We'd encountered difficulties working out how to get from Washington to Toronto, and the same was true for Toronto to Chicago. There were various options - flying, bus, or trains. Flying was fairly pricey, and the bus didn't seem appealing. We looked at a variety of ways to try and make the land transport options a bit nicer, including breaking up the journey by visiting Detroit on the way as it was on the route between Toronto and Chicago. However we chose our dates in Chicago based on the Amtrak train we booked and we didn't really want to leave Toronto any earlier - but that left no real time to visit and appreciate Detroit and Chicago, so we decided to forgo Detroit. Forgoing Detroit basically eliminated the train option (VIA Rail to Windsor across the river from Detroit, and then the next day an Amtrak train from Detroit to Chicago) because it no longer worked, leaving it as bus vs plane. While the cost vs benefit ratio stacked up in favour of plane for Washington to Toronto, it didn't quite as much for Toronto to Chicago - and we were loathe to spend even more money on the more expensive option when we were supposed to be watching our coin.
Finally, we reached Chicago, and after collecting our bags, we headed for the Subway/Metro to reach our accommodation.
Our accommodation in Chicago was an Airbnb room out in the city suburbs. We could catch the blue line of the Metro there, and I think our nearest stop (a few blocks away) was called Western. It appeared not to be a very high socio-economic area - though our accommodation was very well appointed, there were a lot of vagrants hanging around close by to it and in particular the swimming pool complex on the opposite corner of the road from our accomm. We weren't ever bothered by them though, and they didn't bother us. The main thing I remember about the accommodation is the shared kitchen had virtually no cutlery or cookware, that we were downstairs in the former basement area (made it much cooler though!) and our room door was part-obscured by a concrete column just outside in the hallway - like to the point where you'd have to squeeze past the column to get in the room! While bizarre, it certainly did the trick for our stay in Chicago.
With our first evening in Chicago, we had a big wander around the inner city at night time but the main thing was we attended a free concert in the big park they have. It was held at a big open-air stage called the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, with (paid-for) seating nearer the front and up the back was a big grassed area where people could attend the concert for free. We found a spot on the grassed area and sat back and listened to the big orchestra which played a variety of big-show theme tunes. Very entertaining, very well set up - its the kind of thing you'd love to have in your own city, but you'd need a decent climate to ensure you could get the most use out of it!
So with our one and only full day in Chicago, there wasn't anything specific we wanted to do other than go round the city and see it all for ourselves. So we ended up having a massive wander - in around the city streets, along the sides of the Chicago River and on to Navy Pier to see what that was about. To be honest, not anything majorly exciting - some museums with steep entry fees, a little theme park, a variety of sightseeing boats going on cruises out on Lake Michigan (one of the Great Lakes), and a variety of food stalls.
After the Navy Pier we sat for a while on the lake shore contemplating our next move, before walking back into the inner city, checking out the sculpture called "The Cloud" which was large and shiny (and we had fun spotting where our reflection was in it!), and then catching a bus to the Lincoln Park Zoo - a free zoo full of animals. There was a range of creatures, from Lions, Rhinoceroses, big Gorillas, Giraffes, Monkeys of other kinds just some of the animal repertoire to be see. One thing I did like was how a rabbit had made itself home in a big Rhino enclosure! There was also a little nearby lake/pond which gave a terrific reflection of the city skyline.
Some time ago when catching up with Matt Lilley, he'd mentioned that he went to a great Jazz and Blues bar in Chicago called Kingston Mines and if we were interested in such things that would be the place to go. Sasha was particularly keen to check out a bit of the music scene, so with our last evening in Chicago we made our way to Kingston Mines for the evening's entertainment. There was a sort of Blues Karaoke Jam Session going on at first - anyone who wanted to have a go could get up on stage and they would play Blues together, making an ensemble band. One guy kept constantly having a go at doing the vocals, at one stage a young kid was playing one of the guitars in the band (quite competently I thought) and afterwards an argument broke out where the other guitarist had some kind of issue with the way the kid had been playing. The event was being compered by a guy called Linsey Alexander, who berated the disgruntled guy for taking issue with the kid and the event is all about having fun. The audience applauded Linsey and the disgruntled guy didn't hang around much longer - it was clear no one was on his side and he wasn't welcome anymore.
Linsey Alexander also happened to be that evening's main Blues act after the Jam Session - and a very good one at that, belting out a variety of tunes with an interesting mix of both gusto, and stately composure as well. The song that I most remember is "Two Cats", which was a euphemism basically and during the song he went around asking the guys from any visible couple which "Cat" they preferred - "Cat #1" or "Cat #2" ! At 75 years of age, Linsey was an absolute tour-de-force and certainly doesn't seem his age at all - initially I guessed he was 20 years younger than he was. We had a great night here and I would thoroughly recommend it if anyone was in Chicago!
Chicago was just as expensive as anywhere else on our trip for food and drink out - which is to say its not cheap at all - but we did have a little bit of a blowout of sorts in Chicago on this front while there. At Kingston Mines, we indulged in a "bucket of beers" in which we got 5 beers for what was a reasonable amount and they weren't bad considering US mainstream beer either - and I think we might have gotten an additional bottle each later. As for food, we also ate at Kingston Mines while the various music was going on - getting a platter of Ribs plus a massive thing of chips to share each, though the serving would have been considered only enough for 1 person by US standards!
There are two more things on the food/drink front which were some of the standouts of the trip. At Navy Pier, it was hot and we happen across a stall selling ice creams. But these were no ordinary Ice Creams - they did what they called a "Rainbow" Ice Cream where they piled 5 different flavours in a particular order on top of one another, applied with not a scoop but a kind of square trowel and they stacked really high. We couldn't help but indulge in some for ourselves, and boy were they tasty! A mix of ice cream and sorbet/gelato - and it just hit the spot perfectly. In fact I think it might have sufficed to have been our lunch that day!
It took a while before a waiter even had a chance to come and see us, for us to place our drink orders, which also then took a bit of time to come. Clearly the place was overrun with custom and the staff were doing the best they can but were off their feet! Despite putting in the order for our pizza as soon as we could, we still had a long wait before it appeared at our table - but when it came it was easily apparent why. This was no ordinary pizza, but more of a kind of Pizza Pie. In fact it was far easier to think of it as a pie, and it had to be eaten as if it was a pie as well. It was very flavoursome, very delicious and despite being the small with all of 6 slices, it was extremely filling - to the point after only 2 slices we felt full and could not contemplate eating the 3rd slice each! When the waiter came over, we asked if we could get the remaining two slices in a box to take away, at which point he started admonishing us for not being able to finish the pizza. We start explaining that we literally have no more room, and I make the comment that the best thing will be being able to reheat it tomorrow as a snack. At this point, the waiter kneels down at our table and says "You know what, it'll gain more flavour that way and its always tastier, so I love you for that!" and he took away our pizza and boxed it for us. We did have it the next day - for an early lunch at our accommodation, and would you believe we only really needed that 1 slice each before we again had had enough!
Summing Up
It is also a very interesting city in its own way - it seemed to have a larger African American population than what we encountered elsewhere in the US, and we saw some very rough parts of the city. To be fair, the area where we were staying in Chicago came across as seemingly a bit unsafe, especially with a number of homeless/vagrants hanging around the area however while it seemed unsafe on the face of it, at no stage did I actually feel unsafe. I am sure there are worse parts of Chicago but of anywhere that we were in the US all up, looking back, if we were to encounter problems or hear random gunshots ringing out, this probably would have been the time and the place. Whereas New York felt more stuffy with money, Washington DC felt like a showpiece with museums, Chicago felt like a more down to earth city where it wasn't trying to hide behind facades. And I liked it for that.
I would happily visit Chicago again, though next time I think we'd be approaching it with a different frame of mind and probably for a bit longer. It would probably be a slight springboard to a few other areas or things nearby too. In all, I'm very glad to have gone there and seen a different part of the US!
One last thing - the Metro System. It was a mix of elevated-above-the-ground in the inner city, as well as underground or surface. The trick though - a lot of the stations on the different metro lines are named exactly the same, as they are named after where they intersect onto major streets. So the street Western stretches from the north to the south of Chicago on the western side of the city - and any metro line which crosses it, has a station with the name Western. Can be a bit tricky at first if you're unaware and I'm sure its seen people end up on the wrong train, going to the wrong station but with the right name!