day five - monday, march 27th

for my last day in chicago, i decided to see the sights. i had planned to go up either the sears tower or the hancock observatory and then spend the afternoon at the museum of contemporary art. so i headed back to the magnificent mile and walked along the street. my first stop was the hancock observatory. it cost me $11 to go up 80 miles. it was pretty cool. this was straight down from the top.

next, i decided to check out the museum of contemporary art. in the back of my mind, i was thinking... hmm, maybe i should check if they would even be opened. many museums close on mondays. and as luck would have it, they were closed, of course. i decided that i was done with seeing the sights, so i went shopping. across from the john hancock center was this lovely presbyterian church.

i shopped until mien got off of work. i got two new belts at filene's basement. we met up at marshall fields. she bought me some of their signature mint chocolates. it was quite yummy. we decided to have dinner before my flight. we walked around and stumbled upon this place... she'd never been there but was curious. the bistro 110 was good. they gave us a card with my name on it and a recipe for oven roasted garlic. they served it with the bread. i'm going to have to try it sometime.

mien took the train with me to the airport. we talked the entire way. it was so nice to see her and chat in person. we've caught up over the years on the phone but there's something special about being able to see emotions and expressions. she watched me go through security and didn't leave until she could no longer see me as i headed towards the gate. i had so much fun. i can't wait to go back when the weather is warmer.