyway.
That night we went back to Beale Street which was absolutely heaving. There were Police checkpoints at either end of the road checking people in and out, street acrobats, stalls etc, etc. We stayed there for a bit and then heard from other people that there was a free jazz festival a few streets over, we headed across and listened for a while but to be honest it was just one band at a time on a stage, they were good but there were good live bands in every bar on Beale Street. We then wandered up and down the large collection of stalls selling stuff and ate some very nice Mexican food at one of the stalls before heading back to Beale Street.
The next day we went to the Zoo. We love the Zoo and it is always a good day out for us because mini monkey enjoys it so much. This was a well laid out Zoo with lots of animals of every kind, large enclosures and plenty to see and do. Our favourite thing was the grizzly bears, at feeding time the keeper stood above a pool of water with a glass side/wall cutting across it. He rang a bell and the 3 grizzlies came running across and all jumped straight into the water. He then threw large pieces of fruit such as peeled melon and apples into the water which the bears ate right in front of the glass with all of us stood right the other side of the glass watching them. Finally the keeper threw a large ice block with fruit frozen into it and the bears went and lay at the far side of the pool in the shallows and gnawed at their treats.
On the Monday we headed back home.
After driving out of the Ozarks we drove through miles and miles of flat nothingness before arriving into Memphis on the Friday afternoon. It was kind of strange, we could see Memphis for miles before we arrived, it was a smallish collection of highrise buildings in the middle of nowhere with seemingly very limited suburbs. After checking into the hotel we decided to head straight out and were immediately struck by the fact that we seemed to be pretty much the only people there, it was kind of creepy, like somekind of ghost town or perhaps a wild west town about to have a shoot out!
It is too long ago to remember the exact order we did things in so I am just going to list them.
We went to the Peabody Hotel to watch the famous duck parade. At 11am the ducks are escorted from their duck house on the roof of the hotel by the duck master, he leads them into the lift and then from the lift, along a specially laid red carpet to the hotel water fountain in the centre of the lobby where they swim around until 4pm when the duck parade is reversed. It was infact pretty busy in the hotel and at 4pm we jostled for space and watched the ducks jump out of the fountain and waddle across to the lift. Mini Monkey enjoyed it but would have liked the show to go on a bit longer, we enjoyed it too in a 'bit of a novelty' kind of way.
We then headed to Beale Street, famous for its 'blues' type bars and cafes. The weather was still warm enough for us to sit outside and we stayed for several hours listening to live bands, drinking Blue Moon beer out of 'Big Ass Beer' cups (which must be approx equivalent of 1.5 pints) and eating deep fryed cat fish for me and smoked ribs for Daddy Monkey and surprisingly Mini Monkey enjoyed the ribs too.
Next morning we got up early and headed to Graceland (and then realised why the streets were so empty, all the people for miles around must have been here only to pay tribute to Elvis). We queued to buy tickets, then queued to get onto the bus which took us across the road to Graceland. We did an audio tour of the mansion with its extreme decor and opulent fitments and then out to the grounds before being bussed back across the road to the Elvis car museum which was impressive, and a couple of small clothing and other items 'museums' which were not that good, we saw the main clothing collection in Graceland. Graceland it probably better described with photos which I will post, along with comments, later.
We then tried to go to Sun Valley Studios but they did not allow children under 5 on their tours and after driving around a bit more we decided we had seen enough anyway.
That night we went back to Beale Street which was absolutely heaving. There were Police checkpoints at either end of the road checking people in and out, street acrobats, stalls etc, etc. We stayed there for a bit and then heard from other people that there was a free jazz festival a few streets over, we headed across and listened for a while but to be honest it was just one band at a time on a stage, they were good but there were good live bands in every bar on Beale Street. We then wandered up and down the large collection of stalls selling stuff and ate some very nice Mexican food at one of the stalls before heading back to Beale Street.
The next day we went to the Zoo. We love the Zoo and it is always a good day out for us because mini monkey enjoys it so much. This was a well laid out Zoo with lots of animals of every kind, large enclosures and plenty to see and do. Our favourite thing was the grizzly bears, at feeding time the keeper stood above a pool of water with a glass side/wall cutting across it. He rang a bell and the 3 grizzlies came running across and all jumped straight into the water. He then threw large pieces of fruit such as peeled melon and apples into the water which the bears ate right in front of the glass with all of us stood right the other side of the glass watching them. Finally the keeper threw a large ice block with fruit frozen into it and the bears went and lay at the far side of the pool in the shallows and gnawed at their treats.
On the Monday we headed back home.
Update!
Ok, so I have been totally rubbish at keeping up to date with my blog so I am going to try and catch up over the next few weeks by giving a bit of an overview of what we have been up to and where we have been.
Daddy Monkey gets 10 Federal Holidays a year which are basically our equivalent of bank holidays and his training establishment add on an extra day (training day) to each of these which means that we get a 4 day weekend nearly every month (with the exception of March and April). We have tried to focus in on these as being a great time to visit places closer to us (close by US standards anyway) and to build holidays around without using up all of his annual leave.
I will sign off now and start composing an overview of our first long weekend to Memphis, all the way back in September on the Labour Day weekend.
Daddy Monkey gets 10 Federal Holidays a year which are basically our equivalent of bank holidays and his training establishment add on an extra day (training day) to each of these which means that we get a 4 day weekend nearly every month (with the exception of March and April). We have tried to focus in on these as being a great time to visit places closer to us (close by US standards anyway) and to build holidays around without using up all of his annual leave.
I will sign off now and start composing an overview of our first long weekend to Memphis, all the way back in September on the Labour Day weekend.
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