My oh my. Chicago. We decided we liked the Windy City before we even got out of the car. Then our friend Kathleen made us fall completely in love with it. Chicago born and bred, Kathleen was our amazing tour guide as we roamed through her hometown and saw the city through her eyes.
Up on the Sky Deck on the 103rd floor of Willis (formerly Sears) Tower, we got superb views of Chicago and all that surrounds her.
Wandering through the Monadnock Building we were swept back to 1893 with its ornate aluminium staircases and quaint stores that belong in a time gone by.
We travelled from Quincy Station towards Michigan Avenue on the ‘L’ (short for elevated) train where we crossed over Michigan Avenue (DuSable) Bridge, wandered along the Magnificent Mile and took in the sights of Wrigley Building, the Chicago Water Tower and Lookingglass Theater. We absorbed the atmosphere of downtown Chicago before heading along Lake Shore Drive towards Navy Pier and Millennium Park.
An architectural tour along the Chicago River gave us spectacular views by night as we learned about many of Chicago’s buildings along with some history of the city itself.
The next couple of days were spent further exploring Chicago and her architecture, history, food and nature.
Chicago is truly superb on it’s own. But our visit here was made richer with the opportunity to catch up with several friends. While it’s been a relatively short time since we last saw Lisa and Steff, and a couple of years since we saw Kathleen, it has been fifteen years since Christine and I crossed paths. Kathleen also took us to her family home to meet her family who have now become part of our extended family. Thank you to everyone for sharing your homes, families, neighbors and doggies with us and for being part of our Chicago story.
To everyone who told us we would love Chicago, give yourself a pat on the back. You were absolutely right. We now leave Illinois for a taste of bourbon and a flutter on the horses in Kentucky!
S&P