Rochester 1/2 Marathon

So a while back I signed up for the Rochester 1/2 Marathon.  Um, yeah it kind of snuck up fast on me.  Well after work on Friday I headed over to the expo at Fleet Feet to pick up my packet.  It was a decent little expo and they had some good deals but I didn't need anything so I just got my packet and called it a day.  One of the nice things they had was Spectator Bingo.  For your spectator to watch for certain types of runners and get a Bingo.  Bring it it for $5-$50 off your next purchase.

 The shirts were a nice charcoal gray with the blue and white lettering.  Classy looking but you know me I'd prefer some neon so I can actually wear it out running (safety first).

 Of course I had to paint my toenails before the race.  No one is going to see them but I am quite proud of the fact that I haven't lost one yet.  Probably cause I keep them super short.  I was in the mood for some purple.

 Lastly, I picked out my outfit.  I was all set for the race.  The weather was calling for passing showers and possible thunder/lightning.  With temps in the 60's I figured this was a good choice.  (it was)

Indiana Sand Dunes

I insisted on dragging Manfriend over to the Bean before breakfast and leaving Chicago.  I figured we could find a place to eat on the way but no dice.  And we had to wait for the restaurant at our hotel to open for breakfast.  We had to wait til almost 9 for a breakfast place to open.  Bummer on that.  

 We got on the road after breakfast and I made sure to get a picture of the Mc Donald's  in the median of the Chicago Skyway.  Basically you pull over into a parking spot and get some food to go.  You can see the cars on the other side of the road too.  Crazy.

 I insisted that we stop at the Indiana Sand Dunes on the way home.  It is a National Park and was only going to be about 20 minutes out of our way (40 round trip) and I figured, why not.  It was beautiful and was what you would expect if you were at an ocean beach except it was on a Great Lake.

 Of course I had to climb the one Dune that we saw.  There were also lots of trails and stuff around the area to explore as well but I just climbed the dune.

 We got kind of to the top and Manfriend said, "I'm just gonna sit on this grass here and wait for you."  He was tuckered out.  I will say that I think I had better footing barefoot than he did with shoes.

 The view from the top was pretty and it was like a postcard.

 We spent about 30 minutes at the beach.  I put my feet in the water and man was it frigid.  That probably explains the lack of people at the free beach swimming.

 Driving into and out of the park/beach was a nicely tree lined road and parts of it had nice sidewalk/trails for running.  Yes, I pay attention to these sorts of things.

 Our last photo from the road was of the RV/Camper Museum/Hall of Fame type place.  So bummed we didn't stop (not really but I bet it is actually interesting to find out more of the history of how they came to be so popular).  We had a fun and hectic 2 1/2 days and then went up to the cottage for 2 1/2 days of relaxation.

Chicago Day 2

 Having gone for a walk to the park that had the Bean in it I felt comfortable going for a quick run early the second morning.  Even though it was kind of quiet out and a good area I learned that city running is not for me.  All the start/stop of traffic lights and then they had a nice path along the lake but it was very noisy as the main road paralleled the path.

 I had to go play with the Bean, especially since there was basically no one else around.  Directly under the bean was like a kaleidoscope.  I probably spent about 5 minutes walking around and going close/far to watch how the reflections changed and distorted.

 They had these two towers with water pouring down them and faces, like they were talking to each other.  It was early in the morning so they were just getting started.

 The giant fountain was not running at the early morning hours either.  I finished up my run and went back to the hotel to grab Manfriend and let our adventure of the day begin.  We headed to the Navy Pier.   We wanted to take a river cruise and ended up on the architecture tour where we learned about the different architects of the skyline and the buildings/materials.

 More of the random art on display throughout the city that make it much more pleasant to walk through than any other city I have been to.

 We grabbed a quick bite at McDonald's since the hot dog place wasn't open and we had to catch our boat.

 The building below is the old Post Office building.  It was so big (think Sears catalogs back in the 1980's) that it had it's own zip code to handle all the PO Boxes.  Oh how I wanted to get off the boat and take a tour of the building.  I can only imagine the awesomeness inside the old building.  Yes, I am obsessed with old/quaint post offices that aren't completely modernized.  I bet there is still some of that quaintness tucked away in this building.

 After our boat tour, where we learned a lot about the city and the buildings we went on the Ferris Wheel on the Pier.  Non of that mobster history though.  That wasn't exactly our style but maybe for another day and bus tour future visit.

 The ride was supposed to be 7 minutes but we think it went much faster than that.  Oh well.  It provided nice views of the skyline and it was a nice, clear day and not too windy.

 We ended up going to a local place at the John Hancock building for lunch and then walked the Magnificent Mile--stopping at Hershey's for a chocolate shake.

 We went back to the Old Water Tower so we could get an ornament for our tree and Luke got himself a souvenir t-shirt.  I got nothing.  I've got lots of clothes and to be honest I would much prefer something Disney (the Disney store was under renovations and closed FYI).

 I busted out in the Rock-n-Roll McDonald's song when I saw this and Manfriend thought I was absolutely crazy and making up songs.  It is a real song.  Check it out here and listen for about 30 seconds for the part I kept sining (rockandroll Mc Donald's...).  Apparently we should have gone inside cause it is a museum and actually really neat.  We ended up across the street at a hot dog joint.

 We both went for a traditional Chicago style dog.  I got mine without onions though and it was delicious.  Luke did ketchup instead of mustard and no onions.

 Luke also had some Chili and said it was amazing and very filling.  Not too spicy and full of lots of meat instead of just beans.  He also got a giant glass of beer.  It was a very delicious hot dog and if we go back to Chicago it will be on our list of places to go.

Chicago Sears Tower

 We went up a really tall building in Chicago.  And the elevator ride to the top only took just over a minute.  Our ears popped a bunch of times.   I hate elevators.

 Luke did not like being on the top floor of the building.  He said he felt kind of dizzy from the elevator ride and seasick cause the building was swaying slightly.  That didn't stop me from enjoying the view.

 You can see the building below in the photo above.  It is a building by the corn cob guy.  Parking garage bottom floors, marina underneath and condo/apartments above.  Kind of like it's own city with dry cleaners and other services all in the building.

 The fountain we had just visited is visible just to the right of the reddish building.

 Views like this will scare the you know what out of you.  Not really but I just had to use the bathroom cause how often do you get to use a restroom this high up in the sky (other than an airplane).

 There were quite a few buildings with courtyards and windows facing the "center" of the building.  I found it interesting and Luke just sort of stood next to the interior wall and not the window wall.

 We stopped by the hotel to ask about a local place/micro brewery for us to go for a drink and maybe a snack.  We ended up on a very crowded rooftop bar.

 Luke ended up with my "light" beer and I ended up with his "dark" beer.  The dark one did have a slight coffee taste to it and he dislikes coffee very much.  I could tolerate it.

 You can't even see the roof top bar from the street because it sits about 10 feet back away from the edge of the building.  It pays to ask locals where stuff is or suggestions for places.  They know the good stuff and where it is hiding.