chicago

I arrived into Chicago on the 22 of July to try and get a feel for the place before meeting Weezie the next day. This was a good idea. After getting thoroughly lost in the downtown core, (like Vancouver everything is one way streets), I was finally able to find our hotel and get an idea of how the city is laid out. Maya was going berserk so we headed out to the beach. The beaches along the lake are really pretty but too many rules. The city is not designed for driving... or parking! Parking rates are ridiculous. Like 6.00 for 30 mins ridiculous.

After getting lost and confused in the downtown area, it was time to find somewhere to sleep that night so we headed out of town to what I would consider suburbs. I ended up at some park a ways out of town. I looked around and thought.. ok this place looks a bit rough but there are people around. How bad can it be. Within an hour there were no less than 6 cops and a ton of shouting and arguing going on down at one end of the park. I thought, ok, the cops are going to take care of this. No arrests. Very angry young men however. The cops leave. I meet a guy walking his dog and ask him, "is this neighborhood ok to stay in?" "NO! You do NOT want to be here after dark. Go to Bucktown. Lots of cops down there." I replied my thanks and went back to my book for a bit. No more than 20 mins later I am witness to a full on fight with a bunch of guys and your token screaming girls, (gotta have a screaming girl). I tossed the dog and my crap in the van and got out of there.

Bucktown is a funky area of Chicago. Very lively and vivacious. Tons of things going on the sidewalk. Tons of little eateries with 3 or 4 sidewalk tables. So Bucktown was cool. The temps in Chicago were breaking 100 again though so sleep was tough.

Day 1 - Chicago

The next morning was a chore day. Since the boss was arriving, I needed to hang one of those little green  trees on the rearview mirror and clean up a bit. Oh yeah... I still don't have a rearview mirror. This is actually proving to be a bit of a pain backing up the 20 foot van. I need to do that.

Maya and I managed to pull it together and make it to the hotel around 12:30 that day. Once again so hot so might as well do some work while waiting for the room. Where was my luggage... oh yeah, I don't have luggage. I have a milk crate. Picture a guy walking down the street with his dog and a milk crate with clothes, a bag of dog food, books etc. Funny thing, at first they didn't open the door for me at the hotel. The shelter is down the road sir. Checking in was a bit uncomfortable.. "We don't have your room ready but we would be happy to watch.. your crate." "Nope that's ok, we can hang out in the bar." "Oh... great." They got my room ready really fast.
Lisa finally got into town around 7 that night and we hit the town for a bit of a walk and some food. Went with traditional deep dish at Giordano's. Deep dish pizza is essentially pizza made inside out and thick. It was good but I could not eat it very often.

Day 2

Day 2 started with us going out to Andersonville and doing some knick knack shopping. It was a bit of a ways out on the 'L' train but fun. A kitschy little unique place. Arriving back at the hotel to walk the dog, we chilled for a bit and then headed out. We went to the beach with Maya and took one of the architectural river boat tours. They really are a great way to see the city from a different vantage point. Arriving back into port we took off for Millennium park to see 'The Bean'. For those not aware, Cloud Gate, as it is formally known is a giant polished bean that is a real focal point for locals and visitors.

The way it reflects the sky is super cool. 

It was great that I was able to cross that off the list as I really wanted to see it. One of the guys who helped Anish build Cloud Gate, also built this. Back to the hotel for a quick change and then back on the L for supper in Bucktown as I knew Lisa would like it. They have public entertainment areas in the subway systems. 
We came across they guys. For some reason Bieber is famous, and these guys play in subways. WTF. Sorry about the sideways thing... I really need to remember that my phone only records video in panorama. Yeah I am sure the iphone does it both ways. whatever. Use your imagination. 

 This is very fun neighborhood. I could never live there but it was fun to visit. People like to eat in Chicago. 

Day 3

Day 3 was spent visiting one of Lisa's favorite architects work, Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park. The temps were breaking 42 Celsius so moving was pretty slow.

The evening passed fairly uneventfully with a nice dinner.
We are out of here today so really hoping my parking that I pre-purchased works out and that our bikes are still in the hotel where we left them.