Illinois

Illinois by AM;

Illinois is known as the prairie state. Located in the Midwestern portion of the United States. The capitol of Illinois is Springfield, The state motto is "// State Sovereignty - National Union”, which means they were willing to join the Union but still wanted to show their power as an individual state. The state // bird is the cardinal, the state flower is the Native Violet and the state animal is the White Tailed Deer. Our current President comes from the state of Illinois. ~History~ The History of Illinois begins in the 17th century when 2 French Settlers reached Illinois in 1673. The French ruled Illinois until 1763 at the end of the French and Indian war. Illinois was ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Paris. Illinois elected its first Governor in 1788, Arthur St. Clair. Illinois has several famous Indian tribes and battles including the Pottawatomi Indians and the Massacre of 1812 that destroyed Ft. Dearborn. Illinois became the 21st state on December 3, 1818. The Chicago Board of Trade was established in 1848. In 1860 the first of three Presidents were elected from the state of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865), Ulysses Simpson Grant (1869-1877) and Barack Hussein Obama (2009-present). The Great Chicago Fire happened on October 8th 1871 at around 9pm and destroyed the city of Chicago. Many businesses are based out of Chicago, the fist mail order company Montgomery Ward started in 1872, and the famous Wrigley Chewing Gum factory started as a soap and baking powder company but turned to making gum in 1892. In 1875 the Chicago Cubs were founded but did not start playing in their current stadium “Wrigley Field” until 1926. O’Hare international airport was constructed in 1942/1943 and the Worlds tallest building was completed in 1973 and named the Sears tower. In 2009 the building was renamed the “Willis Tower”. It is still the tallest building in the United States. In 1979 American Airlines crash at O’Hare International Airport kills 275. 1993 the Southern portion of the state was hit by the worst floods in the states history. In 1995 Navy Pier, an old shipping terminal from 1916 was renovated into a place of entertainment with a Ferris wheel, shops, stages and museums.

~Things I want to do on my vacation~ Illinois is such a beautiful State that allows you to be able to enjoy the beautiful nature of lakes, farms, forests and big city life at the same time. While in Illinois we are going to be able to visit the special landmarks, museums, the famous Navy pier, taste wonderful food like the Chicago pizza and Chicago style hot dog’s and great Italian Dessert’s. I want to take this vacation because this is my home state and I get to enjoy the beauty of this state with all my family.

~ Iteniary ~

Sunday December 27th:

The Van will be filled with gas, packed with travel carrier on top and ready to load people at 6am. We will head to our hotel in downtown Chicago, The Blackstone Renaissance at 636 South Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60605. We will arrive at the hotel at approximately 4pm with gas and food stops. After checking in we will rest and eat and be ready for our Blue Man group show at 10pm at The Briar Street Theatre. The cost is $106.00 per ticket for main floor seating. Monday December 28th: Today after enjoying a wonderful breakfast we will head out in the Chicago cold and head over to the Art Institute of Chicago. We will spend the whole day until 5pm looking through the 3 floors of art and history. About noon we will take a break for lunch in the museum and head back to enjoying the museum, When we leave the museum about 5pm we will head over to the Navy Pier where we will meet up with our family from IL and enjoy dinner and the pier.

Tuesday December 29th: This morning is going to start off by heading over to the Lincoln Park Zoo. After a whole morning we will leave the zoo and head to the John C Shedd aquarium where we will start with lunch, then head and tour the aquarium. After the Aquarium we will head back to the hotel for dinner were we will meet our family. After dinner we will head out in the city and enjoy the Christmas lights,

Wednesday December 30th: Today we will spend the day shopping on North Michigan Ave, Not only are we going to visit, but we are going to eat lunch at the American Girl store. After our show and shopping there we will head back out into the streets and enjoy the rest of the day shopping. The evening will end eating Chicago style pizza at the original Pizzeria Uno.

Thursday December 31st: We will sleep in on this morning and take a small stroll in the afternoon heading over to Millennium Park McCormick Tribune Ice Rink for an afternoon of skating. Then back to the hotel to get ready for the big evening. To ring in the New Year we will go back to Navy Pier and enjoy the crowds and fireworks. Friday January 1st: We will take the day and head up to where my family lives in Winthrop Harbor IL. Today will we will stop at an Italian Bakery here in Chicago and bring wonderful treats to share and enjoy the day at Grandma’s house.

Saturday January 2nd: Today is the day we check out of the hotel at 6am and head home. We will arrive at 4pm with gas and food stops.

1.) Driving Directions from Carlisle PA to Chicago IL: [|Directions from Carlisle to Chicago] 2.) Driving Directions from Carlisle PA to Chicago IL http://www.mapquest.com/mq/5-rAuv1WPs

~Accommodations~

The Blackstone Renaissance Priceline.com 636 South Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60605

$140 a night Continential breakfast Coffee Shop, Maid Service,Wireless Internet Service, Valet parking, Restaurant Alternate hotel Double tree hotel 300 east Ohio street Chicago,Illinois 60611 phone # 1888 travelocity $119 per night Amednities 1 reasturant on site 2 Room Service 3 Coffe maker 4 FItness Faciltity 5 Hi- speed Internet



Things to be done prior to leaving~ 1.Make sure no homework for school. 2.Get a sitter for the Hamster. 3.Clean room. 4.Get pain medications. 5.Cancel the mail 6.Ask neighbor to shovel the snow if it snows. 7.Fill up the gas tank 8.Pack the car and suitcases 9.Program the GPS 10.Get snacks for the car trip.

Estimated Cost's: Gas: $148.00 Hotel: $840.0 Entertainment: $1611.80 Food: $750.00 Shopping: $1250.00 Misc. $370.00TOTAL: $4969.80

Bibliography: Wensday November 13th Pictures [|www.google] images .com Thursday November 14th Driving directions www. mapquest.com Friday November 15 Dec. 2009. [|www.travelocity.com/hotels]