** 02.25.09 EDIT ** Photos of the 2009 Auto Show are now up!
This weekend found me slogging my way through the lake effect snow to Chicago to the 2009 Auto Show. My friend Robert flew in and joined me from Kansas City and it took him the same distance to fly 600 miles as it took me to drive 100. It was a great time though. We arrived at 10am and spent, oh probably 8 or so hours there looking at cars. Now while that may sound incredibly boring to many non-car aficionados, to Robert and I, it was awesome. Robert was excited to be sitting in one of his favorite cars, the Dodge Viper, where as I was quite happy to enjoy the new BMW three series and I have to say, I really like the new Toyota Tundra. What a sweet truck. If I could get anything to ride around it for the ministry, that would be it. Although, Ford makes a pretty sweet truck that I’ll have to post pics of. For me, the highlight car of the show had to be the Corvette Stingray concept. What an amazing vehicle (pictured above).
Connected to the McCormick Convention Center is the Hyatt Regency, and our room was on the 24th floor overlooking the city and Lake Michigan. What an awesome view! We had to go to a decent resrtauarnt while we were here, and Denny told Robert he should get some deep dish pizza, so we found a place on Michigan Ave. that fit the bill. Naturally, I had grilled chicken and a big pile of fries, which were also really good. The funny thing was that he had not had deep dish like that before, so when he got it, it was much larger than he had thought! But hey, pizza is always good the next day. Personally, I love cold pizza. It’s right up there with cold turkey the day after Thanksgiving. I digress.
Sunday found us out and about the city of Chicago. Robert had not been downtown before, so we checked out the skydeck of the Sears Tower, Starbucks, the Rock and Roll McDonalds, walked the Magnificant Mile, and enjoyed some of the amazing art at the Chicago Art Institute. It was freezing cold, but the sun was shining and the sky was blue, so the day lent itself to some great photography opportunities. I finally got a slightly larger memory card for my camera, so now I can actually take hundreds of photos without worry. Anyway, I have to download them and adjust them, so I hope to work on that tonight and post them shortly.
All in all it was a great time. I haven’t been to the show since Robert and I went in 2006. It was great hanging out with my friend and checking out some amazing cars.
Looking forward to the pics….next time, you have to go to the Italian Village Joshy…the BEST restaurant there. It is on Monroe, about 2 or 3 blocks down from Michigan…I think…
I can’t believe Robert had never been downtown. I’m so glad that you guys were able to enjoy a fun trip!
Josh kept Robert pretty busy at the ministry! All work, no play. LOL.
Ev… i think you must have forgotten all the days we took off jet skiing on the lake or all our trips to St. Joe. I’d say we balanced work and play pretty well in the summer times!
the time in chicago was great. we had a lot of fun. but the only thing is that it was cold and there was snow on the ground. here in kansas city is not like that at all, so coming from kansas city to chicago was a shock. the cars were amazing. josh and i got to ride in a truck and we were on three wheels at one time, and also while we were in the truck, we went up a hill and it was very steep – 35 degrees. Walking around chicago was a blast too, but very very cold. now i see why dave and liz always went to chicago.
🙂 Chicago is a great place for Liz and I. The photos are really fabulous. I wonder what they do with the concept cars once the show is over. Do they sell them? Keep them? I never see the extreme risks they take at the show on the road. Curious what happens there…
Robert, you cut your hair! It looks good. (Nobody forced you did they?)
omg robert why did you cut your hair????!!!!
Thanks for the picture, It makes me really missing the car show!!! HUM, Don’t Tell Robert but I like his hair.