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We had reserved rooms in Staybridge Suits for one night. It was a really nice environment. Room was well cleaned and everything was well organized. It is really worthy for the price ($70 for one night). There was the small pantry, living area and a clean bath in the suit.

We had wireless access there. It is a really nice place to consider for a vacation stay. We had a good sleep hoping to visit Willis tower sky deck next morning.
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Shedd Aquarium was said to be the world's largest indoor aquarium for sometime. It took the entire afternoon to see the aquarium and there were some interesting, rare and beautiful species.

This frog is poisonous so that touching it's skin can cause death to a human.   

Sea horse and Sea dragon

Deadly Jelly fish

However this aquarium was not so great as we expected. First thing is we missed the dolphin show because there were no tickets when we arrive. Also, there were no water tunnels we can go through and the environment was not much attractive. Although there are so many rare species, there was no beauty which an aquarium should have. So if you are willing to see a really good aquarium, this may not be the place.

It was about 6.00 P.M. when we get out of the aquarium. We bought dinner from an Indian restaurant and drove to the hotel (Staybridge suits) we had reserved for the night. 
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It was our 2nd trip in US. Actually we had to plan it in a rush as it was a bit busy time. Anyhow we could reserve a weekend for the trip. We bought this Chicago city pass for $70 which includes tickets for five places in the city.

We left home at about 8.00 A.M. on a Saturday in April, 2010. We had our breakfast on the way. It was about 1.00 P.M when we arrive in Chicago. Following map shows the route from bloomington, IN to Chicago, IL.
 

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The city was so misty in that weekend. Sometimes we couldn't even see the buildings properly.

After having homemade lunch, our target was to see Shedd Aquarium which was said to be the largest indoor aquarium for sometime.
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Mammoth cave is said to be the world's longest underground caving system. The cave consists of several different layers/levels and there is an underground river flowing through the bottom layer. There are many interesting tours available for visitors which guide to different parts of the cave.We chose the New Entrance Tour which also includes Frozen Niagara Tour.

The entry of the New entrance tour is a man made entrance.

We descended several layers down. There were long, large natural passage ways, flat ceilings and rooms with flat floors.

The best part was Frozen Niagara. It exactly looks like a frozen waterfall because of formed travertine.

This tour reminded me the story of Tom Sawyer, written by Mark Twain . This is a place we should revisit someday, for another tour.
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We decided to visit Mammoth Cave in Kentuky on our way home. The map below shows the way we drove from Pigeon Forge to Mammoth cave.


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