Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 5, Part 1

Up at 7am this day.  Walked down to Starbucks on Chicago Avenue where I unpacked my adjectives and got a venti decaf non-fat vanilla latte and a pumpkin scone.  Back to the hotel where we spent the morning relaxing.

First stop today was Willis Tower.  At noon we got out and took the red line to Jackson.  We stopped at  Jamba Juice where I had an original-sized watermelon splash, then headed over to the Tower.

Willis Tower

We used our City Pass tickets and went up to the Skydeck.  Nice views.

Not the ocean

Hancock Tower in the distance

Looking down

While I didn't have a problem going out over the side of the building in the glass observation deck, I'll admit it was surprisingly a bit disconcerting.

It was crowded, so when it was my turn I was planning to just quickly walk out, take a couple of photos and then come back so the next people could go, no big deal.  When my turn came, taking the first step over the threshold wasn't as easy as I thought - I still consciously had no problem, but when I picked up my foot for that next step I couldn't put it down again for a second.  There was a weird hesitation that made me laugh afterwards because for a split second I wasn't in control - even as I was thinking "what the?...", the subconscious human survival instinct kicked into high gear and took over, saying "put on the brakes; protect the body; this is wrong; do not allow this to happen."

It only lasted a second before I was back in control.  Then I stepped over the edge of a 110-story building.

Really looking down

While the Skydeck experience was neat, something even more amazing lurked in the Willis Tower basement.

OMG - a Mold-A-Rama!

I haven't seen one of these since I was a child.  No trip to the Fort Worth Zoo was complete without an injection-molded wax elephant (although I guess most trips were incomplete because I can only remember being allowed to buy it once).  This particular version used plastic instead of wax.

Voila - the finished product