Day 2 - Sunday

Today we started early, as we were off to explore the Magnificent Mile, which luckily started about a block from our hotel. We walked the length, stopping to look at the different buildings, until we reached Lake Shore Drive. Here we stopped to take some pictures before starting a more leisurely trip back towards our hotel.

Along the way we passed the old and famous Drake Hotel. Our first stop was the John Hancock Center, the third tallest building in Chicago. The observation deck is on the 94th floor; they say the elevators are the fastest in North America - only 40 seconds to get up to the top.

Thankfully the weather was nice and the view of the city was really good. As a result, we were able to take some good photos.

After 20 minutes at the top and a good look at the city we headed back down for a quick look round the souvenir shop (Shannon must have her postcards) before we headed back out to the street.

We then headed back towards the hotel stopping at the Virgin Mega store and the 600 N Michigan building.

We ended up back at the start of the "mile" for some pictures of the Chicago Tribune building. After a quick stop for lunch at Mickey D's, which just happened to be behind the Wrigley building, I was presented with a photo opportunity.

It was then time to go back to the hotel so Shannon could register for her conference. After a look around the bookstore we headed to our room for a little siesta, better known as Shannon's afternoon nap.

Once Shannon was recharged we picked up our car to head south on Lake Shore Drive to an area called Hyde Park, home to the University of Chicago.

We had a short walk around a couple of the university buildings, stopping to feed the very fat squirrels.

We then attempted to head back to Lake Shore Drive. As usual we got a little lost and had a little adventure finding our way back to the road - it helps that there are some tall buildings to navigate by. After finding Lake Shore Drive we headed north to have a look at the apartment buildings that line the lake.

By now it was time to fill Shannon's belly again (I just go along to keep her company). We headed back downtown via Clark Street. This allowed us to see a little more of the city instead of taking Lake Shore Drive and a first chance to see Wrigley field.

We dropped the car off at the hotel to walk over to the Hard Rock ("Build it they will come" - Field of Dreams), which was about 10 blocks away.

It has just been refurbished and is finished in the style that all Hard Rocks will be using in the future. I have to say I liked the old red and white checker tablecloths. After our usual meals (nachos for Shannon and burger for John) we ambled back to the hotel stopping for a couple of "Kodak" moments.