Chicago -- My kind of town

Ohio!! Why, oh why oh why ohhhh....

I really thought it was going to be somewhat of a wash but we happened upon the quaint little town of Vermillion on Lake Erie. It has a cute little downtown with the Main Street Soda Grill as its focal point. I, of course, had to order an Egg Creme. There were some really interesting canal-type waterways that wound their ways through the edge of the town into people's backyards. Vermillion was a nice little surprise on our long trip through an otherwise sorta boring state. Sorry, Ohio.

That night, we stayed at Mickey's Uncle's house in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Kalamazoo was a nice town with a young-looking center with a lot of potential. A few theaters, restaurants, shops. Everything was clean and new. But poor Kalamazoo; the recession hit it very hard. People losing jobs, companies moving out of town, buildings being torn down. A shame. It has good bones, though. It is truly evident that the citizens care about their town and are doing everything that they can to improve it. So, Bravo, Kalamazoobles!

A big ol' raspberry to Indiana. I lost me keys there. Boo.




We rolled into Chicago on Monday afternoon. After going to the wrong hotel and realizing I lost my keys somewhere in Indiana, I was getting a little worn out. But we found the right hotel and ignored the fact that my keys were gone and headed down to "The Loop".
I couldn't help but compare the Windy City to New York. I concluded that visiting Chicago has made me see NYC in a different way: New York is way dirtier (I saw people CLEANING public places!!!), Chicago's mass transit is "politer" but less efficient (they had extremely clear announcements on the train, cleaner cars and stations, and a FREE trolley.But the El just didn't move fast enough for me), and I realized that I like Chicago Deep Dish Pizza better than New York pizza.
It's just really delicious. We went to Pizzeria Due. It's like Uno but not. After dinner, we were wandering as tourists are wont to do and we literally stumbled upon a really great place called the Redhead Piano Bar. The singer was really amazing and they played all of the old standards that just really aren't heard anymore.
And so, today, was our full day in Chicago. We were real troupers and got up really early and headed back downtown and started wandering. Our original plan was to go over to the Aquarium but we found that the animals were shipped elsewhere as there were renovations being done on their habitats. Mickey was really upset. But because of Chicago's "Museum Campus" all we had to do was turn around and go next door to the Field Museum. There was this really groovy pirate exhibit that was like a museum in and of itself. I really enjoyed the Field and wished there were more hours in the day to have experienced it. It reminded me of the Museum of Natural History (again, comparing with New York) which is my favorite museum of all time. We took a break from the Museum and grabbed some Chicago hot dogs. These hot dogs are hot dogs on acid. Tomatoes, peppers and pickles on a dog? Are these people serious. They are. They are very serious. And it was delicious. Note that you really can't even see the hotdog in the picture. Still delicious.
After lunch it was back to the museum for some more exhibits. Then we wandered down to the Navy Pier and I had my first Ferris Wheel ride. From the wheel, I saw a great view of the skyline and even Gary, Indiana (though I was trying to erase that image from my memory. Gary, Indiana is the Midwest's answer to Elizabeth, New Jersey).
From there, we left downtown and headed to Bucktown/Wicker Park. Really cool. Thrift shops, vintage furniture stores, galleries, boutiques, clubs and good eats. Since it was Cinco de Mayo, we had to eat Mexican at Le Fonda del Gusto which was new restaurant that had just opened the night before.
Truth be told, I'm ambivalent about my time here in Chicago. It's nice to finally see it but it feels a lot like New York (which is both comforting and annoying). I'd love to return someday and explore some more.

Next up:

Blue Mound Wisconsin