Written by Aiden Engel
On Thursday, March 19th, interested Algona band and choir students traveled to Chicago for their bi-yearly trip. They departed from the school at eight AM and arrived at Andy’s Jazz Club at 5:30 for dinner and a jazz set. After a couple of hours of great food and cool jazz, they loaded the coach to travel to their hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn.
Friday brought a whole day full of activities that started at seven AM. At nine they made it to the famous Field Museum, which is home to over twenty-six million artifacts including Sue, the most complete T Rex. After two and a half hours, they loaded up to travel to the Navy Pier. The Navy Pier is fifty acres of parks, gardens, shops, and attractions. Next up, the students stopped by Millennium Park and “The Bean” before going to the Art Institute of Chicago that was founded in 1879 and is both a museum and a school. The Art Institute of Chicago houses a collection of plaster casts and shows close to five-thousand years of human growth from cultures around the globe. Later they took a walk to the Chicago Cultural Center, which is one of, if not the most, visited attractions in Chicago. The Chicago Cultural Center is the first central public library and was designed to prove that Chicago had grown into a sophisticated metropolis. Finally, five PM rolled around, time for dinner. This evening was spent at Giordano’s, Chicago’s World Famous Stuffed Pizza. When asked about the food at Giordano’s, junior Seth Moreno said, “The food was better than everyone expected.” To the theatre they went enjoying a touring Broadway show, Hamilton. Once the show ended, it was time to head back to the hotel to cap off a day full of activities.
Saturday started with breakfast at the hotel, followed by a trip to the VanderCook College of Music. At the College of Music, Algona High School band students got to work with Dr. Alex Kaminsky, who is the Director of Bands at VanderCook. While the band got to work with him, Algona High School choir members got to work with Dr. Robert Sinclair, who is the Director of Choral Activities at VanderCook. After two hours of working with the professionals, the group traveled to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, which is the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere. The Griffin Museum offers many different exhibits, including the U-505 submarine, a working coal mine, and much, much more, over eight-hundred interactive exhibits. After the Griffin Museum they departed towards John Hancock Center, which holds the 360 Chicago and TILT. Ed Debevic’s is where AHS had dinner Saturday night. They got to experience all of the servers' flashy outfits and amazing food. For entertainment this night they traveled to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which is led by Music Director Emeritus Riccardo Muti.
Sunday morning started, which was Algona High’s last day in Chicago. After an amazing breakfast at the hotel, they traveled to the Shedd Aquarium, which is listed as the world’s largest aquarium, around nine-thirty. After many hours at the aquarium, lunch was held at the Berghoff. Following lunch was the impending departure from Chicago. They left for home, stopping at on the way for dinner.