Today was our last day on the Discover Coaster to Coaster Tour and our last Six Flags park. We spent the day at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, IL, just north of Chicago, and we had a great time. As you can see, we got another great parking spot right up front:

This is a very pretty park with lots of trees, plants, and bushes:

Michelle and I just had to pose for a picture in front of their famous double-decker carousel:

Our first stop of the day was Superman: Ultimate Flight. Since this was the Discover Ride of the Day, we had some fun with our Superman capes and hats:

If you like flying coasters, this is a good one. The pretzel loop gets me everytime:

This is us just about to hop on Vertical Velocity. This was my first time on a coaster like this and I liked it. Michelle really liked it, too. She said it made her laugh:

We were given a VIP behind-the-scenes tour of the park. We saw all kinds of things that most people don’t. Here we are up close and personal with the tunnel for the first drop of Raging Bull:

This park grows all of their own plants from seeds every year. These are some of the greenhouses they use in the back of the park:

For lunch, we met up with a group of bloggers from Chicagonista.com. We got to tell them our story and how they can save money by using the Discover card. Here is a group photo of all of us:

Now it was time to take on the bull. I was really looking forward to this coaster and it was my favorite in the park:

We all liked it so much that we ended up buying the photo that was taken on the ride…with our Discover card, of course:

The next ride on our list was Viper. This is a great wood coaster that is a mirror image of the famous Coney Island coaster:

Here we are about to get on Viper:

I was scared to go on a coaster named Demon:

But once I saw the colors on the ride, I knew it couldn’t be that bad:

Park guests get access to the Hurricane Harbor water park as part of their admission:

The park management was kind enough to set us up with our own cabana. It was a great place to rest and have a cool drink. We also had our dinner brought to us in the cabana:

Next up, The American Eagle:

I ended up riding this one by myself. It was a fun coaster with lots of airtime. My side won the race:

The very last coaster we rode was Iron Wolf. I’m told this was the very first coaster that was built by B&M, one of today’s premiere coaster manufacturers. I’m glad we got to ride it because rumor has it that it might be going away soon to make way for a new ride:

Today is our final stop on the Discover Coaster to Coaster Tour as we visit Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, IL, just north of Chicago. It looks like we’ll get a break from the heat that we’ve experienced in the other parks we’ve been to, but it comes at a price. Chicago has been getting hammered with storms lately, and we had a huge thunderstorm all last night, so we may get a little wet today. However, I’m actually looking forward to it, as long as it’s not bad enough to close down the rides. A little sprinkle here and there might be a nice change.

We spent today exploring a couple of Chicago’s more well known features. We are staying just north of the city, so we started with a leisurely drive south along the shore of Lake Michigan. There are many nice homes and parks along the water and it made for a very nice drive. Our most anticipated stop of the day was the Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower:

At 108 stories and 1,451 feet, it’s the tallest building in the United States and the 5th tallest freestanding structure in the world. Although it dwarfs most of the other buildings along the Chicago skyline, it really didn’t look that much taller than the other buildings while standing at the base of it. I think that’s probably due to some sort of optical illusion:

When you first walk into the building, there is a very impressive collection of country flags that greet you. I’m not sure what the specific relevance of the flags is, but it looks very cool:

After a very short 60 second elevator ride to the 103rd observation floor, known as the SkyDeck, you are treated to some very impressive views. This view is looking out over Grant Park and Lake Michigan:

Isn’t it amazing how small all of the other skyscrapers look from up here? The tall, black building in the back is the John Hancock Center. The cylindrical building to the right of it is the Trump International Hotel and Tower, the second tallest building in the United States:

There are four clear “balconies” that you can step out onto to get an unobstructed view straight down. There is nothing but 1 1/2″ of plexiglass between you and the ground below, however it is designed to support five tons of weight. We all stepped out and even had our picture taken on it as proof. This is what one of the 4′ ledges looks like:

All along the inside of the floor were various stats about the building and prominent landmarks you can see from each side of the building:

There were also interesting facts about the history of Chicago and the people that hailed from there:

As we were exiting the building, we went through a mini-museum dedicated to President Lincoln:

Kyle reading some history of Lincoln:

There was no way I could get the Discover coaster car and the entire building in one picture, but I did get about 25 floors worth:

As we continued to drive around the city, we passed several “beaches” along the lake. I know I keep saying this, but with their size, the waves, and the beaches, these things really do look like oceans. Having always lived along the Pacific Ocean, I would never have expected similar conditions along a lake:

One of the buildings we went inside of today was the Merchandise Mart, a famous Chicago art deco landmark. At over 4,000,000 square feet, it was once the largest building in the world and even had its own zip code until 2008. The Mart centralized Chicago’s wholesale goods business by moving all vendors and trade under one roof:

The reason we were at the Merchandise Mart today was to meet the team at Burson-Marsteller that has been our ‘behind-the-scenes’ support team throughout this incredible journey. Working on behalf of Discover, they have gone above and beyond to ensure that the Discover Coaster to Coaster Tour Driven by Ford has been smooth and trouble-free. These people have been wonderful and we can’t say enough nice things about them. Thanks, Gang!!!

Goal: Explore some of the sights around Chicago, IL

Today’s agenda, weather permitting, includes a drive along Lakeshore Drive, a trip up to the top of Willis Tower, a stop at Illinois Beach State Park, and possibly a little bit of shopping. There is a huge storm threatening the city, so we may have to adjust our plans on the fly.

We didn’t stop anywhere on the drive from Cleveland to Chicago, so we don’t have much of a report for the day. Before hopping on the interstate, we stopped on the shore of Lake Erie for one final view. You would never believe this wasn’t an ocean if you didn’t know:

Not sure what kind of fertilizer this town uses, but it works miracles:

We first spotted the Willis Tower as we were passing through Gary, Indiana, but this was our first view of the entire skyline:

It’s amazing how much the Willis Tower dwarfs all of the other buildings, and those other buildings are behemoths on their own. We can’t wait to go up to the observation tower:

Goal: Drive to Chicago, IL

Today we embark on the final leg of this amazing trip. We are driving from Cleveland, OH to Chicago, IL. After spending a couple of days in Chicago, we’ll make our final park appearance at Six Flags Great America. We don’t have any scheduled stops planned along the route today, but if we see anything interesting we’ll be sure to stop.

Travel Tally: Discover Coaster to Coaster Tour Driven by Ford

• Days on the Tour: 18
• Days Driving: 10
• Miles driven: 4250
• Miles to Six Flags Great America: 345

Over the course of this past week, the savings and cashback bonus awards that we have realized from using our Discover card while on our vacation have continued to increase. We are now at $188.86 in total savings and that’s only for about two weeks of vacation. We’ve earned almost $50.00 from the Cashback Bonus program itself, which anyone can benefit from just by using their Discover card. We’ve also earned over $122.00 by booking our hotels through Discover’s partners on ShopDiscover.com. That’s enough for a free night’s stay at many hotels just about anywhere in the country. Lastly, we’ve saved over $17.00 in instant savings by using our Discover card for all our in-park purchases at each of the Six Flags theme parks we’ve visited. Like the saying goes, it really does pay to Discover!

We have now hit four of our five scheduled Six Flags stops with a recent visit to Six Flags Great Adventure. We are are now up to a total of 45 individual roller coasters and we still have another park to go! It was one of the hottest days on record the day we were in the park. The temperature was right at 100 degrees, but the high humidity put the heat index at 110 degrees that day. We were doing our best to stay hydrated and take lots of breaks, but we finally broke down before hitting every single coaster. We hit nine of the major coasters in the park, but we did leave a couple on the table. Kingda Ka was the most anticipated and it did not disappoint. I heard El Toro was a great wood coaster, but I was not prepared for how awesome it really is! Green Lantern is a great stand-up coaster and the park is fortunate to have just added it to the collection. Lastly, I think Nitro has just taken over as my new favorite steel coaster. These four coasters alone are worth a trip to the park, but you get so much more. If you live anywhere near Six Flags Great Adventure, or are planning a trip to a park, give this one a serious consideration. You won’t be disappointed. Here is a breakdown of what we have been on so far, by park:

#4 – Six Flags Great Adventure: 9

• Batman: The Ride
• The Dark Knight
• El Toro
• Green Lantern
• Kingda Ka
• Nitro
• Runaway Mine Train
• Skull Mountain
• Superman: Ultimate Flight

#3 – Six Flags Over Georgia: 10

• Canyon Blaster
• Dahlonega Mine Train
• Dare Devil Dive Coaster
• Georgia Cyclone
• Georgia Scorcher
• Goliath (x2)
• Great American Scream Machine
• Mind Bender
• Ninja
• Superman: Ultimate Flight

#2 – Six Flags Over Texas: 11

• Batman
• Flashback
• Judge Roy Scream
• La Vibora
• Mr. Freeze
• New Texas Giant
• Pandemonium
• Runaway Mountain
• Shock Wave
• Superman: Tower of Power
• Titan

#1 – Six Flags Magic Mountain: 15

• Apocalypse
• Batman: The Ride
• Colossus
• Deja Vu
• Gold Rusher
• Goliath
• Green Lantern: First Flight (x2)
• Ninja
• Revolution
• The Riddler’s Revenge
• Road Runner Express
• Scream
• Superman: Escape from Krypton
• Viper
• X2

Total Coaster Count
Parks Visited: 4 of 5
Coasters Ridden: 45

Today we stopped by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, OH. There are many temporary and permanent exhibits that highlight the history of rock and roll, from its early roots to modern day. Located right on the shore of Lake Erie, close to downtown, the hall of fame is 150,000 square feet and opened in 1995. There is absolutely no photography allowed anywhere in the building, supposedly due to copyright issues, other than in the main lobby.

The front of the building is basically a glass pyramid, with a cylinder, cube, and triangle poking out at different places:

As you can see from the rear of the building, it really is a unique design:

Since Cleveland has been deemed the birthplace of rock and roll, the Hall of Fame has been listed with the Ohio Historical Society:

The main lobby has some very interesting displays that you see as soon as you walk in:

The building has a total of seven floors of exhibition space:

Anyone familiar with ZZ Top should recognize this car:

The special exhibition that we saw today was called Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power. It illustrates the many roles that women have played in rock and roll, from its inception through today:

There were many items displayed in the museum that belonged to Michael Jackson, including his Thriller jacket and sequined glove. We saw this whimsical display as we were exiting the lobby:

Located just outside the main entrance was Johnny Cash’s tour bus:

Parking was very close to the museum, right on Lake Erie, and with a nice view of downtown: