Chicago

About 7 months ago, R found out that he had credits with Porter Airline that were going to expire that evening.  We had to either book a trip or let them go.  Not ones to make quick decisions, we were both caught off guard with having to decide if and where to travel.  

We took a look at Porter's flight locations and narrowed the list down to Boston, Burlington (Vermont), Myrtle Beach or Chicago.  We decided to go with Chicago because we had both been to Boston (albeit not recently for me and only for work for R), Myrtle Beach was further and far more expensive than our credit and Burlington seems like a place we could drive to from Ottawa with stops in various small towns along the way.

So, Chicago it was!  We picked spring hoping that we'd have nice weather and in consideration of other summer plan.  Turns out, April is a bit hit and miss for nice weather.  But, it was an enjoyable trip none-the-less.

We got a good rate through Hotwire for the Kinzie Hotel.  We were both quite pleased with the place -- they have a large continental breakfast set up on each floor and evening happy hour, with a small but fresh buffet of appetizers.  

On the first day, we went for deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's and walked down the Magnificent Mile. E was quite happy to play in the Disney Store and Lego Store.  

Don't be fooled by this innocent expression.  This is the face of someone who is about to start throwing overpriced little pieces of lego all over the place.

The next day, we got out early to walk to the Navy Pier.  

The pier itself is under construction, so it wasn't much of a draw at that time.  But, our main reason for visiting was to go to the Children' Museum.

The busload of school kids arriving around the same time was a bit scary.  The museum was definitely packed.  But, it is probably the nicest children's museum I have seen.  They have several distinct theme areas that are really nicely developed.  E's favourite was the bubble area.  It reminded me of something out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

After grabbing bubbles for a long time, E had tonnes of fun "painting" a mirror with soapy water.  This would be an easy craft to replicate at home.

After the museum and a nap, we spent some time walking around downtown and visiting the famous Cloud Gate.

The next day was a Saturday and we were warned that the lineups for Willis Tower might be long, so we got there early.  

Even still there was an hour long line up.  But, it was much shorter than the line up when we left.

The place was packed.  But it was a nice clear day with good views. 

E perfectly timed her nap and passed out from the time we walked out of Willis Tower, through our walk around downtown and train ride to Wrigley Field.

It was colder than we expected (note to self: get seats in the sun early on in the season).  R was thrilled to be able to include a ball game in our itinerary.

On our last full day in Chicago, we had great weather.  So, we decided to walk along the waterfront to the aquarium.  When we got there, the line deterred us, so we opted for the Field Museum instead.

The building itself is very impressive.  The quality of the exhibits varies, in my opinion.

After a full morning of walking, I was ready to be transported back to the hotel for a break.
Of course, E had other plans in mind about how quickly we should get back to the hotel.  Ever try to walk what is normally a 45 minute walk with a toddler?  Here she is below pointing out what direction she thought we should go in (i.e., the direction we had just come from).

Overall, a great trip!  If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't change much.  Maybe just move the date of our trip back by a month (we went early April) to catch warmer weather.  

Las Vegas, Nevada

R and I used to debate over whether our travelling days would be over once we had a kid.  He thought they would be and I didn't.  But, we grew up differently in that regard -- his family would use any free time to go to their farm. My family travelled more, even if it was nearby. So, although it is more challenging being away from home with a baby, I'm not ready for our travelling days to be over.  Plus, it's hard to resist taking advantage of babies under two being able to fly for free.  

We decided that E and I would accompany R on a work trip to Las Vegas.  I had never been and it was just a quick flight from LA.  

I can see how going to Las Vegas could be very expensive.  There are a tonne of ways to spend money there (expensive restaurants, designer stores, shows and, of course, gambling).  But, if you want to make sure you don't spend too much money in Vegas, take a baby.  We spent most of our time walking the strip, which is deceiving long, and going through the maze of hotels.    

Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino:

Lobby at the Bellagio:

Fountains at the Bellagio

The show at Treasure Island

Caesar's Palace

Forum at Caesar's Palace

Inside the Venetian

The Mirage

New York Hotel and Casino

Inside the M&M store

I would have loved to try out some of the big name restaurants.  But, I feel nervous about bringing E to a fancy restaurant, even though most of the noises she makes are happy noises.  So, we usually opt for somewhere loud, where noise from a baby won't make a dent.  We went to Burgr, one of three of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants in Vegas.  Having your name attached to three restaurants in Las Vegas seems like overkill to me.  But, why say no if it brings in money without requiring much in return?  

Overall, the burgers and fries were good, but overpriced.  The most memorable parts were the cut of the fries (rectangular), the use of iPads to show menu items and the poor waitresses that have to wear the most uncomfortable uniform ever.  There's no way they could hire an average-sized woman to work there.

Aside from that, we also ate at the buffet at the hotel we stayed at, Treasure Island.  By the time R got back from working, we didn't have a lot of time to go out before E's bedtime.  I was hoping that the buffet would be like the images you often see of Vegas buffets, with seafood, fresh assortments of everything, beautifully set up, etc.  Although you won't leave hungry, this buffet would rate around average in any city.  The last night we went to Pho, also at TI.  The food was pretty good.  Though you pay about double what it costs to get pho at a Vietnamese restaurant.  But, the service was off.  I was annoyed when the person who replaced our server (who went home) brought our food and seconds later brought the bill.  Okay...I guess that means that dessert is out of the question. Then, we never saw the server again.  We waited for a long time to pay, which is annoying when you have a baby that is ready to call it a night.

San Diego, California

Before leaving for LA, my friend mentioned something about Americans loving babies.  I kind of sloughed it off...until I experienced it for myself.  Here in Canada, you may get the occasional comment about having a cute baby or someone may smile or wave shyly at your baby.  I've never had so many people comment on E, talk to her, try to touch her, etc. as I did in my 5 weeks in the States. Has anyone else noticed this difference?

During our time in the States, R had to attend a trade show.  As luck should have it, my stepmom was planning to be in San Diego for a vacation at the same time that R was going to be away.  I couldn't turn down an opportunity to visit San Diego, not be by myself and take E to visit Baba.  

We arrived in the evening, so it wasn't until morning that I really got to appreciate the amazing view of Pacific Beach and the ocean from our living room.  It took me a while to figure out what I was seeing popping out of the water: dolphins!  

Later in the day, we walked around Old Town, which is considered the "birthplace of California."  There are a number of restaurant, museums, tourists shops, etc.

On the second day, we took the Old Town Trolley Tour, which takes you to many of the tourist destinations.  The experience actually surpassed my expectations.  Since it's a hop-on/hop-off trolley, we had several different drivers, all of which were personable and helpful.  We got off at The Gaslamp Quarter and in Coronado.  I wish I had more time to explore all of the stops.   

The above picture is of Hotel del Coronado. The adjacent beach has been voted one of the nicest beaches in the USA.  The weather was so beautiful.  It occurred to me, as we were sitting outside of the hotel, that it was the first time E had ever touched grass.  At home, you'd have to dig a meter deep in snow to even see something that resembles grass.

On our last full day in San Diego, we went to the zoo.  It's known as being one of the nicest zoos in the world, so I had to check it out!  Aside from it being Martin Luther King Jr. Day and, what seemed like,  the busiest day of the year, I really enjoyed the zoo.  I think we only got through about 2/3 of it.  In addition to it being a massive zoo with a huge variety of exhibits, they do a great job of landscaping between exhibits.

I'm looking forward to going back to the zoo with E when she's a bit older.  At this point, she is more captivated by sounds, lights and people than animals.

Los Angeles, California: Part II

In Ottawa, I like to make sure that E and I have something to do most days.  We've taken a number of classes, attended drop-in play groups and spent time with other moms and babes.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find many drop-in options in LA.  Not to mention that the city is so huge that, even if I did find something, it would be nearly impossible for me to get there without a car.

So, although I enjoyed our little routine, I was glad to break it up with spending time with friends/family who visited, taking a couple of trips and exploring with R on the weekend.  Here's some of what we did:

I don't have a tonne of food photos.  I know -- not at all like me.  But, with taking care of E, I'm always one hand short as it is.  Here are a couple of food shots I managed to take. During a hop-on/hop-off tour, we checked out the shops of Melrose and went for lunch at Pink's Hot Dogs

They warned me that the polish dogs were spicy...Yowza!

Another nearby food institution was Cantor's.  I'm a long-time fan of corned beef.  So, I had to try it out. There are also a couple of places in the Farmer's Market that make a good corned beef sandwich.

I was less impressed with Magnolia's cupcakes.  The banana cupcake came recommended by the lady working behind the counter.  But I found the cake was dry and the icing tasted like Wilton's icing (which isn't my favourite).  Nonetheless, they're pretty to look at.

My cousin came out to visit.  He wanted to see the walk of fame.  So, we spent some time walking down Hollywood Blvd and walking around the Highland Center.

While walking down the street, we were approached by at least 10 people trying to get you to take their tour of celebrity homes.

I was curious about what the homes in Beverly Hills look liked.  We decided to take a tour with Hollywoodland Tours because they offered a 2 hour tour of celebrity homes, sites in the city and the Hollywood sign for around $25.  

The sign is so iconic, you need to get a picture of it.  This is the closest you can get to the sign by car.   

People in LA seem to have a fascination with putting a gate in front of their homes (not only celebrity homes).  So, most of the pictures I have of homes in  Beverly Hills are of gates.  The closest we came to seeing a celebrity while on the tour was driving by Larry King's kids play basketball.  Below is the view of Dr. Phil's house.  I remember it because it's one of the homes where you can see more than just the chimney from the street.

Friends with two kids came to visit about mid-way through our trip.  So, I joined them on a trip to Disneyland.  Although E was too small for most rides, I was glad we went.  I liked looking around the shops...though it required a lot of self-talk: "walk away from the $60 princess gown that will fit E for all of one month..." Even though I'm sure she had no idea what was going on, she quite enjoyed the parade and fireworks.  

We also enjoyed going to Santa Monica to check out the pier, walk along the beach and the pedestrian street.  

I had to laugh at this sign right by a play area near the pier:

It didn't occur to me that this would be an issue...though I did find myself giving the stink eye to a man who was taking pictures at the park a couple of days later.  He had a patrol vest on and told me he was scouting locations for a swing set.  

Another outing we did while in LA was visiting the observatory and hiking in Griffith Park. The  observatory offers a number of science-based exhibits and a planetarium.

You can also get some great panoramic views of LA from the observatory balcony:

Just off the parking lot to the observatory, we caught one of the many trails available in Griffith Park.

We figured that as long as we still had some hours of sunlight, water, a map and E was still happy, we could just follow whatever trail struck out fancy at the time.  

Aside from exploring LA, we also took a couple of trips within a trip.  But, I'll stop here for now and will be back with more travel pictures in a future post.