Techie Mommy

It's looking like the Memorial Weekend will be a staycation -- any tips on unique things to do in Chicagoland?

Been in San Francisco for 3 days now and haven't really seen much outside of the hotel and the office. Taking a red eye back to Chicago and I had about 4 hours to spare before I have to head to the airport. Where do I go to kill 4 hours?! Why, the Wharf of course. Hotel Palomar is near the corner of 4th street and Market so it was easy to hop on to the F-line for the ride down to the wharves. The street car was free, courtesy of a broken meter - where I talked to two "sea men", who are really more like "sea boys" handing out flyers for a "Ladies Night" back at their ship/frigate. They are Canadian Navy men and have been docked at Pier 27 for the week. I hopped off at Pier 39 planning to walk all the way to Ghirardelli Square and back. Took some photos, which was a challenge, because I didn't have a tripod with me, and also bought presents for the kids.

Sis called again. She's met her friend who's assigned to work in Honolulu and is staying with her tonight. Tomorrow, she picks me up from the airport and we check into our hotel. Well... now, she informs me that her friend has a sofa bed and we could stay with her! Too late, little sister. We talked about this before already. Had we stuck with my direct reservation with Sheraton, we could have canceled last minute and pay only 1 day. As it is, you asked me to find a cheaper hotel and thus, I went to Priceline. We dropped our hotel bill almost 40% - however, there is no option to cancel... at all. Tsk... Tsk... Tsk. Oh well, I think this is all for the best. Yes, we could have saved some money by staying at her friends studio, but we will not be across the beach!

Sis just called letting me know she arrived safely in Hawaii and to make sure I bring the GPS with me. Yet another gadget I have to add to my ever growing list. She's picking up our rental car from AVIS and we were planning to ditch it after 4 days. Unfortunately, AVIS personnel said they don't have any offices in the Honolulu or Waikiki area where we can drop it off and we have to drop it back at the airport. Bummer, that didn't make sense. I was hoping it was more like Vegas where the bigger hotels have rental car partnerships available at the lobby/ front desk / concierge. Oh well, we'll decide as we go along. I still have to pack and make sure I go thru my checklist. One time, We went on vacation and forgot our chargers. Suffice to say, I never wanted o relive that experience again. So, check... Double check... Triple check! OMG! Hawaii tomorrow! [blogged via iPhone]