When I mentioned to some people that I had a tripped planned to Chicago, the response was either "Why?" or "Do you want to get shot?". I admit, Chicago is probably not on people's top of the list to visit in the US, but to me it seemed to have it's charm. Plus, Vancouver was pretty expensive now (I usually go to Vancouver around this time).
Chicago has been on my list of places to visit for a few years. I'll have to admit that it was accelerated by Hulu's "The Bear" lately. But even before that, for me, the city had alot of culture: John Hughes, Second City Comedy Troupe, Ferris Bueller, Wilco, The Smashing Pumpkins, Cheap Trick, Veruca Salt, and of course, Chicago. And of course, the food is a big draw. But that is another post that is upcoming.
This post will focus on the city itself, the architecture and attractions.
Millenium Park
The Millinnium Park is a public park in the Loop area of downtown Chicago. It is home to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Cloud Gate, and the Crown Fountain. The park itself is pretty big, spanning several blocks.
The Cloud Gate is the most prominent feature of the park. It is a public sculture, and nicknamed "The Bean" because of it's shape. It is very shiny, and modeled after liquid mercury. Unfortunately, it was under repair. It was somewhat visible, but from a distance.
The Pavilion did not have anything going on but seemed like a nice venue
The Crown Fountain is a neat interactive display. It is basically two monolith-type structures opposite of each other with video displays of faces and art. Intermittently, it will spout water.
The River Walk
The River Walk is a public space surrounding parts of the Chicago River. It runs lower than street level and has sidewalks running alongside the river. There are several bars and restaurants that run alongside the sidewalk. It's very scenic as a lot of the more interesting buildings are viewable from the river. There are load of boat tours you can take, some of them are very interesting and informative as they give you an insight of the architechure and history of the buildings of Chicago.
For you music geeks, I had to look for the Marina One buildings. If you're a Wilco fan, you'll know it was on the cover for their album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
One notable tibit about those towers is that they are now condos, and they have valets, as the residents are not allowed to park their own cars.
Chicago Music Exchange
If you're a music geek like me, Chicgo Music Exchange is a must-see if you're in Chicago. It is mostly boutique guitars and bass (and expanding into drums). It's far from the Guitar Center vibe as there weren't alot of people killing time and messing with the guitars. The overall quality of the guitars are more upscale and I was wary of touching any of the guitars lest I get scolded by an associate. Street level are the guitars, rows and rows of the major brands: Gibson, Fender, PRS, Rickenbacker, EVH, etc, and alot of nice lesser known but very boutique brands.
Bottom level are the bass guitars. Again, lots of major brands like Fender and Rickenbacker, and also boutique brands like Alembic and Dingwall
Wrigley Field
I hate baseball. But Wrigley Field is such an icon fr the city, I had to at least stop by it, especially since it was on the way to a hot dog place I wanted to try. It had been raining the past few days and at the time I went, it was a nice sunny afternoon. Little did I realize, there was a game starting and it was packed. But still it was nice to see the stadium.
Architechure Boat Tour
There are plenty of boat tours that span the Chicago river. The one I took was focused on the architecture of the buildings along the river and also the history of Chicago.
One of the more interesting part of the Chicago River is that it initially in the old days, it was mainly for sewage. The quality of the water was so bad that only certain species of fish could survive in the river. The city slowly cleaned it up and stood up building to make the river front more attactive for both the businesses and even residents. As the river was cleaned up, the number of species of fish increased.
Another interesting tidbit is the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 and how devastating it was.n It started in a cow pasture and spread quickly into the downtown area and destroyed over 1700 buildings. The city slowly rebuilt itself, bringing in talented architects, making them taller and more unique. This was to bring businesses and people back into the city and it has worked. Chicago used to be the home of the world's tallest building in the US, the Sears Tower (now called The Willis Tower). A few of the buildings have been used in several movies, most notably The Dark Knight series. Other notsable buildings can be seen frokm the river, including the NBC tower and the Chicago Tribune.
Chicago's nickname is Second City, the city of second chances. It has rebuilt itself from the Great Fire
Chicago 360
There are high-rise scenic attractions for Chicago: The Willis (Sears) Tower and the Chicago 360. They give similar views at pretty much the same elevation. The Willis Tower is actually a few stories higher, but they say that Chicago gives a more varied view. Both have attractions. Chicago has a TiltView paid attraction where you stand in these windowed chambers that tilt a few degrees to give you a view of the bottom. It is not worth it (for $10). The Willis Tower has and an interactive display/tour of the history of the building. Between the two, I decided to go with the better view vs. higher view.
Gilda's Club
While exploring downtown, I stumbled upon a club dedicated to the late Gilda Radner.
It is cool that her memory is still being honored.
Final Thoughts
I enjoyed my time in Chicago. It was a good checked box on my list. If you're a foodie, it is a worthy destination. One thing with Chicago cuisine is that I would say it is more know for it's Chicago staples, such as Italian Beef, Deep Dish Pizza and Chicago Hot Dogs. I didn't see them as much of a melting pot of cultural cuisine such as Asian or Greek (although Itaian cuisine is strong over there). Chicago doesn't really come to mind if you want to get sushi. A Chicago food-centric post is forthcoming.
As far as the vibe of the city, it was very pleasant. The people I came across were overall very kind. I was half-expecting New York attitude. Did I feel safe in downtown Chicago? Absolutely. Researching Chicago before my trip, I'd see a few news reports on YouTube about crime, but it is most likely in certain areas outside downtown. Downtown at night is pretty tame, at least where I was staying. It is a far cry from the drunking displays on a Downtown San Diego Saturday Night.
As far as transportation, one of the recommendations if you were a visitor was not to rent a car as the subway system is pretty reliable and covers the city efficiently so you don't really need a car. Most lines run until 1 or 2am. Some lines like the blue line (which leads to Chicago O'Hare Airport) runs 24 hours a day. The subway system is relatively easy to figure out, just make sure you are on the correct color subway line, as alot of the stops of each line have the same name but are different locations. For example, the Grand stop in the Blue Line is probably 2 or 3 miles away from the Grand stop on th Red line.
There is a section on the subway like where almost all lines intersect, called The Loop. The path does form a loop and covers one of the main sections of downtown Chicago.
All in all, Chicago is a nice city and it's easy to see why alot of artist and people in general are influenced by the cultrure and keep the city in their roots.
Chicago food post coming soon....