Playgrounds for Grown Ups

It was Mere's last weekday in the Chicondo. It was the last time she and I would go explore. We had nothing planned, except to use our gloves at the park. Yesterday, we went to two parks in search of monkey bars with no avail. On the bus ride home, we saw monkey bars at the park two stops away.

The bus did not come on time. We waited 5 minutes before realizing the park was only a 6 minute walk. At the park, there were two sets of monkey bars and neither were kid-sized. It was perfect. Meredith of course made it across on her first try. I had issues with my skirt and with my gloves. I eventually bustled the skirt its flow wouldn't distract. The gloves continued to distract. It felt like they were coming off by the time I was close to the other side. Plus, I wasn't gripping the bars well. So I never made it across. I had many almost attempts.

There were only a few others at the park, so we were free to play without feeling out of place. This park had workout stations with bars, rings, and balance beams. The park by my mom's house also has workout stations, but those include a wooden plank you sit on to stretch. It hardly counts as a station.

@jmeprcn

##vlog We got gloves, we found monkey bars @softblueshimmer ##PepsiApplePieChallenge ##onetreehill ##soundtrack

♬ The Mixed Tape (2015 Remastered) - Jack's Mannequin

In the evening, Christina wanted to check out Navy Pier. We wanted to see how it compared to Santa Monica Pier. Off the bat, parking is more expensive at Navy Pier. It's been a while since I parked at SM, but I'd say it never went higher than $25 at night. Navy Pier started at $25 and went up each hour.

The rides were more expensive. To their credit, the rides were also bigger. The comparison table is already forming in my head, so I'm going to put one in this post. Hold please while I google how to do that in Blogger.

Attribute	Navy Pier Chicago, IL	Santa Monica Pier Santa Monica, CA
2-hr Parking	$32	$18
Ferris Wheel Name	Centennial Wheel	Pacific Wheel
Ferris Wheel Cost	$ 18	$ 10
Ferris Wheel Height	198 ft	130 ft
Ferris Wheel Lights	Colored lights, mostly blue	LEDs with designs including messages, emojis and pokeballs
# of rides	5	12
Pier Length	3,300 ft	1,600 ft

That's all the metadata that come to mind for now. Navy Pier is twice as long as Santa Monica and since it's over a lake rather than an ocean, I guess it doesn't need to be too high. The base felt almost level with the lake. Points to Navy Pier too because it comes with the Chicago skyline. The view from the Pacific Wheel in Santa Monica is bright lights for the pier and the adjacent downtown Santa Monica, but those buildings aren't high. The rest of the view is the ocean, which is great during the day, but it's just darkness at night.

There is a hotel, convention center, and beer garden at the end of Navy Pier. City cruise ships also dock there. LA spreads everything out. You have Santa Monica for the pier, Venice for the boardwalk, then Marina Del Rey for the marina. If there are LA city cruises, I'd guess they dock in Marina.

It was very pretty. I'm surprised there wasn't more going on on a Summer Friday, but that's covid for you. Also, this is a tourist spot and tourism hasn't bounced back yet. I got to see the flags we saw on our boat tour. 

There was a group of guys who were hanging out past the "do not cross" chain. There is absolutely no difference in the view on that side of the chain, except for the adrenaline from knowing you're not supposed to. So, I found my way across the chain too. There's a mini sidewalk past the chain, so it feels safe, even though I was living on the edge. I do wonder how cold that water is, but I'm not willing to touch it to find out.

@jmeprcn

##vlog Tourist time. We got the $20 option that included tickets for centennial wheel + one other ride ##navypier ##chicagoland ##ferriswheel ##pokemon

♬ Permission to Dance - BTS