Chicago. I think Frank Sinatra was mad. It's not my kind of town.

Well, I am flying American domestic airlines now. No food service - you have to buy your own. I was thinking they might get us to push the plane down the runway too. Anyhoo, I left Boston and set off for the airport for Chicago. It was all good except the flight was delayed because the pilots had not had enough time between flights to sleep and could not fly against US regulations. So we were late getting off the ground.

Chance met me there and she had organised a hire car!!! Wheee. A black Jeep 4WD... shiiiiiny. So we piled in and headed off to my accomodation. Chance did a great job finding her way around. (Brownie points) The B&B was amazing. Ray's Bucktown B&B if you want to know and it is a weird eclectic place full of strange collections of things and slightly creepy papier mache statues. I had a room where the bed was under a slanted skylight. I could see the stars and clouds as I lay there. It was magic.

But let's go back a step. After dropping off all my shit, we went to Navy Pier which is a very touristy place on a pier (funny that)that juts out into Lake Michigan. We walked to the end of the pier and stood overlooking the water. OMG. The lake is huge. It is not possible to see the other side and it is all fresh water. I actually teared up as I looked out over the water. What could we do in Australia with a supply like that??? So much water and we are so dry... Sigh.



Anyhoo, we had a look at some of the shoppies there. I bought the obligatory tshirt ("Dead men dont tell tales. Navy Pier. Arrrrrrr." Complete with Jolly Roger. I thought of you, Merri when I bought it and now feel completely prepared for International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Arrrrrr) Then we had lunch in a fabulous place called Be Bops which is a Jazz Cafe. I had a local beer (naturally) which was OK.
Have I mentioned that serves of food in this country are obscenely large??? !OMG! Tip: Order kids size meals. They equal a normal adult portion in Australia.

Next we went up to Sears Tower and had a look at Chicago from above. It goes on and on and on and on.







Still couldn't see the other side of Lake Michigan. Bought a fridge magnet with picture of Sears Tower on it. Went back down lift and Chance took me home before returning the hire car and boarding her plane back to Colorado.

I sent out for pizza and settled down for the evening and reflected on the day. Oh, I was only there for the day because I had arranged to meet someone else there but that was not possible so Chance offered to come down for the day to show me Chicago as she had been there before.

I don't like Chicago. It is big, dirty, noisy and the people are rude. I have no idea how people actually live there. Maybe it is to provide employment for therapists, who knows? All I can say is I am glad I went there to see it but I will not be going back any time soon. The airport is an exercise in chaos. They actually lost my bags the next day but that is another story...