My husband and I get along amazingly – we seriously rarely argue or disagree. (Which is one of the reasons that I Missed him so badly while I was gone.)
However, we approach a lot of things very differently. Especially vacation planning. But because I’m lazy I like to keep things flowing smoothly, I always let Chris do things his way and I go along with it.
However, I was in Chicago. By myself.
And the stark differences between MY way and HIS way were really fleshed out quite obviously.
I decided to skip the after-lunch session of seminars on Saturday, because there wasn’t anything that sounded beneficial to my blogs, and I wanted to get out and walk around.
Specifically, I wanted to go the “The Ledge” on the Sears Tower:
I adore heights.
Now, if Chris were planning such an outing, these are the steps he would have gone through:
- Research end destination on Internet.
- Mapquest it.
- Decide on the best means of travel to arrive at said destination.
- Find out if and how much it cost.
- Find out how to EXACTLY get to it once inside of the building.
- Read other people’s opinions on it.
- Find restaurants nearby at which we might want to eat afterwards.
- Research other tourist destinations to make sure that this one was the best, and also to see if there is anything else worth seeing while out.
- Figure out the least crowded time of day to go.
- Find out if we needed to take motion sickness pills or possibly extra oxygen for the height that we would be traveling to.
- Print ALL of the above information out and insert it into a 3 Ring Binder (And I am NOT kidding – we ALWAYS have a “Vacation Binder”.)
Here’s how I went about it: I had been out on the Riverwalk the night before and had seen the Sears Tower, and that it appeared to be only a block or two away:
So I just set off walking.
I like adventure, you see.
On the way, I saw this guy:
Only problem is, he saw me too:
His bucket said “Take Pictures, Leave Donation.” I assumed that suggestion was meant for people who got their picture taken WITH him.
However, he did not. He yelled at me, whistled at me, and in general cursed me until I was out of sight – literally several minutes.
Dear Mister Copper Cowboy: Yelling at Southern Women in a rude and angry manner will get you nowhere.
So I kept walking, crossing busy streets, crossing the river, rubbing more and more blisters on my toes, and taking pictures of my destination as I got closer and closer:
And then I arrived, and saw the sign:
Yeah. I’m an idiot.
I MIGHT not be a good person to use as your Life Line if you’re ever asked to identify Important American Architecture.
So I looked around, trying to spot a taller building:
But there were too many tall buildings in the way.
At this point, I felt totally exhilarated by the hilarity of my adventure, even though I wasn’t meeting my end goal. I mean, how many times will this ever happen to me in life?
Not many, if Chris has anything to do with it.
So I pulled up the address of the Sears Tower on my phone (which is barely internet savvy), and it was South Wacker Street. I looked around:
West Wacker Street and East Wacker Street.
A lot of Wackers, just not the right Wacker.
My phone wasn’t nearly savvy enough to pull up directions, so I ended up finding a bench and calling Chris, in an uncontrollable fit of giggles at how ludicrous I knew he would consider my lack of preparation to be.
Later that night, when my friends and I went to Greek Town, my wiser-than-me friend Cara showed me the real Sears Tower: 
They’re practically twins, don’t you think? Obviously, Mr. Trump was copying Mr. Sears.
I really did love the adventure of setting out with no information. But I must say that the most embarrassing part of the adventure was that I had told a bunch of people where I was headed as I left the hotel. They asked, “Really? Is it close enough to go to?”
And I had answered, “Yes! If you go out to the Riverwalk and look right, you can see it!!”
I sure hope none of those people tried to emulate my adventure.
Or if they did, I hope they don’t remember who gave them the idea.
The first picture made my stomach turn a few flips. I can say with all honesty I HATE HEIGHTS!!!! I can watch TV and get sick. I have always teased? Chris was like his G'ma, boy was I wrong, he IS his G'ma. I knew he planned, but not to that extreme. Yea, my Mama is still here. Can you reincarnate if your born before the person you are dies? LYB
That so sounds like something I would do. I got lost in downtown Charleston, SC once. I parked the car, made a mental note of where I parked, yet come 3 hours later when I tried to find the car, it was like the parking garage where I parked had just disappeared! (It was actually on the other end of the block, yet that didn't stop me from wandering around lost for almost an hour!)
Glad you finally got to see the real tower!
Okay, finally we don't have something in common. I am more like Chris on this one. I even plan out our Disney vacays this way, including dinner reservations and the like.
I had a similar adventure in San Francisco last year. I threw all caution to the wind and set out for destinations unknown. I ended up walking in a big circle and saw almost nothing.
LOL I am not as extreme as Chris. I do prepare – a little. But I must admit that mapquest is something I use all of the time. At least you had a nice walk though. lol
That's hilarous!!! I always travel with a vacation folder. See what happens when you don't!
Okay, that CRACKS ME UP!You are so cute!
I think I am more like your husband. I am WAY too much of a planner. You were brave, brave. I am sorry you didn't get a chance to see the tower and go on the ledge.
Great post! And sorry about the crookedness of the picture. As I recall I was almost falling over trying to get you and the tower in the picture together!
hilarious. years ago, I was like your husband. After years with my husband, I would be the one to just take off. There is no way you could get me out on that ledge, however!
There is NO WAY IN HECK I would ever get on that ledge. Just so you know. Okay, The Copper Man, how rude! That makes me want to march up to Chicago, find him and give him a good talking to.
And I cannot talk about getting lost and mistaking the towers, because you know how I am with downtown Bham. And I have lived here 36 years.
Super funny.
That's AWESOME!!! Make fun of an engineer again..
Perhaps you do have a tad bit of your brother in you, who is definitely the absolute and utter opposite of Chris when it comes to vacation/adventure planning. We're the "jump in a rental car in a foreign country with no map, directions, or plan" kind of travelers :). (Well, really he is, with me being the lazy, blindly-following-my-husband type).
That is hilarious, Ryan and I did a very similar thing on our honeymoon in Italy…we wanted to go to the Vatican and see the Sistine Chapel, we stood in line for forever and walked up what seemed like thousands of stairs to see a very nicely painted ceiling. When we got back to our hotel that night we were looking through brochures & saw the actual Sistine Chapel ceiling and realized whatever we had seen earlier that day was definitely not the real Sistine Chapel.
We had to go back to the Vatican the next day to see the real deal!
oh my! this just cracked me up. i've never had a "vacation binder", but i always have a travel book w/ my destinations in it. heck i've adventured alone around san fran and new york perfectly fine. i love exploring a new city.
I have been to the top of the Sear's tower against my wishes. I was kidnapped by my best friend and forced up there. This is before the glass ledge thankfully. I would probably be like Chris, I get that from my dad. I hate not knowing how to find places although I hate planning so I guess I am a mixture. I like the adventure of not having a real plan but I at least need directions once I get somewhere.
Who knew there were so many Wackers? Never heard of such!
April
My sister works at a law firm on Wacker – I had to send her this link. This was super funny – thanks for sharing!
Oh. My. Word. I would have probably fainted! lol
Awesome pictures.
Nell
Ha! That is SO something I'd do. :) And then I'd blog about it.
I am literally LOL! The 2 of you sound like the 2 of us! My husband would NEVER let me live this down. This was great! Thanks for the laugh –
Waker Street? Really? That is too funny….
We never plan extensivly and always have fun adventures! :) Some more fun than others…
And the buildings DO look very similar to me too! weird!
Chris and Jason would get along swimmingly. I'm not going to lie, I HATE traveling with him!
We should send them off on a vaca together!