Whirlwindytour

3 days.

16 sessions/keynotes.

5 Friday night parties. (Yes, 5.)

A whole pile o’ business cards exchanged.

With a super busy BlogHer conference schedule, I didn’t have time to see ~~all~~ much of Chicago.* But, the key question: Did I finish the Whirlwindy City Photo Hunt?

Oh, yes, I did.

Here is what I captured for each of the 10 Chicagoey items on my photo scavenger hunt list:

1. Windy city

2. Sears (Willis) Tower

3. Chicago hot dogs

Saw this stand after dinner…

…and got an actual Chicago dog at the airport and ate it at a phone charging station. It was surprisingly good, even though I usually don’t put yellow mustard on hot dogs. Or onions. Or unidentified diced peppers approximately the color of green jello. Somehow, it all worked.

4. Lincoln (Park)

Lincoln parked at O’Hare, waiting for his flight. Hope he gets a seat with extra leg room.

5. Wrigley field and the Chicago Cubs.

This is as close as I got to Wrigley Field (and most of those sites).

It’s hard to tell, but the girl in the background is wearing a Cubs hoodie. And struggling to carry like 4 mega-packs of toilet paper around the hotel lobby. Not sure why. It was a nice hotel. They provided toilet paper.

6. L Train

L Train as viewed from el shuttle.

7. Art institute(d)

Passed by the actual Art Institute in a cab but did do an art project at BlogHer’s Fly DIY party.

8. Lake Michigan

Now I’ve seen one of the Great Lakes! My friend asked if that was on my bucket list. I hadn’t thought of it that way. Maybe more like part of my duty as an American. Or something.

9. …And all that jazz.

Queen Latifah, known in Chicago as Mama Morton, emceed the Voices of the Year readings.

10. One more thing: Chicago River

It was really beautiful just sitting out by the river at night, watching the boats and feeling the breeze.

Melissa Lanz of The Fresh 20 found this on her Whirlwindy Photo Hunt:

Navy Pier.

…And there you have it! The #whirlwindyphotohunt!

The conference itself was amazing. And exhausting. I have a lot I want to write (and have started writing), but I am still processing it all. I’m also getting ready for our Colorado trip, which is just around the corner. So, with all these thoughts and ideas in my head, I’m not sure what will be ready to post next. I guess it’ll be a surprise for all of us.

*Just to warn you: Before you say “Awww, you didn’t get to see/go to _____?!”, you should know that there’s also a post in the works about just those types of comments.

I am writing this from seat 12D, en route to Chicago to attend the BlogHer blogging/writing conference. In the past, I’ve driven by Chicago and had a layover at O’Hare, but I’ve never really been to Chicago.

Since the BlogHer conference agenda is so packed, I’m not going to have a lot of time for sightseeing while I’m there this time either. I’ll be staying right by Museum Campus, but there’s a good chance I won’t be able to visit any of the museums. Or go to the top of the ~~Sears~~ Willis Tower. Or see a taping of Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.

So I thought it’d be fun to make a list of Chicagoey things to photograph, whether I get to visit the actual site or not. I know I’ll see Lake Michigan, for example. But will I get a chance to go up to Lincoln Park? If I make it there, I’ll Instagram it. If I don’t, I’ll Instagram a more broad interpretation – maybe a penny face-up in some other park or a Lincoln in a parking lot. See where I’m going with this? So I’ll hopefully capture everything on my Chicago list in one form or another.

It’s a whirlwind tour of the windy city in photo scavenger hunt form. I’m calling this my Whirlwindy Photo Hunt.

If you’re going to BlogHer, maybe you’d like to join in. See how many things on the list below you can find, whether you interpret it literally or get creative. Tag your Instagram or Flickr* photos with #whirlwindyphotohunt and the item’s hashtag (#lincoln, for example). That way, you can check out everyone’s Lincoln photos or everything from the photo hunt.

Windy city #windycity
Sears Tower, technically now called “Willis tower,” but even Siri still calls it Sears Tower. #searstower
Chicago hot dogs #chicagodog
Lincoln Park #lincoln
Wrigley field – Sneak in Cubs (or Blues Brothers) references here, if you’d like. #wrigleyfield
L train #ltrain
Art institute #AI
Lake Michigan #greatlake
…And all that jazz – this could refer to Jazz music or Chicago the musical. #allthatjazz
Something else awesome that is quintessentially Chicago but not on the list. #1morething

Bonus points for reenacting anything from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. #bueller

*If you’re not on Instagram or Flickr, just do a blog post next week with your shots and you can still link to the #whirlwindyphotohunt wrap up post.

[photo of me with suitcase by Phillip.]

Tag: Whirlwindytour

Snapshots from Chicago (Whirlwindy City Photo Hunt results)

Whirlwindy City Photo Hunt