Sears Tower

Dave and I had brunch plans at the Publican yesterday, and we consumed far too much food.  We shared a waffle (best waffle I have ever had), the Publican's "bacon" (i.e. three huge chunks of pork belly), and I had a pulled pork torta with black beans.  (Dave had an omelette stuffed with gouda.)

To walk this off before some sight-seeing, we decided to head to Millennium Park, where we saw the Lurie Gardens in their fall splendor:

We also stopped by the Art Institute's shop and bought a full museum guide and a Charley Harper 2013 calendar.  Dave sort of wanted to go into the museum, but we have spent so much time in art museums this year, and I thought it would be the perfect time to do something that Dave has never done in his entire 8 years in Chicago:  visit the Sears Tower!

OK, OK, I know it's called Willis now, but they can't make me say it.  It was fun to see the views all around the building, and Dave even got onto one of those scary glass things:

But, I hope that we both enjoyed this visit enough for a lifetime, because I don't ever want to go back.  Bleargh.  The sea of humanity, screaming children, whining teenagers, and line-cutters is enough to make me understand why people end up resorting to violence in places like Cubs game parking lots.

Afterward, I dropped Dave off at work for a few hours while I went to knit in the Cook County Jail.  The women were really, really excited yesterday, which reminds me of how rewarding it is and how it is all worth it, even if it is sort of a pain in the ass to travel to 26th and California every other Sunday.  Two of them were so excited that they were jumping in their seats!

All in all, a pretty great day in Chicago.