I had to work during Mum and Dad's recent visit to New York, but I was fortunate to secure a couple of days of vacation so that we could disappear to my old sweet home Chicago. I spent a very happy 4 years there from 2005 to 2009 and while Mum visited me during that period, Dad had never been. Given that Mum was hell-bent on seeing snow during her US visit, I was fairly confident that Chicago would deliver the goods.
Our American Airlines flight left around 9am one Friday morning, and while the sun was shining on our descent into Chicago, you can see for yourself the frigid conditions awaiting us below. The ice on Lake Michigan stretched back as far as the eye could see, and snow covered most of the houses and city buildings we flew over.
Chicago O'Hare is the busiest airport in the United States, in terms of flight traffic, but whenever I disembark there I always feel like I'm home again. I led Mum and Dad through the push and shove of passengers, cabin crew, and airport staff and we headed straight to the baggage claim. Luggage safely in hand we headed down the escalators to the Blue Line train.
New York has the subway system, but
Chicago has the "El" train. Short for "elevated train", the El is a network of 8 elevated train lines serving over 140 stations. Like the New York subway system, the El system is colour-coded and clearly marked, and features express and local trains. The Blue Line runs from Forest Hills (the western terminus), through the City, and out to O'Hare and it is a fantastic way to get to and from the airport. Not only is it an easy, fuss-free way to travel, but it's inexpensive too. A one-way taxi fare from O'Hare to Chicago Downtown will cost you about $50 and takes about 30 minutes. A one-way trip on the Blue Line will only cost you $3 and granted it will take you a little longer, but if you haven't got a heap of luggage, and you're not in a rush, the choice is pretty easy, no?
Another advantage of the Chicago Blue Line train is that it literally stops underneath the baggage claim terminal. You don't even need to go outside the building to catch it - so handy. When we got to the station downstairs, I discovered that the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) had replaced its old travel cards with a new
Ventra Card system that are like Mastercards (they're credit card sized, and they're rechargeable just like NYC's Metrocards). In the end, we purchased 3-day Ventra cards from the vending machine to last us for our visit. The cards can be used on the El trains, as well as on the city buses, so they are a fantastic and flexible way to travel.
Looking back on it, I suppose I was a bit mean making Mum and Dad travel downtown by train, because when we got to the
Thompson Center station at Clark/Lake, we had a bit of a walk to get to our hotel. In fine weather, this would not have been a problem, but winter in Chicago is something else. You may be aware that Chicago is known as the Windy City. This nickname actually originated to describe the puffed-up, wind-bag politicians of Chicago's early history, but over time it has also come to capture the heinously cold breezes that come off Lake Michigan, as well as the frozen Chicago River, which winds its way through the Downtown area. And it was these weather conditions that greeted us as we emerged from the stuffy warmth of the El station.
Needless to say we dragged our suitcases the few blocks to the hotel in basic silence, pausing only to admire the majestic
Trump Hotel and also the historical
Wrigley Building and the
Tribune Tower, that dominate the skyline and Michigan Avenue.
We checked into the beautiful
Intercontinental Hotel, where
Johnny Weissmuller, Olympic gold medalist and film's original Tarzan, used to train in
the gorgeous Olympic-sized swimming pool. We didn't have time for a dip though because we needed to defrost and have a feed.
For this purpose, we chose the
Michael Jordan's Steak House in the lobby of our hotel. I had neglected to tell Mum and Dad that there is a New York site of the restaurant upstairs at Grand Central Station, overlooking the concourse, and it's a fantastic place to eat and to people-watch. But in Chicago, to be honest, we chose this restaurant not out of any Chicago Bulls loyalty; but rather in part to avoid having to step outdoors in the freezing cold again, but also so we could see my former room mate Lexie, who works in an office building just across the road. I've been friends with Lexie for 10 years but my Dad had never met her, and Mum had only met her once. It was fantastic to just sit in the restaurant and have a proper catch up with Lex where none of us were actually in a rush or needed to be anywhere in particular.
Food and friends. This is exactly what our return visit to Chicago was all about, but it was only the beginning!
