Chicago, Illinois

On my way back from Reno, I stopped in Chicago for a little business.  I have to say - Chicago is a pretty awesome town.  There's a great deal to do there - as long as the weather is good ; )

For many, there are the well-known icons in Chicago.  For me, that starts with the Sears Tower. Once the tallest building in the world - it's still an impressive feat of engineering:

The interesting thing is that most of downtown Chicago feels a bit like New York.  The really tall buildings help create that impression (don't ever let a Chicago native hear you say something like that).  However, there are plenty of other spots that give the city its own unique flavor.  Second on my list is the home of the Chicago Cubs:

Hope springs eternal in this place....

Don't get me started on the Cubs vs. White Sox debate ; )  Others would say that Chicago has an unusually high number of great museums.  I won't list them all, but first on the list is the Field Museum:

This is "Sue" - you can see a reproduction of this in the United terminal at O'Hare airport

The Art Institute

I know that my wife has fond memories of "field trips" to Chicago, when she taught school in Ohio.  She had a chance to visit quite a few of these museums.  On this trip, I'm staying only a block away from the Museum of Modern Art.

One of my favorite parts of the town is the Chicago River.  It's a beautiful part of downtown.  There are some awesome boat tours that allow you to see the amazing architecture of Chicago, from the water:

It's not quite a trip on the Seine, but it's pretty to see...

The Chicago Tribune and Wrigley buildings

On St. Patrick's Day, they dye the river green - it's pretty impressive.

Another iconic site in Chicago, is the Buckingham Fountain:

Every hour on the hour, for 20 minutes, the fountain produces a major water display and the center jet shoots about 150 ft. in the air.  At night, you can see a light and music display that accompanies the water show.  For those that watched the TV show Married With Children, this was the opening scene in the credits.

For sports fans, I've already talked about Wrigley Field.  For basketball fans, there's the United Center.  For football fans, there's Mike Ditka's home - Soldier Field:

You can see the modern addition to the field, on top of the "classic" stadium

As you can see...there's plenty to see and do in Chicago.  As Frank Sinatra sang..."My kind of town...Chicago is...my kind of town."