The Drake Chicago

... decide on Costa Rica. We are traveling to the not so beaten paths but beaten enough that we dont' need a machete. San Jose, Drake's Bay, and Puerto Viejo await us. Due to limited access to the internet, we will upload my pictures and blogs immediately ...

My travels will take me to Costa Rica and Panama. I'm on the board of directors at an organization here in Chicago called Working Bikes. We ship donated bicycles to communities in Africa and Latin America in order to empower individual and economic ...

Distance. Solitude. Albatrosses. Whales. Penguins. Icebergs. Blues. Whites. The Midnight Sun. The Drake Passage. "You wait. Everyone has an Antarctic." Thomas Pynchon, V

... with very good house-made chips.  We were really pleased and plan to make this an annual thing on our trip to Chicago for the Arlington Million (that is coming with the entry for tomorrow). After lunch, we walked along Michigan Avenue and stopped for ...

We arrived in Chicago yesterday morning about 8:00 a.m. on American Airlines.  We rented a car with Hertz (love the gold service that allows you to go straight to the car) and headed to Vernon Hills.  My husband met with a client while I had ...

... Tower and the Navy pier! This city has a very vibrant & diverse culture, a melting pot of different communities. A lot of real Chicago lives in the neighborhood taverns. It is the mixed German and Irish and Polish gift to the city, a bit of the old ...

... in the Siberian permafrost.  Just fascinating. After the museum, we took a cab to Carson's for lunch. Even though it is a Chicago institution, neither of us had ever been there.  Hubby had ribs that were good but we thought the sauce was a ...

... 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 ...

... goodies for Easter. An extra long walk to Navy Pier (went 10 minutes north instead of South...ooops)  - we found the Drake for Easter Day tea tomorrow! Supper was (on the suggestion of evening concierge, 15 minute walk) at Ed Debevic's - ...

... shop on Michigan for a free play. - Hancock tower.... great views but none of the queues you'd get at the Sears Tower. - Chicago pizza......... - the pier.... may have a go on the Ferris wheel if the wind dies down - our last day and the sun comes ...

... to the John Hancock Bldg (observatory).  Upon leaving the John Hancock Bldg, the bus went past the Drake Hotel and Oprah's Apt onto Oak St (Chicago's answer to LA's Rodeo Drive).  Oak St offered the most exclusive shopping in Chicago.  ...

... a parking lot.  Everyone stayed in good spirits though and we made it back into the city to check into our hotel.  The Drake is beautiful and our room was great.  We checked in without issue and then went out to shop a little and find some ...

... ; For those we don't know, the Arlington Million is a horse race that is part of the biggest day of racing at Chicago's Arlington Park.  There are three major graded stakes races -- the Secretariat, the Beverly D and the Arlington Million.  The ...

... being almost an hour late so we didn't get back in to St. Louis until about 11:45pm. Overall we had a great time in Chicago.  People were friendly, cab drivers were honest, hotels were nice, shows were great, and the food was phenomenal.  We'll ...

... the last couple of days. Hurricane Gustav, or rather what was left of it, came up the Mississippi River valley and drenched Chicago in rain. There were puddles everywhere and the drains were clogged so that you couldn't tell where the road ended and the ...

... crescent moon. It's cold, windy today. But the leaves are still green on the maple out front. There may be flurries tomorrow in Chicago. But it'll be spring in Antarctica, probably in the 20s. And in the 70s-80s in Santiago/Easter Island. How do ...

... system is straight forward.  (I'd like to go on the el loop next ime here).  Back to Omni then off to the Drake for Tea at 3.  From Debevic's 'ruditorium' last night to the height of civility today.  Back to the hotel after a ...

We spent the day shopping on Michigan Ave.  We basically ate and walked all day.  We bought some things at Williams-Sonoma and then headed to Millenium Park to see some of the sculptures and Cloud Gate (the bean).  We hung out a while and ...

We got up late since we had no agenda for the day.  We had a big breakfast at the Original Pancake House.  We had to wait in line but it was well worth it.  The line moved faster than we thought it would and in about 15 minutes we had a ...