Chicago

Tuesday morning Susan and I flew to Chicago O’Hare. Once there we took the Blue Line to downtown, which took around a hour and a half. We checked into the Marriott on the Miracle Mile. Our room was on the 33rd floor.

Once we settled in, we walked over to the Hard Rock Cafe for a late lunch (No 42). We then made our way back to the hotel, had a snack at the hotel lounge for dinner, then watched a movie in our room.

Yesterday morning, we walked down Michigan Avenue to the Chicago River, enjoying the architecture of the Tribune Tower and other buildings. We then took the Hop On Hop Off bus through the financial and museum districts to the Navy Pier.

We walked through the Navy Pier out to Lake Michigan checking out the shops and the views, then hoped back on the bus to go up to the water tower, and looked at some shops there. Most of the buses we rode had vinyl advertising wrap over the windows, which kept them cooler but didn’t allow taking photos of stuff we drove by. 

Lastly we took the bus down to Millennium Park to look around, then walked back up Michigan to our hotel. I was happy to see that the deterioration that has happened in many cities recently hasn’t gotten too bad in the areas of Chicago we visited. I felt safe walking around (although we didn’t really go out at night) and didn’t notice a lot of homelessness or graffiti or boarded up buildings.

This morning we took the train back to the airport. The trip back was slower than the trip out, and it was tough hanging onto luggage as the train slowed and sped up, but it only cost $5. Once at O’Hare, we picked up a rental car and drove to Wisconsin.