Here is an account of our indoor activities:
Blues/Blackhawks game (Thursday evening)
Outside the United Center with the game advertised on the marquee
Sweetie with the rink behind him.
In addition to riding our bikes in all 50 states, he has the goal of attending an NHL game in every arena in the US and Canada
(And Hopefully the game will be a Blues Game! ~~S).
The plan is to collect a puck from every venue we visit.
(And Hopefully the game will be a Blues Game! ~~S).
The plan is to collect a puck from every venue we visit.
Both teams warming up before the game
The United Center is the home to both the Blackhawks and the Bulls,
and banners hang from the rafters commemorating both, though it pained the Blues fan to take this picture. I'm actually surprised he did.
Was a little surprised myself. Have to respect the accomplishment ~~S
and banners hang from the rafters commemorating both, though it pained the Blues fan to take this picture. I'm actually surprised he did.
Was a little surprised myself. Have to respect the accomplishment ~~S
We enjoyed the game and the people around us were friendly and congenial, even though we were in "enemy territory." We weren't advertising our team allegiance on the clothing we were wearing, but when the Blackhawks scored and everyone surrounding us stood up and cheered while we remained seated, it was probably pretty obvious. LOL. Even after that, no one got obnoxious with us.
And the Blues ended up winning, so that made the man very happy.
Not only did they win, but they tied the game up in the last minute to send it to overtime which meant we got to experience 3 on 3 overtime hockey! It was just as exciting to watch as had been hyped! And of course the Blues Won! ~~S
Not only did they win, but they tied the game up in the last minute to send it to overtime which meant we got to experience 3 on 3 overtime hockey! It was just as exciting to watch as had been hyped! And of course the Blues Won! ~~S
Downtown Chicago Trolley Tour (Friday daytime)
The weather ended up doing exactly what it was forecast to do, which was
a return to winter: 30 degrees, raw north wind and snow flurries.
Not bike riding weather.
a return to winter: 30 degrees, raw north wind and snow flurries.
Not bike riding weather.
So, for Plan B we decided to take a 2-1/2 hour trolley tour around the downtown area. Our tour guide was very entertaining, and a bit outspoken and opinionated.
Pictures we took from inside the heated enclosed trolley
Again, I'm surprised he chose to immortalize this on our hard disk drive. :)
Have to admit I snapped the picture as we went by because I saw
an empty window with the words below it.
Now I realize there was actually Blackhawks stuff below. ~~S
The Chicago Tribune building
A hot guy sitting in the seat across from me.
Chicago historic Waterworks building. Yes, it looks like a castle.
Historic church that a lot of movie wedding scenes have been filmed in.
According to the tour guide, this is the hotel that all of the visiting teams
of all the professional sports stay in while playing in Chicago.
As viewed through the front window of our trolley, the bar Excaliber, which has a
memory attached to it from a trip to Chicago one of us took in our earlier years.
First Hard Rock cafe I had ever been too.
Remember they had a great cheese burger with avocado on it. ~~S
Just randomly snapping interesting pictures as we were going along.
Dang, did good on capturing the Frog! :D ~~S
The tour guide stopped the trolley in the middle of the intersection so we could get a shot of the "Magnificent Mile", which he explained is not a mile, but only about 6 blocks. The "Magnificent 6 Blocks" doesn't have the same ring to it, though, does it?
What are you lookin' at?
Well, what are YOU lookin' at?
Something about the low sides on this bridge. I can't remember the significance.
You remember more than I do! ~~S
Our tour guide was impressed by the magnitude of this building. It IS massive. There was some historical significance to it, too. Again, can't remember.
Largest building at its time or something.
Building had its own Zip Code until 2008.. ~~S
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchandise_Mart
Largest building at its time or something.
Building had its own Zip Code until 2008.. ~~S
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchandise_Mart
See the snow? Even the tour guide seemed amazed by it.
He said, "This is not normal for April."
He said, "This is not normal for April."
It was bullshit.
She is literally quoting him Lol ~~S
She is literally quoting him Lol ~~S
As a nod to our bike blog, I love this very clearly marked bike lane.
And you notice how well the cars up ahead are respecting the green line.. ~~S
And you notice how well the cars up ahead are respecting the green line.. ~~S
The round building up there on the left, below the columns you see about 10 floors up is parking garage and the cars back right up to the end.
There's a closer shot of the parking garage with the backed-in cars.
Barf.
Laughing at something our tour guide said.
Wacker Drive, which is basically something like an "X" if I understood it correctly.
Tour over. Here are our requisite shots of Lake Michigan with the Chicago skyline.
Perhaps we will come back someday and get a shot of this
while wearing shorts and riding our bikes. We'll see.
We will! ~~S
while wearing shorts and riding our bikes. We'll see.
We will! ~~S
I personally didn't feel too much love for Chicago.
Perhaps it was just because I was grumpy from the ridiculously cold weather.
Perhaps there were a few other reasons, too. :)
Perhaps there were a few other reasons, too. :)
David Gilmour concert (Friday evening)
The United Center sign advertising the concert as we drove up.
Same building, standing in the same place as last night,
different marquee tonight!
Really enjoyed having my Sweetie there with me ~~S
Bringing up the lights as the Show got underway
Wow can't believe I captured that!
Too cool! Gilmour at his best on the Guitar!
What's your guess as to what song was playing?
I am truly amazed how well my iPhone camera did picking up the projected screen
Comfortably Numb was the final encore song.
The laser show that accompanied it was uh-may-zing. ~~H
Has to be the single greatest concert I have ever attended. Getting to hear Sorrow, Run like Hell, and so many other Floyd and Gilmour songs live was,
as I whispered into my sweetie's ear at the time, "an experience of a lifetime!"
Getting to be there with you meant the world to me. ~~H
The man is 70 years old and he is still singing and playing the guitar with the best of them! He is the greatest musician of our lifetime, hands down!
We exited the concert to find 3 inches of snow had fallen..
Here I am cleaning that snow off our vehicle so we could drive back to our hotel.
From the Pink Floyd Facebook page:
Friday night, it’s snowing, and back to The United Center, for David's third and final concert in Chicago. Before each concert there is a series of sound effects which have various Pink Floyd references, a plane flying overhead, the sound of a helicopter, birds song, a man talking: some may notice, others are too caught up in the anticipation of the concert, cheering the movement of the guitar techs as they do their final tuning.
Tonight the fans were on their feet from the start, cheering and roaring on every song, and giving a warm round of applause to Joao Mello’s terrific sax solo in ‘Us and Them’.
In the audience were Richard Wright’s daughter, son and grandson; he is sorely missed and remembered by the song, ‘A Boat Lies Waiting’, which features Richard’s spoken voice.
Steve di Stanislao was again magnificent on drums, powering the band along and his striking of the bell at the beginning of ‘High Hopes’ is always a concert highlight.
The lasers during ‘Comfortably Numb’ ratchet up the excitement, matching David’s soloing and providing powerful visual images to accompany one of the most iconic guitar solos in rock history.
The band took their final bow and it was time to leave Chicago and head for the final stage of the tour, New York. Chicago had one final surprise as the band exited the venue: three inches of snow had fallen during the concert.
For the 48-strong crew it was three hours more hard work, breaking the set down, loading the seven trucks and driving the 790 miles, through the night, to New York.
The set list had an extra song with the inclusion of ‘On An Island.’
SET LIST:
First half:
- 5 am
- Rattle That Lock
- Faces Of Stone
- Wish You Were Here
- What Do You Want From Me
- A Boat Lies Waiting
- The Blue
- Money
- Us And Them
- In Any Tongue
- High Hopes.
Second half:
- Astronomy Domine
- Shine On You Crazy Diamond
- Fat Old Sun
- Coming Back To Life
- On An Island
- The Girl In The Yellow Dress
- Today
- Sorrow
- Run Like Hell
Encore
- Time/Breathe(rep)
- Comfortably Numb
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