The Miami Seaquarium is an aquarium located on Virginia Key in Biscayne Bay near downtown Miami, Florida, USA.

Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor won their second straight gold medal in women’s beach volleyball Thursday, a 21-18, 21-18 victory over the Chinese duo of Tian Jia and Wang Jie. The contest was every bit as close as the final score indicated. The biggest lead by either team was three points.

May-Treanor and Walsh were not the top seed in the tournament. That honor belonged, instead, to Tian and Wang, who have helped establish a sport that is in its nascent stages of development in China.

May-Treanor and Walsh have 69 straight international victories, 108 consecutive wins overall. Their most recent loss came last fall in Boston, and they did not lose a set during their seven-match romp through the Olympic tournament.

In the medal ceremony afterward, Wang and Tian congratulated their countrywomen, Xue Chen and Zhang Xi, who beat the Brazilians for bronze. The host country had two medals in beach volleyball, their first ever in the sport.

Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times

Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times

Went to Chicago the last weekend in July. What an awesome city. The architecture was incredible and made for some great photo ops.

One of the “beaches”, that Lake Michigan sure is a large body of water.

The Saturday night we were there was the Venetian Festival, finished off with a big fireworks show, very cool.

Cloud Gate, refered to by the locals as “The Bean”

Another pic of it, more arty this time

The Hancock Observatory, a 100 story skyscraper

The view from the 94th floor

The Sears Tower, the tallest building in the US

Old Glory