So I just got back from a roadtrip to Chicago and let me just say that it was awesome. I'll break it down by day below:
Friday 4 November 2011
We left Nashville at about 11am on Friday morning. The roadtrip wasn't the most scenic, but for me that had never done that kind of thing in The States it was fun just seeing the differences in the states we crossed. We took the I65 North Interstate and that took us almost all the way to Chicago, a full 8 hours later. We passed Louisville (Kentucky) and Indianapolis (Indiana) on the way up to Chicago.
Indianapolis |
When we finally reached Chicago it was already dark and I didn't really get to see the city skyline all that well, it was a little cloudy and foggy.
We met Brittany close to the University and went straight to a university play called "The Physicist".
Not a bad play, but not the best. I've seen better productions from high school students. Some parts were really well acted, some parts were poorly acted. But a fun event none the less.
After this we just went back to Brittany's apartment. We met her roommates and just hung out, drank some beer and ate some pizza. We formulated the plan for the next day and went to sleep.
Saturday 5 November 2011
Downtown Chicago |
The Giant Bean (aka Cloud Gate) |
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Eleven City Diner Belgian Waffles |
Amazing city skyscrapers |
We decided to get some food at around 7pm and Trey suggested we go to Portillo's Hot Dogs. Really good hot dogs and the fries were even better.
For evening entertainment we went to a Blues Club called Kingston Mines. We were very lucky to see some really good blues. One stage we had Joanna Connor, and on the other we had Magic Slim & the Teardrops. WOW, just wow. There is nothing more to say. Magic Slim was amazing. The video I linked to above doesn't do him justice.
We finally left the bar at about 1am and headed back home. Sleep was in order after a really full day (just BTW, the traveling around Chicago on the elevated rapid transit system is really cool. Much better than an underground in my opinion. When traveling around the city you get to see everything.)
Sunday 6 November 2011
Cityscape Chicago |
I got up really early, not wanting to waste another morning waiting around for Trey and Brittany. I left the apartment at about 8am and headed into downtown to do some exploring on my own. I walked many miles up and down the city streets looking at all the buildings. Chicago is a really big city. You feel really small when you walk in the streets between buildings. I just took some random walk and was surprised to see how many other people were doing the same thing as me :) Tourists.
I eventually met up with Trey, Brittany and Kartik (one of Brittany's friends) for "breakfast" at the Eleven City Diner. The food was so good the day before we decided to eat there again. We wanted to go to Bongo Room, but the wait for a table was like 2 hours. Who stands outside a restaurant for 2 hours for food? Not us.
Osaka Garden |
After "breakfast" we made our way to Lake Michigan. It looks more like an ocean than a lake. It's impossible to see the other end of the lake and there are even waves. Not very big waves, but waves none the less. I took off my shoes and dipped my toes into Lake Michigan (the water was "bust a nut" cold). We wanted to go to the Museum of Science and Industry, but we got there late once again and only had an hour left before closing time and we weren't going to spend $24 each to walk around for only an hour. It worked out for the best though as getting to see the city is better than spending all your time indoors looking at some old stuff. On the way back to Brittany's place we took a tour through the Osaka Garden (Japanese Zen Garden). It was really peaceful and it was amazing how calm and quiet it is in this garden.
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Obama eats peaches |
For dinner, me, Brittany and Kartik, headed north of downtown to DMK Burger Bar. Simply amazing once again. Of all the things that I will remember about Chicago, the food is top of the list. Every place we went to had amazing food. And best of all is that it wasn't that much more than your average fast food place. None of these places are fast food joints, by the way. And to end the evening we headed back to Kingston Mines just to chill out and listen to some amazing blues. It happened to be open mic night and we got to see some really good blues players. Nobody in the same league as Magic Slim though, but a high school boy with his harmonica got pretty damn close. Just as we were about to leave again, Magic Slim (who happens to own Kingston Mines) played us out. We got to stand a few feet away from the legend himself and listen to the best music of the entire weekend. I snapped a picture of a poster in some fruit market's window. It made me chuckle.
Back at Brit's place at around 1:30am and straight to bed. Another long and successful day.
Monday 7 November 2011
I got up slightly later than I would have liked. We eventually left the apartment at about 11am and I walked with Brittany to her lab on University of Chicago campus. She showed me around for a while before I headed back to meet Trey at Starbucks. We got back on the road and headed back to Nashville. Another 8 or so hours later and I was back, sleeping in "my own bed" and not a couch.
All in all, it was a great trip. Too short to really get a feeling for the city, but I loved it.
Boston is still my favourite US city at the moment, but maybe if I spent more time in Chicago I might be persuaded.
Have a good one y'all