We're going on a treasure hunt! A TREASURE HUNT! A treasure hunt.....we're going on a treasure hunt, Ooooohhhhhh yes yes yes we are!!!
Yesterday, Tony and I got up super early to venture downtown to Lincoln Park Zoo. Armed with another backpack full of proper drinks, snacks, and of course, my precious pennies and rolls of quarters. I tried out a few crazy penny cleaning techniques ahead of time, and picked out the most beautiful, most shiny pennies to bring along. I had already acquired about half when I went on a field trip earlier in the year, so I only had one quarter machine, and one penny machine to find. Everything was going swimmingly. Tony made sure to make me stop and eat/drink every now and then. I did have a small headache for most of the day, that came and went, but I managed to stay on schedule, so it must have been heat related. Tony bought me THE BEST snowcup (no cone, came in a cup) I have EVER HAD! Mmmmm! And the nature walk right outside the Zoo was quite romantical and fantastical. :)
We finally made our way to the Reptile house, the location of the last and final penny press machine I needed. I had to stop and wait, since there was a family in front of me using the machine. They were rolling out their last penny, when the young boy did something the mother didn't like, because I watched her yell at him. It was in another language so I wasn't sure exactly what he did. I turned around to look at some things behind me while I was waiting for them to finish. As soon as they left, Tony and I walked over to the machine. I put in my penny and my two quarters, pushed the button, and..........nothing. I took everything out, put it back in, and tried again.......still nothing. I started getting mad, pushing the slide mechanism back and forth with force, thinking maybe it was just having trouble resetting. Tony looked from the back of machine while I was doing this, and realized that the machine was jammed. The little boy in front of me must have put TWO pennies in the slot instead of 1.
I. WAS. PEEVED.
It was the last machine I needed.
It was the ONLY penny machine I needed all day! Grrrr......
I started rocking the machine back and forth, hoping that a miracle would happen and it would just "fall" out. Still nothing.
Uggghh. Finally, after trying for 20 min, I gave up and left.
We finished up the last little part of the Zoo we had left. Tony tried telling me that we still had fun, even though I didn't get all my pennies. He said, "We came for the fun of the zoo, not just to collect pennies.".............................................WHO YOU KIDDING!!!! I WAS JUST HERE 3 WEEKS AGO! He may have come for the Zoo Fun but I came for my pennies! Haha, Geesh!
Once we reached the car, we decided to venture to Wrigley Field one more time to try and find the penny press machine on the outside of the stadium. My mother was just there a few weeks ago, and said she found them both (one is on the inside). She tried telling me where it was located......Unfortunately, after she said she found it, I think I spaced because all I heard was Cubby Den, McDonald's and something about a parking lot. I knew I should have asked her to draw me a map, but I thought this time, the SECOND TIME, would go smoothly and luck would be on our side.
I walked around the outside of the field about 3 times. I walked up and down each block about 5 times. I checked every sport store, every fan bar, every corner and I still could not find this sucker! I looked for an hr or so, before finally deciding to give up and head back to the car. Uggghh! Another bust! Sooo not my day.........
After that, we were both ready to head home, and decided to skip John Hancock and Michigan Ave. Between the lack of sleep from the night before, and all the walking from the day, I was zonked out in the car within a few minutes. Overall, it was still a really fun day, and even though all my penny related efforts went unrewarded, it will give us an excuse to go back to the city again very soon.
As much as I love summer, I definitely cannot wait for ice skating in the city, enjoying the beautiful storefront displays and gazing at all the colorful Christmas lights.
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