January 28, 2007

  • Chicago 2003

    2003 – The Chicago Trip

     

    July 18 – I took off on Spirit Airline a few minutes before 1 AM that night.  I went with my mother, brother, his girlfriend, and our aunt who’s visiting from Thailand.  We arrived at Chicago at 6:50 AM Chicago time.  Unfortunately that’s still 4:50 LA time.  We were tired.  I could not get much sleep on the plane, as usual.

              We rented our car and drove by Wrigley Field.  Due to our weariness, we decided to return to this historic ballpark later in our trip.

              We headed off to the Renaissance Hotel at Northbrook which is a bit north of Chicago.  We all fell asleep until noon.

              We drove to the train depot in Skokie.  We took two trains to Chicago and walked to the Navy Pier.  Like other piers, there are many eateries and fun things to do.  It juts out into Lake Michigan.  The weather was a lovely, breezy 70 degrees.  We were hungry so we went to America’s Dog and tried a renowned Chicago hot dog.  It has mustard, onions, a pickle wedge, tomatoes, and little peppers in it.  It’s definitely different.  There was also a Ferris wheel, a spinning chairs ride (like Orange Blossom at Disney’s California Adventure), miniature golf, a simulator, and a bouncing area for kids.

              We then rode a speedboat onto Lake Michigan.  Since I was at the edge, I got wet.  It was fast and fun.  They explained to us which building is which and we learned where Oprah Winfrey and Sammy Sosa live.  Lake Michigan is gigantic.  If one did not know better, one might think it’s a sea or even an ocean.

              We then took a real brisk walk to Buckingham Fountain.  Most people know this fountain from the opening credits of TV’s “Married…With Children”.  It’s quite pretty and artistic.  We stood at a great angle where the wind blew 90 degrees to our line of sight.  It blew the highest spout sideways relative to us.  In this screen of water we saw a rainbow.  It was neat.

              We then walked over to the world-famous Sears Tower.  As you all know, it is the world’s tallest building.  From my understanding, the Petronas Towers in Malaysia is only “taller” due to the poles atop it but as for living space, it is shorter.  First we watched a little filmstrip telling us a little bit about the Sears Tower and Chicago.  We went up to the 103rd floor.  There are 110 floors altogether.  Here we got a magnificent view of Chicago.  There is an interesting history of Chicago illustrated on the walls and in kiosks.  Still you could not see the other end of Lake Michigan.

              Due to time, we had to take our trains back to our car before the yellow line between Chicago and Skokie stopped running.  We then had dinner at Giordano’s.  It’s a pizzeria advertising about their stuffed pizza.  We had our first true Chicago deep dish pizza.  It’s a real pie, as someone told me.  It begins as a crust that lines the bottom and sides of a 2” pan.  Then whatever “toppings” we wanted was thrown in and filled up with cheese.  Then sauce goes on top and walla!  It’s really cheesy and I love cheese so it was really good to me.  It’s quite filling.  One slice will make most people full.  As for me, it was so good I needed another one.

     

    July 19 – We drove to downtown Chicago and parked our car.  It was close to 11 AM so we had lunch at Portillo’s, a place that specializes in hot dogs.  This Chicago dog was better than the one at the Navy Pier but the same ingredients.  I guess I’m more of a chili dog kind of eater.

              This day was a dry one in the low 80’s.  It’s only hot if you’re in the sun.  We then took Chicago’s public transportation (elevated trains and trolleys) to the renowned Field Museum.  This is the world’s largest natural history museum.  One could spend an entire day or more here.  We checked out the Egyptian collection, passed by the gem collection, walked through a soil appreciation section, and took pictures with Sue, the world’s largest fully put together Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil.

              Across the street from the Field Museum is Soldier Field.  This is the home stadium of the Chicago Bears.  It is currently undergoing a massive expansion.  That is why this past season the Bears played their home games at the University of Illinois in Champagne.  My brother says it looks like a UFO that landed on the old Soldier Field.

              We then took a bus to a section of Michigan Avenue that is called the Magnificent Mile.  Similar to New York’s 5th Avenue, it is filled with shops.  It’s their big shopping district.  Similar to New York, Chicago is filled with tall, picturesque building though not as congested.  It was interesting how the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times are so close to one another.  As usual, I bought nothing.  Along the way were occasional street musicians.  Most played saxophones but I also saw a brass band, drummers, and a tuba player.

              We walked all the way to the Water Tower.  It is one of the few buildings that survived the Great Chicago Fire.  I guess not even Mrs. O’Leary’s cow could take out this structure.

              We had dinner at Weber Grill.  It is backyard barbecuing and then some.  They use what looks like a typical round backyard grill but it’s a lot bigger.  It seems to have a 5 or 6 foot diameter to it.  The meat was scrumptious.  My brother and I liked our New York steaks.  The beer-dipped chicken wings were tasty.  Appetizer was very good.  They have these very thin, crisp, cracker-like sheets in place of bread.  You dip it in some homemade sauce containing around ten things but I only recall zucchini and garlic.  The garlic dominates the taste and odor but not too strongly.  It’s quite tasty and I wished I could have it with other stuff.  My mom enjoyed her pork chops.

     

    July 20 – This day was 88 and muggy.  It felt like Thailand.  On our way to Milwaukee, we stopped off at one of the legendary Cracker Barrel store/restaurants.  It’s definitely the place to go for good ole country cooking.  We all enjoyed our breakfast.  I filled us up for a long, long time.

              At Milwaukee, we dropped our aunt at the Courtyard by Marriott.  Here she will meet up with her internet pen pal.  She’ll be back in LA on Thursday night.

              Milwaukee seems like a dead town, especially after coming from Chicago.  We drove by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  We also drove by Lake Michigan.  The art museum at the shore is very unique in design.  It looks like a big, big sailboat.  I got a brief glimpse of the Bradley Center (the home court of the Milwaukee Bucks) and the Miller brewing company.

              We returned to Chicago.  There my brother and I took photos of historic Wrigley Field, the home field of the Chicago Cubs.  The stadium was built in 1914.  It is neat to see how the neighboring apartments all have rooftop bleachers where you can definitely watch the game.

              We then went to Garrett’s Popcorn Shop.  Store is filled with the aroma of fresh popcorn and caramel.  I got me some regular caramel, caramel and pecans, and caramel and cashews.  It is good stuff.

              My brother and his girlfriend then picked up some pizza at Gino’s East while I bought some stuff at Sportmart.  I got a Wrigley Field T-shirt for my father and a 2003 All-Star Game polo shirt for my cousin and me.

              We then took off from O’Hare Airport and came back home to LA at 11 PM.  Flying is really not my thing.  It’s due to my inability to fall asleep on airplanes.

              My overall take on Chicago is that it is an old city.  Many buildings there are made of bricks.  Lots of places seem like they were there for the longest time.  It’s a town that makes you bring your appetite if you want to try their best.  There are similarities to New York in that trains are the most efficient form of transportation.  Also like the Big Apple, there are lots of tall, artistic buildings but not nearly as congested.  Ironically, some of the people here call Chicago “New York done right”.  I’m not sure if that’s true or not.  It’s a beautiful, old town with many things to see and eat.  I love the pizza.  If I go back, I’ll probably see more of the Field Museum.  I also understand why it’s called The Windy City.  The wind/breeze never stops.

              Some of you might wonder I visited the arenas of the Bears and Cubs but why not the United Center (Bulls, Blackhawks) or US Cellular Field (White Sox).  Looking at the Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox these days, is it even worth it?

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