Chicago & Toronto 2004

This is my first retrospective holiday blog, hopefully I’ll get to bring it right up to date soon…  By 2004 we were getting to be seasoned road-trippers.  Unfortunately prior to that year we’d been sans-digital so nothing to upload!

This trip started out in Chicago, from were we made a little detour to Toronto – all in the name of seeing Richard Marx play at the Casino Rama.

Back to Chicago for a proper look around…  We stayed at Hotel 71 which was great (I remember they did a very good Eggs Benedict), right on the river opposite what was then the Chicago Sun Times Building which was later demolished to make way for the Trump Tower.  (I like watching the Drew Barrymore film ‘Never Been Kissed‘ as her character works at the Sun Times and there’s some shots of her walking over the bridge to work with Hotel 71 in the background).

View from the Sears Tower

We only had a couple of days in Chicago, but managed to fit in a visit to the ‘Taste of Chicago’, a fabulous food festival held annually in Grant Park where you buy vouchers which can be exchanged for a ‘taste’ of any of the vendors yummy food.  It’s a great way for restaurants to showcase their specialities and offer people a sample of their signature dishes and it was here that I tried gumbo – far too spicy for me!

The Wendella Boat cruise was a highlight – we took in the Architectural River Cruise and thoroughly enjoyed the interesting and informative commentary.  Some of the facts remain with me to this day, like the real meaning of ‘windy city’ and how the flow of the river was reversed!

I really liked Chicago, it was a great place for walking and hopefully we’ll go back soon.

Wrigley Building, from Hotel 71

Carbide & Carbon Building, Chicago