American Adventure 3 - Chicago's Deep Dish Pizza Delight!

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Right, Chicago - strange as it may seem, I booked us a couple of nights in Chicago without really thinking about why I had done it, or what we would see there. I think my brain was still subconsciously tied to the fact that I had wanted to visit Chicago when I was a teenager, because it was where my favourite band at the time was from. My brain forgot that perhaps I didn’t really need to go there anymore, but too late for that now - we had made it to the Windy City!

Day 8

My impression of Chicago (before I went there) was that it was always cold, rainy, snowy, windy, dark, miserable….you get the idea. Plus I knew it was on Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes. Vaughan had no idea about the place at all - not even a little bit. See me putting my foot in my mouth? Well, I need to, because Chicago was quite a nice place actually! I am sure that it is certainly a lot colder in winter, but we really enjoyed ourselves when we were there. First thing in the morning we walked back into town & had a bit of a wander down the Magnificent Mile (shopping main street) to the Chicago River near two well-known local buildings - the Tribune Tower & Wrigley Building. There are bridges all over the city which raise up for any boats that go through, & the river seems to split the downtown area in two, somewhat. There were quite a lot of skyscrapers here again though, right up to the water’s edge, so that was quite a sight. We jumped on a sightseeing bus so that we could tour around the city & hear a bit about it, as we didn’t know much. I had really wanted to see the ethnic neighbourhoods which Chicago is famous for (apparently some of the most interesting parts of the city), but only later discovered that one of the other bus tours actually included many of the neighbourhoods in their route (which ours did not), so I felt a bit disappointed, as we didn’t really have much time to make our own way around Chicago to do it later. However, the bus tour was kind of cool - we got to see a lot of Chicago for the time we had, including the downtown area (where they were shooting the next Spiderman movie), Sears Tower, the John Hancock Centre, the Water Tower, Navy Pier, the Observatory, Cellular Field (baseball stadium), Lake Michigan, & the restaurant district (near where we were staying - I must have a thing for accommodation near food!). We went right around the route once & then jumped off again back in the downtown area, heading for the John Hancock Centre (an alternative to the Sears Tower for views).

As we walking there we saw dozens of fire engines race through the traffic, & when we arrived at the John Hancock Centre we realised that there had been an emergency evacuation from one of the (many) upper floors, so we had to wait until the building was given the all-clear before we could go in. Never mind - just another chance to go shopping in the meantime. We finally made it up to the top - the ploy was to get up to the bar level (which is free - unlike the observation decks of both the John Hancock & Sears Towers) where you can instead spend your hard-earned cash on fancy cocktails rather than an entrance fee, from only a couple of stories below. And the view was just as fantastic! We had a drink each (& contemplated more, despite the price) sitting by the windows, taking photos of various parts of the city. It was really busy up there & we were lucky we had arrived when we did to score a seat. In fact, our whole trip to the USA was pretty much defined by ‘we were lucky to get in when we did’ moments, some of which were hilarious - they seemed to occur almost everywhere we went & after a while it became a complete joke. When we had finished up the tower we found it to be a bit wet outside (although just drizzling really) so we had a quick wander around some of the shops, stopping off at the Apple store & having a go on the computers there. I had really needed to use the internet, so it was really bizarre to be typing away on the free in-store email while other people wandered around asking questions about buying the computer I was using.

By the time we went out later it had pretty much stopped drizzling. We had been going to go to the huge Grant Park, where there was a free Latino dancing performance, which would have been kind of cool to see for something different. Grant Park also has a famous fountain, called Buckingham Fountain, which has a water & light show several times a night. For some reason we were more focused on food & completely forgot about the park (typical), & ended up at Giordano’s Italian Restaurant, one of many local Italian places famous for their Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. Being a Friday night it was so busy, but the atmosphere was great & the restaurant was casual & colourful. We pre-ordered our pizza & waited in the bar for our dinner table - when we got our seats & the pizza finally arrived, our eyes just about popped out at the size of the thing. It was more like pizza pie, rather than just pizza. We had ordered extra cheese & bacon as well (of course - our two staple ingredients), so even between Vaughan & I we didn’t manage to finish off the pizza. It was absolutely amazing & delicious - we both enjoyed it so much. Who needs Latino dancing anyway?! On the way back to the motel we decided to drop into Chili’s, a popular chain restaurant & bar, where they were selling cheap Margaritas & had Sky TV. The bartenders were friendly & Vaughan got to watch live poker on TV, in anticipation of our visit to Las Vegas (he had been playing Texas Hold ‘Em online to practice as well). Over all, despite the weather we had had a good day. It was interesting to know that there was a lot more to Chicago than we had seen (ethnic neighbourhoods & restaurants, free stuff in the park, all the city parks in general) & were quite impressed with all the activities available. Instead of the dismal place we were expecting we discovered a vibrant, busy, enthusiastic city, placed in a beautiful spot next to the clean & clear Lake Michigan. Nice!

Day 9

Today we got up late & intended on going for a look at Navy Pier down by the waterfront (museums, carnival rides, cafes, markets, etc) but it was sort of raining. Instead, we went back into the city to go to the Apple store (to use the internet) & to buy me a winter jacket I had seen in the North Face, as I knew it would be cold back in NZ without all my winter clothes, currently being freighted over from the UK. Jacket purchased & email written, I had to drag Vaughan away from buying an iPod that he didn’t need, as we took one last wander around the city before heading off for lunch at another local Italian restaurant, selling all kinds of hot dogs, salads, ribs & pastas. I felt sorry for Vaughan as I could tell he really wanted to have the ribs, but with his fake (unsecured) front tooth, it just wasn’t an option. We both enjoyed hot dogs & then shared some meatballs (healthy, I know) - in fact, we were really struggling (since our nice fruit breakfasts in Central Park) to eat food that was better for us, & we had not been feeling well in that respect. It seemed like everywhere we went there was nothing but hotdogs or hamburgers to eat (pretty much), which we enjoyed of course (mmm…..hot dogs), but did not go down well with our bodies which were used to far more fruit & vegetables. However, Vaughan had decided that Chicago especially wasn’t worth worrying about, as forfeiting the deep dish pizza in favour of something healthier was just not an option! No worries! We were kind of milling around for something to do until it was time to pick up our rental car, so we decided to head down to the depot early anyway. On the way we passed an SPCA type place (but I think it was just for cats) & you could see them in the window, from the street - of course, I wanted to take all of them home with me! We made it to the pick-up point & got our car, a silver hatchback thing, which seemed to suit us just fine. I drove first, heading back to the motel to pick up our stuff - it was weird driving on the other side of the road, but actually much easier in the city as you are following so much other traffic going in the same direction. Plus the motel wasn’t far away & we easily got sorted with our Google Maps for direction, & then on our way west towards corn-country, Iowa, to see my friend Kelly. I was pretty excited, but had to concentrate on driving first.

Heading out of Chicago the suburban areas stretched for endless miles - it was much larger than we had imagined. We were immediately thwarted in our travels by a closed freeway, & although I had no idea where I was going, managed to find an alternative route kind of by accident that enabled us to still get where we were going without really travelling anywhere out of our way. Eventually the city began to subside to farmland, where everything looked so green, especially because of all the brightly coloured corn crops which took up about 95% of the land. It was fairly flat so you could see quite some distance away. We didn’t see any farm animals because of corn being the main income for most people - there were quite a few farm houses & grain silos. Driving on the big motorways was easy as everyone is heading in the same direction as you - we were able to get on with our journey & make good time towards Iowa, finally crossing the state line where the speed limit increased (helpful). Luckily we were only traveling a short distance our first day, to Davenport which is close to the Illinois/Iowa border. Kelly, her husband Robbie, & two sons Bradlee & Dustin had just moved back from the other side of Iowa & were staying with friends, so we were not able to stay at their place as first anticipated. Nevermind - we had booked a roadside motel (it was pretty nice too) near to where they were staying, & it wasn’t long before we arrived. We would have only been at the motel for about 5 or 10 minutes when the phone was already ringing - Kelly & Robbie were trying to sort out being able to meet up. It was really awesome for me to meet Kelly after writing to her (via both snail mail & email) for about 15 years now, when our schools swapped details for social studies class in 1992. Kelly & Robbie turned up & we quickly got onto a few funny stories which helped break the ice, although I think we were pretty much OK right from the beginning.

After messing around for a while we followed them in their big American pick up truck out to the trailer park (mobile homes) where they were staying with Angie, Josh & kids (Christopher, Nicholas & Courtney). Of course, being from NZ where we don’t have trailer homes, we didn’t really have a concept of what it would be like there. I was surprised that everything was as functional as it was because I think I was imagining something far more temporary. Angie & Josh’s place was pretty cool - also much larger than I had imagined (house sized) with a small section of land next door. There were kids & bikes & dogs & cats everywhere - a virtual madhouse, made even more so because Kelly & her family & animals were staying there. I loved every second of it - they really (almost literally) rolled out the red carpet for us. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so important in my life - it was fantastic (thanks guys)! It soon became clear that there aren’t a lot of foreign visitors to that part of the country, & everyone was tripping over themselves to speak to us (especially the kids). It was really nice to feel different, but in a good way. Most of all I was just happy to meet Kelly, Robbie, & the boys, as well as all the attached friends & family that I had heard so much about over the years. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that we all actually had quite a lot in common, with similar interests & attitudes, so it was actually much easier to meet all these new people than I had anticipated. It’s good to know that people halfway across the world can give you shit, & you still find it funny. Vaughan had a play on the Playstation with the guys, & then Josh cooked everyone dinner (BBQ meatballs, pasta & veges) - excellent! We ended up staying quite late, everyone just talking, cutting in on each other, showing off pets, & generally just having a laugh. I couldn’t have imagined a better introduction to long-distance friends (thanks again guys).

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