My partner and I paid a visit to Chicago this past weekend - mostly for the Market Days festival*, but of course we saw plenty of other things.

 

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Halsted_Market_Days

 

One of the performers at Market Days was Kristine W - so I picked this song for the soundtrack for this thread :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d89T37ZnFl4

 

 

WOOHOO!!! Oh wait - that's Toledo; nice but not quite where we're headed:

 

Gary, Indiana in all its glory:

 

Okay, there's The Emerald City Chicago!

 

 

 

Almost there!

 

The antenna atop Sears Willis Tower:

 

Trump Tower Chicago:

 

My partner went to undergrad near Chicago and though he's tried Malnati's, Uno, etc. - he prefers Giordano's deep dish:

 

One slice - we ended up having four each:

 

 

Okay, time to walk that off - down Michigan Avenue to the Tribune Building:

 

A view down the Chicago River:

 

The Wrigley Building:

 

The Water Tower:

 

And back to our hotel (The Drake):

 

The next morning, I was up early as usual so I took a walk - here's 900 North Michigan:

 

The Water Tower in the foreground, postmodern schlock in the background, and Trump Tower peeking out from behind:

 

I say the old redbrick lady is upstaging her neighbors quite nicely:

 

Once back from my stroll, I grabbed my partner for our trip to Lincoln Park. On the way, Trump Tower Chicago makes a nice terminus for this view down Wabash:

 

Nice details on a building (I believe it's a library):

 

Washington Square (aka "Bughouse") Park:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Square_Park_(Chicago)

 

The Elysian - one of a few towers going up:

 

At the Brown Line station - no idea what's up with the wig:

 

Here's the choo-choo!

 

Nice views from the train:

 

 

 

Our first destination is the original Vosges Chocolate http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/ boutique on Armitage:

 

Requisite Starbucks on a main commercial strip:

 

Just out and about in Lincoln Park. Now my partner and I were walking around the area - one of Chicago's most upscale neighborhoods; never felt any reason to be concerned - but imagine our surprise when we heard about THIS http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/08/lincoln-park-mugging-victim-bike-lock-was-saving-grace.html So again folks, crime like this isn't "only in Cleveland":

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty sure there was some sort of wacky urban scavenger hunt going on that day:

 

Headed back to the hotel, got whored up and headed over to North Halsted for the first day of Market Days - a few people showed up in spite of the potential for rain:

 

 

Not sure I'd want to be holding to a metal scaffold when there's potential for lightning but what do I know?  :-o

 

 

The crowd gathers for Kristine W:

 

There she is, and she put on a great show!

 

After that was much revelry and drink - and after sleeping in, I headed out for another morning stroll. This Cheesecake Factory in the lower plaza level of the John Hancock Center has been rightfully described as a "wart on the ankle of a giant" - couldn't they have done something other than their "magic mushroom" motif?  :roll:

 

Back down to the Wrigley Building, Trump Tower Chicago and the Chicago River:

 

 

 

 

More photos on their way - I only took about 1,500 ;-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MayDay, you guys were at the Drake, you could have gone to the Original House of Pancakes on Bellevue.  I love that place!!!

 

Halstead was cute.  Did you go to SideTrack or Roscoe's?

 

Did you guys enjoy the Drake?  Were you in a LakeView room?  They are really romantic.

 

Oh and love the "subtle" urbanohio billboard!

 

I can't believe you kids drive.  I couldn't do it.

I counted 3 logos :)

I counted 3 logos :)

 

I only saw two, then I looked again and saw the third.

 

The HBIC is a clever little creature.  :)

MTS, we were at the Drake but not a lake view room - my partner got it on Priceline for $110 so we weren't complaining. We hit Sidetracks, Roscoes, Minibar, Hydrate... I think that was it (mind you they also serve on the street). And we rode with a friend so while it was a long ride (especially through Indiana), it wasn't too bad.

Great pics of my old neighborhood... I used to live a half-block away from the business district on Armitage. (My then-landlord is an old friend who gave me a good deal on the rent... That was the only way I could afford to live in that neighborhood!)

 

The renovated Brown Line station at Chicago Avenue looks nice... They were just beginning work on that station when I moved to NYC.

homesick :cry:

 

 

 

(for one of my many homes)

Thanks!

i see that unlike columbus, chicago is repping uo big time!  :laugh:

Says the man from Lorain.

quiet cant-make-up-your-mind-man!

Chicago is great.  My sister used to live in Lincoln Park (now lives in Old Town), and when I would go visit we'd eat at Tarantinos (pictured in one of the UO billboard shots).  Deliscious restaturant.

 

Also, for some reason I really dislike the top of Trump Tower.  It looks like they just decided to stop working, and put a spire on top.

homesick :cry:

 

 

 

(for one of my many homes)

 

I'll be that way soon.

Love Giardano's.  It's by far my favorite incarnation of the pizza. 

 

The neighborhoods are what make Chicago great. Wrigleyville, Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, and Andersonville are my favorites.  Not a huge fan of The Loop or Near North, but that's just me.

I have to get back here.

Love Giardano's ...

 

I'll second that.

 

Although I don't live there, I'm a frequent visitor. So far, I've loved it all; the Loop, Near North, residential neighborhoods, tourist attractions, etc.

 

I'm sure I would feel more strongly about CTA if I had to rely on it daily for commuting, but for my purposes it works; it gets me where I want to be, usually with a tolerable amount of discomfort and inconvienience. It probably helps that I'm a transit geek. :-D

 

I have to agree with MTS's comment elsewhere on the bumpy buses. On one visit I had to catch a bus near Jarvis because of reconstruction on the Red Line. By the time I got to the Loop, I thought I would puke; I haven't been roughed up like that since I was a teenager riding on the back of farm trucks. The articulated buses are the worst.

Love Giardano's ...

 

I'll second that.

 

Although I don't live there, I'm a frequent visitor. So far, I've loved it all; the Loop, Near North, residential neighborhoods, tourist attractions, etc.

 

I'm sure I would feel more strongly about CTA if I had to rely on it daily for commuting, but for my purposes it works; it gets me where I want to be, usually with a tolerable amount of discomfort and inconvienience. It probably helps that I'm a transit geek. :-D

 

I have to agree with MTS's comment elsewhere on the bumpy buses. On one visit I had to catch a bus near Jarvis because of reconstruction on the Red Line. By the time I got to the Loop, I thought I would puke; I haven't been roughed up like that since I was a teenager riding on the back of farm trucks. The articulated buses are the worst.

 

I agree with you.  Luckily I stay downtown and our office is downtown, but when I need to travel to go out, the train at times can be unreliable and they feel so "tight" to me.

 

On occasion when i'll get together with friends or coworkers i'll try to take the train, but i hate the delays.  The roads in Chicago are worse than Cleveland and it's just bumpy, bumpy, bumpy.  The kids went to the science and industry museum and upon the return, they were so against riding the bus, they paid the additional fare to take the metra back downtown.

The CTA was the bane of my existence while living in Chicago. I rode the Red Line to work almost everyday, and I could count on a 20+ minute delay at least once a week. The trains are incredibly small -- even smaller than NYC's IRT division trains -- and have more in common with light rail than a true heavy rail subway system. People in NYC love to bash the MTA (and usually deservedly so), but the subways are far more comfortable and reliable here than in Chicago.

Are the Urban Ohio billboards real?

Real Photoshop.

The CTA was the bane of my existence while living in Chicago. I rode the Red Line to work almost everyday, and I could count on a 20+ minute delay at least once a week. The trains are incredibly small -- even smaller than NYC's IRT division trains -- and have more in common with light rail than a true heavy rail subway system. People in NYC love to bash the MTA (and usually deservedly so), but the subways are far more comfortable and reliable here than in Chicago.

 

The irony is the metra is pretty darn reliable.  Although they feel more like a subway than a commuter rail line

Are the Urban Ohio billboards real?

 

I can take that one of two ways:

 

1. Glad my Photoshop skills are convincing, but no.

 

2. I *wish* UrbanOhio had that kind of budget!!!

 

The irony is the metra is pretty darn reliable. Although they feel more like a subway than a commuter rail line

 

It's what happens when the RTA is controlled by suburban politicians in Springfield. I think Metra had something like a 97% on-time record, although that took a hit when Union Pacific bought out the C&NW and moved the dispatching from Chicago to Omaha.

 

The Metra Electric line, with its frequent headways, turnstiles at stations, and mostly grade-separated ROW, had more in common with a rapid transit line than a typical commuter railroad.

The irony is the metra is pretty darn reliable.  Although they feel more like a subway than a commuter rail line

 

It's what happens when the RTA is controlled by suburban politicians in Springfield. I think Metra had something like a 97% on-time record, although that took a hit when Union Pacific bought out the C&NW and moved the dispatching from Chicago to Omaha.

 

The Metra Electric line, with its frequent headways, turnstiles at stations, and mostly grade-separated ROW, had more in common with a rapid transit line than a typical commuter railroad.

By popular demand, Metra Electric has done away with the turnstiles. Now if they could just get the ticket machines at 57th Street to work once in a while ...

 

I haven't ridden any of the other Metra lines recently, but the ride quality on the electric line is excellent. It's smooth as silk, with hardly a bump or jiggle.