Definitely my kind of town…

Some places you just connect with, no matter how short the visit and Chicago for me was one of those places. I think it has a lot to do with a medley of attractions that when all wrapped up make it a perfectly balanced place. 1) The shopping is fantastic – the magnificent mile has just the right sprinkling of designer and affordable outlets 2) The architecture is like no other city – every building seems to have a compelling Raison d’Etre and when whizzing around the city on the top deck of a cheesy but effective Double Decker tour bus I was amazed just how much culture and history is packed into South, North, East and West. The maximum security FBI approved Sheraton, the Wrigley ‘bridge’ building, the Jewelry ‘gangster car-elevator get-away’ building and oh, Opera’s new two-floor apartment [one level for full gym… of course].  3) The food – without a doubt the best Mexican I’ve ever had and totally worth the one-chair-share at the bar James and I did from appetizer right through to dessert. The pizza too is to die for – I will say for the record that the best bites do not always come served on a super thin crust. 4) The friendliness of the crowd, even the homeless are happy – especially the one who sang thanks for my leftover superbly cooked scallops from N9ne Steakhouse. 6) The dive bars – we didn’t go to many but the Billy Goat Tavern was very good, not least but in part because of the Bacardi-Cranberry-7UP-sugar fest infused ‘Horny Goat’ special. 5) The magic – I think it’s fair to say some cities just have it. I challenge you to go up to the Signature Lounge at the John Hancock and tell me otherwise.   

Thanks to some impeccable timing and the generosity of a local couple, we were lucky enough to balance the tourist thing with something a little authentic and different. The Chicago Gourmet Food and Wine Fair that was holding its second annual get together right in the middle of famous [and wedding party filled] Millennium Park. The shame was that we were handed the free passes while trying to walk off a heavy liquid lunch, that said I’m not even going to try and pretend that we let it at all interfered with the countless wine and spirit tasting that took us into the early evening…

All in all a great way to spend a long weekend and the second in our East Coast adventure saga. I’m sad to admit that I actually prepared a PR style briefing book for the event – we went a little “off route – recalculating” as the famous Sat Nav lady says. A general theme throughout our travels [and my day-to-day orientation] and perhaps not a bad re-name for this blog…