Grand Motel West Chicago

... I don't know if the food was good or if we were hungry but it didn't take long for us to devour it.

The Chicago skyline was much different at night than in the daylight. After weaving through traffic to get out of the city, we remembered how beautiful it was when we were here last. We wanted to get back on the road so we can stay on schedule to get to New Jersey by Tuesday.

... etc. I went to the Pritzer Pavillion where an opera was rehearsing. A guard approached and told me "dogs allowed in the entire park". I questioned him long enough to enjoy a few minutes of the beautiful music and managed to snap a couple of photos on the way out. A big disappointment - too far back to the parking garage at my energy level to leave Charlie and return.
On to the ...

... and uneventful. Michael and Charlotte’s two-bedroom condominium is on the 10th. floor of a building located north of the river close to the lake just a couple of blocks off Magnificent Mile. The area is called Streeterville. A better location we cannot ask.

Charlotte is asleep when we arrive. She has a harrowing schedule at ...

We moved about 2 months ago and still haven't unpacked everything, plus we still have a dozen or more boxes in storage. So about a week ago Andrew asked where the passports were, this question was presented a mere 2 weeks before our departure for Italy. Not wanting to sound alarmed because I packed them... I said their here somewhere. After a day or two we found them, still in a round red and green Xmas box that at ...

... shopping heaven. Matching cool shopping are countless choices of swish restaurants and cafes – and if you aren’t impressed here, you probably aren ...

... the large chaise lounge by the window. The red walled bathroom with contrasting black tiles is hip though, and more importantly, the requirement of having a proper stand-in shower is a must. I quickly freshen up and hit the streets of Chicago.

After a flying with Virgin Atlantic from heathrow we had to connect here a Ohare to get to Omaha.

Wow the first experience of a delayed connecting flight due to weather conditions and AAirlines not flying we set here for hours waiting for the connection flight.

After a 30 - 40 minuiete walk accross from the international ...

... The only time on our trip we had this much fun for nothing was with my Dad, so we thanked them for a wonderful day as we set off for our digs for the night. We were asked to abuse the Chicago Bears as often as we could, as we went into meet Paul and Debbie (Denny's sister and brother in law). We had a great time doing what we like best - talking about our trip. Paul and Debbie were gracious hosts and we went to bed happy and amazed at how at home we felt with Denny, Mac and their family.

... and saw a sign so I decided to take a detour in West Branch, IA. The park is only a block off of I-80. Lucky for me, Saturday was Hooverfest, so admission was free. The town was also hosting a street fair with artists and local community groups selling pop and brats. The museum is quite nice. I did not realize the interesting background of President Hoover. Time well spent. 3:00 Cross through Davenport. 3:15 - 3:30 Stop in at ...

... catfish with okra, corn, pinto beans and mashed potato with gravy and cornmeal muffin (all for $7.25), which was delicious. Browsed in the store and bought some tapes of comedy recordings, including Groucho Marx.

We went through Gary, Indiana on the way to Chicago and reached the Quality Inn Downtown at 5pm. Noone was impressed as we were all getting electric shocks off metal surfaces, even I got one off the patio doors! One lady had to change her room it was so bad and one of the ...