Our hotel was situated on the Magnificent Mile, allowing us to walk to most of the places we wanted to visit. We quickly got a feel for the "Big City" as we noticed that the sirens never seemed to stop—ever! Across the street from us was a hospital, which added to the chaos of the atmosphere. Next to our hotel was the Starbucks headquarters, an enormous multi-level café. However, we soon discovered that they didn’t serve the sweet iced drinks we were used to at regular Starbucks locations. Susie and Ginger enjoyed trying the exotic coffee blends, while the rest of us opted for drinks loaded with enough milk and sugar to mask the coffee flavor!
When visiting a new city, Abby and Emmy naturally sought out a Chick-fil-A. What made it really neat was their unique ordering system! After placing your order, it seemed that people on the upper level would prepare the food and place it in a bag. That bag was then clipped to a trolley line, which delivered it to a staff member who called out your name to hand it to you. This was definitely something we hadn’t seen before!
Emmy held tightly to my hand, while Brook and Abby clasped each other’s hands. It was really sweet to see. None of us were used to the number of homeless people on the streets, and it was especially heartbreaking to see families with young children. This really tugged at my heartstrings. While we do have homelessness in Lincoln, it was nothing compared to what we encountered downtown. The traffic was also chaotic, with constant honking and people slamming on their brakes. It really made me glad that we had decided to rely on Uber for getting around!
Abby and Brook could have tried on outfits and shopped all day long! Emmy, however, is a fair-weather shopper; if they don’t have something that catches her interest, she quickly loses steam. So, while the girls tried on outfit after outfit, Emmy found a cozy spot to relax.
It was dark when we headed home, and we all got a little education about Chicago at night. A giant rat ran in front of Abby and Brook, and they screamed so loudly that it should have alarmed everyone—yet their shriek just blended into the city noise. We also saw a man with his pants down, peeing against the side of a building, completely unbothered. To this day, the girls still tell the rat story. After that incident, the biggest insult in our house became calling someone a "street rat."
On a less amusing note, while we were headed into Sephora that day, we saw a man sitting against the building with his head at an odd angle and saliva running from his mouth. As we crossed the street, we noticed a police officer trying to flag down an ambulance nearby. When we walked into Sephora, Brooks asked if that guy was dead. I told her no, but in my head, I was thinking yes, he probably was. His color was terrible, and his positioning was unnatural. I felt shaken by the whole situation, hoping we hadn’t just witnessed someone's last moments.
As I wandered back toward the front of the store, I saw the man I thought was dead becoming belligerent with the EMTs. I was relieved that he was alive but still worried about his condition. When we left, he was facedown on the sidewalk as if he had fallen forward without catching himself. Even if he didn’t want help, they needed to intervene. The ambulance was on its way, and I said a quick prayer. As we learn in nursing, everyone is someone's someone. It broke my heart to think that some mothers son was out there in such bad shape.
Okay, this picture was planned, but it turned out to be hilarious! After a long day of shopping, trying on clothes, and walking around, we found a place to eat across the street from our hotel. Emmy could hardly keep her eyes open. When her root beer arrived in a brown bottle, we couldn’t resist having her pose for this picture.
