ChicagoCon 2008 - Monday, July 14
Monday, July 14
Jon's Beard
Jon came to the convention bearded, and with the intention of shaving it off. He did so on Monday morning in several stages.
Obligatory "before" photo
Shaving
The "NASCAR" look
The "dignified" look, complete with hot dog cigar
The "policeman" look
The "Adolf" look
Heading to Chicago
That morning, we took our first planned trip into the city. The convention house was actually in Michigan City, Indiana, so Chicago was a bit over an hour away. On that particular day, we opted to take the South Shore Line into the city. (The Pirate Cabin people chose to drive separately.)
Casey R, Reid, Chaz, and Dave wait outside the house before we head to the train station.
Walking to buy train tickets
Waiting at the train station
[Photo courtesy of Stephen]
Trip poses as we wait for the train.
Starmen.Net takes over a train car
Luke, Lance, Will, Logan, and Sabrina
Chaz, Trip, Casey R, Jack, and Dave
Martin, Ryan, Ben, Stephanie, and Paul B
Dave, Mallory, and Stephen
Paul K, Martin, and Ryan
Rob, Randy, Camille, Sarah, and Steve
Seen from the train
[Photo courtesy of Ben]
The train ride took nearly an hour and a half, but eventually we got off the South Shore Line at the Roosevelt Road station.
Exiting the train
[Photo courtesy of Stephen]
The Chicago skyline from our train station's bridge
Giant metal butts near the exit from the train station
[Photo courtesy of Stephen]
Blick Art Materials
Our group promptly split into two. Six of us went off to get lunch right away, but most of the group went to visit Blick Art Materials.
Conventiongoers walking through Chicago
[Photo courtesy of Stephen]
Mallory at Blick
[Photo courtesy of Stephen]
A sand sculpture
[Photo courtesy of Stephen]
Gino's East
While the rest of the train-riding group was at the art store, Paul B, Ryan, Luke, Trip, Chaz, and Dave took a two-mile trek north to Gino's East on Superior Street.
Paul B, Chaz, Ryan, Luke, and Dave at Gino's East
Trip and Paul B at Gino's East
We tried to order two large deep dish pizzas, but the waiter suggested two of the medium deep dish pizzas would be more than enough for us. We had to prove him wrong, so we ordered the larges anyway.
Dave devours a slice of pizza.
Thanks to the valiant efforts of Dave, we had no pizza left over when we were done.
Shedd Aquarium
Meanwhile, the group which had gone to Blick Art Materials made their way to the Shedd Aquarium.
[Photo courtesy of Stephen]
Ben, Martin, and Stephen standing in front of The Art Institute of Chicago
[Photo courtesy of Stephen]
Ben and Stephanie in the City of Chicago
[Photo courtesy of Stephen]
Walking through Grant Park
[Photo courtesy of Stephen]
Rampaging through Grant Park
[Photo courtesy of Stephen]
At the Shedd Aquarium
[Photo courtesy of Stephen]
[Photo courtesy of Stephen]
Stephen
[Photo courtesy of Stephen]
[Photo courtesy of Ben]
John Hancock Center
After the Gino's group finished lunch, we walked a few blocks up to the John Hancock Center, intending to visit the observatory.
Ryan, Luke, Trip, Chaz, and Dave in front of the Hancock Center
Paul B, Luke, Trip, Chaz, and Dave in front of the Hancock Center
Fifteen dollars and an oddly-narrated elevator ride later, we arrived at the 94th-floor observatory.
View to the east
View to the south
View to the west
View to the north
Paul B
Dave weilds a laser cannon.
The elevator ride back down had the same prerecorded shrill female voice reading to us, but the message was slightly different to reflect that we were now leaving the building. The other occupants of the elevator didn't seem to find such a voice talking about "Big John" as entertaining as we did — at least, none of them started chuckling when we did.
The Pirate Cabin Tours Chicago
After leaving the Hancock Center, we started walking back down Michigan Avenue. Just outside the Apple Store, we found the Pirate Cabin people.
Conventiongoers outside the Michigan Avenue Apple Store.
The Pirate Cabin people had been doing their own thing all day...
[Photo courtesy of Matt]
[Photo courtesy of Matt]
[Photo courtesy of Matt]
[Photo courtesy of Matt]
[Photo courtesy of Matt]
[Photo courtesy of Matt]
[Photo courtesy of Matt]
Millenium Park
By then, the Gino's/Hancock group had about an hour before we needed to catch the train home, so we decided to head to Millenium Park, which would allow us to get on at Millenium Station rather than walking all the way back to Roosevelt.
The Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millenium Park
Ryan and Luke
Unfortunately, none of us were particularly familiar with the area, and after discovering that someone's iPhone said we were already at Millenium Station, it took us a couple minutes to figure out that the station was actually under the park. Google Maps needs to show three dimensions! Soon enough,though, we found it.
Back to Michigan City
We got back on the train at Millenium Station, and the rest of the group met up with us at the Roosevelt Road station.
Steve train-surfs.
This sign was seen near the train station parking lot. Not only is it "Not a Thru Street," it doesn't appear to be a street at all.
Back at the House
Dinner was prepared by Reid, Camille, and Paul K, and consisted of spaghetti, lasagna, and garlic bread.
Something in the back story behind this staged photo led to the Pirate Cabin being renamed to the Brobot House. I don't know the full story and I'm not willing to guess.
[Photo courtesy of Matt]
People playing Gitaroo Man