Chicago Trip

Chicago is the biggest city in Illinios, our neighbouring state. It is also the 3rd most populous city in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. September 1st is Labor Day, and since we had a long weekend, our group decided to spend 2 nights in Chicago. The drive up took us 5 hours; a good chance "to train for our 14-hour road trip to Mt. Rushmore", proclaimed hubby. I guess I will try to get myself an air tic up, rather than let my legs suffer in the cramped coupe for that many hours. A 5-hours drive is already more tedious than I had thought it would be.

This is how far we had travelled. Almost across an entire state to get us to Chicago. Map's a credit of photographyschools.com.

The only pitstop on the way up. We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel, an old country-styled restaurant. A very nice cosy little place.







One of the first sights of Chicago. An old dirty tunnel which do not look welcoming at all. We entered Chicago from the part where the more impoverished communities lived. It looked pretty much like a riot had recently broke out along the streets.



Along Lakeshore. The ensemble of the clear blue sky, the pristine water and the neat rows of yachts is such a pleasant sight. Totally different from the sights that greeted us initially.





A pretty much dingy subway station near our hotel. The place where we put up at was quite close to the shabby streets, that explains the presence of an almost dilapidated station.






Chicago's skyline. Finally we get to see clusters of high-rise buildings...















...and throngs of people. I had not seen so many people along the streets for the past 2 months. It ignited some excitment in me, having seen crowd the first time since we arrived in STL. I felt like a hermit being let out. Haa...




Parking in the city is extremely exorbitant. Thus we took the subway and walked miles and miles on the first day. Lucky my legs were spared on the second day as we managed to find a parking place that cost us only $11 for 12 hours.










Dinner was at Morton's. The real Morton's Steakhouse in Chicago! Last birthday, Hubby planned to bring me to the Morton's in Singapore, but I can't remember why there was a change in plan in the end. We were delighted to have a chance to sink our teeth into the acclaimed steak at the origianl Morton's.

Superb steak. The taste was AWESOME. The only flaw was it was a tard too raw. Hubby and I shared one, while Shaun and Zhiwei shared the other portion. While both orders were medium rare, the chef grilled the entire thick cut of steak before slicing it up into 2 portions to be served. Thus the centre of the beef was too raw. It would be the most perfect steak if it was sliced first before grilling. The others had thinner cuts, and thus their steaks tasted much better than superb.

After dinner, we took a looooooonng stroll to Navy Pier to catch the fireworks. Thereafter, it was yet another much looooooonger stroll to the subway station to take a train home.












Chicago at night.












On the second day, we had Tim Sum at one of the restaurants, recommended by The Wives' Club, in Chinatown. For this huge spread, we paid only $10 each. Almost the same price for a meal in McDonald's. Pretty decent chinese food, except the bland congee and thick-skinned crystal dumplings and Char Siew Baos.

I went gaga over this huge Hershey's store. It's a chocolate-lover's heaven.
















The genuine chocolate-making machine in the store! I say genuine because I saw "kisses" rolling down the spiral duct of it.













Late noon, we each paid $15 to go up the Hancock Observatory for a 360 degree view of Chicago. One of the touristy must-dos.








Nice view of Chicago from the 94th storey.











Dinner was at Carmine's. Nice food, better wine. It had been a while since we do alfresco dining.









Night fell after dinner.

















It took us some time before we managed to find a modest place for some drinks. Modest but still a far cry from our happening clubs in Singapore. It was good enough to remain in there for only 2 hours.



We left with the intention of adjoining to the most happening club, but with a drunk member in our group, we decided to give Level a miss.







I'll be posting the entire album on Chicago in my Picasa real soon, I promised.