Chicago, Chicago...

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08/23/2010 - 08/30/2010: Chicago, IL: We reluctantly moved out of our motorhome and into suitcases for a two week vacation while Newmar installs new fibreglass sidewalls and paints our coach. We took as many back roads as possible, avoiding freeways and toll roads, wandering our way to our new home for the next 7 days - Country Inn & Suites in Elk Grove Village, northwest of downtown Chicago. The next day we boarded the train at the Itasca station about 2 miles from our hotel and 40 minutes later we were at Union Station. Really easy. And cheap - $4.50 each, one-way. Parking downtown costs more than that. We then walked down to the waterfront, bought trolley tickets and spent the day on what is called the "hop on, hop off" tour, a narrated tour of Chicago with 15 stops where you can hop off, wander around, then hop on the next trolley until you want to hop off again. We were so impressed with Chicago. A beautiful city with lots of interesting areas, wonderful architecture (got a kink in my neck from looking up so much!), clean, fun, just fabulous. We took the train into the city 3 days in a row!


Day 1: The "hop on, hop off" tour around the city with a stop at Navy Pier. This was our orientation day.


Day 2: The "neighborhood" tour which included Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, and a stop at the Oprah Store.


Day 3: The "south loop" tour which had only one stop - the Museum of Science & Industry - where we spent several hours before hopping back on the trolley for a return tour thru the Hyde Park area (saw Barak Obama's house!) and Bronzeville, the African American section of town. That was my favorite tour. Spectacular homes. My head was on a constant swivel trying to take it all in. And our guide had so many interesting stories about what was once called "the black belt" because so many blacks migrated into Chicago after the Civil War, creating an area that continued to draw blacks well into the 1920's and 1930's.


By now we're exhausted so our last few days were spent exploring closer to our hotel. Not nearly as interesting but more relaxing.


On to week two - Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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