lsun8000 2011-8-26 03:13
My trip to Chicago
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Lastweekend, I went to Chicago, and watched the 53[/color][/size][color=#000000][size=2]rd[/size][size=3] annual air andwater show, it was very exciting, and I want to share these experiences withyou.[/size][/color][/font]
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The tripwas planned many months ahead, my sister is living in Chicago now, with herhusband, and since we never saw her new home, she wants to invite all of us, myparents, me, my wife and my daughter to Chicago. Turns out that weekend is alsothe annual Chicago air and water show, I was very excited upon learning that. I’ma big airplane fan, especially war jets, but I have never attended an air showbefore, always too busy, but this is the perfect opportunity for me! Fridaymorning, I woke bright and early, and by 8, we were on our way, Newark airportis only 45 minutes away from my home, but with no traffic on the road, it tookus less than 35 minutes, we parked the car at a self-parking lot, and off wewent to the terminals. We had some misgivings on passing airport security, butsince we’re traveling as a family group, they opened a special lane for us, andwe went ahead of everyone else, it wasn’t what we expected, especially seeingall these other people lining up behind us on the normal lanes. This short cutlet us pass the security with ease, no body scanner, just plain metaldetectors, and we breezed thru it. We went to the terminal, and told the gateattendant that we have a stroller with us, this is a neat trick that my sistertold me, because we have a stroller, and the airline has to stow that withcabin crew’s locker, the gate agent let us board before the first classpassengers, it was amazing. We were the first ones on the plane, and there’s noone fighting us for the overhead baggage space. The flight to Chicago was uneventfuland only last couple of hours. My sister and her husband picked us up in twocars, and took us directly to the planetarium, I was skeptical
at first, wondering why she wants to go there,we have no interest in astronomy, boy, was I ever wrong, she took us there forthe view. The Chicago planetarium situated right next to the Lake Michigan, andthe view was breath taking! We were strolling around the place when I firstheard the noise, then saw a jet performing aerobatics over the Chicago skyline.It was an f/a 18, and it was loud! I was standing there, transfixed by thebeauty of this performance, while my daughter and wife walked ahead, theperformance took less than a minute, and it was an amazing minute, I caught upwith my family, and we drove to the millennium fountain, as soon as I stepped offthe car, another jet screamed past us overhead, it was a f16, with the airforce’s thunderbird team paint scheme, right then, I wasn’t interested in anyof the view around me, just the ones above my head, I saw the four finger formation,the loops, barrel rolls, and other aerobatics as the f16s of thunderbird teampracticed over my head. My sister asked me:” is this worth the price of comingto Chicago?” I replied:” I came at the right time, now if I don’t see any otherflying, this is well worth the price of the lane ticket.” After 15 minutes,when the thunderbirds finished their practice, we went to the navy pier, wherethrongs of people were drinking, eating, and being merry in McDonald’s, yep, McDonald’s.It was huge, my daughter, being a kid, can’t leave that place without me buyingan ice cream cone, and I got one for everybody. By this time, it was almostnightfall, my sister and her husband dropped us off at our hotel, the Hyattregency, since she is a gold passport member; we got an immediate upgrade tohigher level. We went up to the room and what do you know, the view is of thenavy pier, and again, it was breathe taking. Then we went for dinner in thelocal Chinatown, it was small, nowhere near the scale of New York Chinatown,but it’s still Chinese food, we enjoyed the dinner, and turned in for thenight.[/color][/size][/font]
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Thesecond day started with bad news, a thunderstorm was rolling in, and there’s areal chance that the airshow will be canceled, my sister brought us to thelocal zoo, which is free, and featured a lots of animals, including lions,tigers and giraffes, just as we were making the way in the zoo, I heard droning,and saw four propeller aircrafts doing aerobics overhead,
since I have no interest in propelleraircrafts, I went ahead with my daughter to see the various animals, thensuddenly” boom” four f/a 18s screamed past our head, I said to myself, theairshow is about to begin! I wanted to ask everyone to hurry up, so I can gowatch the show, just then, a light flashed, I thought someone was taking apicture, but the thunder followed, it was the thunderstorm! We ducked in to thepenguin display, and it was raining dogs and cats, I was really depressed, hereI was, in Chicago, ready to see a real air show, and the weather was ruining itfor me. My sister consoled me, telling me the show will be held again on Sunday,but we already made other plans. We waited until the rain subsided, and went tomy sister’s new home, which is the tallest building around their neighborhood,and she ordered in the traditional Chicago deep dish pizza for us. Let me tellyou something about this deep dish pizza, basically, you take a shallow pizzashell, pile on cheese, meat, more cheese, and tomato, and you got a deep dishpizza. It was very different than the typical pizzas, but still, pretty tasty.We lounged around her home, after the lunch, and around 2pm, the sky suddenlyopened up, there’s no more rain, the clouds has dissipated, and the sun has comeout! My brother in law listened to the radio, and told me the show is back on,and we proceeded to their rooftop. Remember I said earlier that their buildingis the tallest around the neighborhood? Their rooftop is in direct view overthe beach area where the show was to be held, better yet, every aircraft willparade in front of their building before going into the show area. We waited,and sure enough, the air show began in earnest, the propeller driven p50s begandoing their aerobics, and it was pretty, but I was waiting for jets, suddenly,I heard loud turbine noises, and there it was, a f/a 18 screaming in, it beganby doing loops and rolls, and went to the far side, I thought it had done allthe tricks, not quite, it began hurtling back towards my building, buildingspeed, and suddenly, water cones appeared around it, then it pulled up right infront of us, the eerie thing was, there’s no sound, then the twin boom of supersonicflight hit us light a sledge hammer, it was so amazing, I was actually lost forwords. Then came the thunderbird’s f16s, the first thing I noticed was howsmall the plane was, even compared to f/a 18, it appeared small, it did theiraerobatics routines, and the most exciting thing was when the two planes droveright at each other, only to separate at the very last moment, as I waswatching, I could swear their separation distance is in inches. The whole showlasted 30 minutes, and I was rooted on that rooftop, taking in every scene thatwas playing right in front of my eyes, another amazing thing was, since my buildingis the tallest, I can actually see into the cockpits of the jets, and see theirmovements. During all this time, with sonic booms, screaming turbines, andother noises, my daughter was sound asleep, kids, what do you expect?[/color][/size][/font]
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We leftChicago on Sunday, and I loved every minute of my trip, I haven’t felt thisexcited for a long long time, and I told my sister, I will come back next year,when the Chicago air show starts again.[/font][/color][/size]
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