Chicago

We exited South Bend and headed due west, skirting Gary, Indiana, and touching the suburbs of Chicago as we circled and then headed into the fray. Crowded freeways - lots of trucks. Then the downtown skyline of Chicago apprears out of the haze. The Windy City, Chitown, The Second City, Da Chi, The Chill, City by the Lake, The City of Big Shoulders, The City of the Century, The 312, The City That Works, The Big Onion, New York Done Right, I Will City, My Kind of Town, Paris on the Prairie, The Heart of America, The City in a Garden, Chicagoland. The infrastructure is in distress, and they have apparently chosen toll highways as one of the solutions. We parked in the parking garage next to Soldier Field (da' Bears) and wandered around a bit. I have been to Chicago many times (love the place), but I have to admit, I don't like the Soldier Field remodel. How could they think those two styles fit together? A travesty in my opinion. Fortunately, they have left The Shedd and The Field alone.




The Field Museum had free admission all week, so we slipped in for an hour or so before they closed. The atrium lobby is incredible (see the picture below). Loved the feel of the place, but we were only able to scratch the surface. We will have to save a more thorough look for our Nauvoo trip (along with the adjoining Shedd Aquarium). The T-Rex is the largest and most complete of its kind in the world...doing a little bonding....it is named Susie by the way. A beautiful, crisp day. Wow, I love Chicago.





Kind of exciting manuvering the minivan around the crowded streets at rush hour. Lots of oneway streets and deadends. We HAD to go up the Sears Tower. I have done it before, but KR needed the experience. All 110 floors of it. They have made it into a little bit of a tourist trap, but the view is magnificent....there is really no other way to get up that high, so you bite the bullet. And we got a nice clear day to boot. Not too crazy about the $15 parking though. They do the obligatory pictures on the way in...we laughed, hope people don't fall for buying those..you guessed it..we are now the proud owners.



It was getting dark as we came down, so on the advice of the elevator operator, we enjoyed some deep dish pizza at Giordano's, kitty corner from the Sears Tower. Cooked from scratch. It was FANTASTIC pizza. We ate the whole thing and then rolled ourselves to the car. For those heading to Chicago, check it out. The El was a block down and we got a nice video on the way to the car (see sidebar). We stayed in Downer's Grove, a Chicago suburb, for the night.