Up early Saturday morning for the trip to the airport to collect my iPad. Pat came with me, the girls hit the gym and then the laundry to do the washing.
Pat and I had a 15 minute walk to get to the station on the line that goes to O'Hare airport. The ride out there took about 35 mins, very pleasant, full of people either with luggage or security passes. So either catching a plane or going to work.
We collect the iPad, no ID needed and travel back to the city.
As we walked back to the hotel we tried to find the location of the car hire office where we need to pick up the car tomorrow.couldn't find it, but had a pleasant walk back, eventually meeting the girls just as they were about to go shopping!
We had decided to do the bus tour of the city today so booked the tickets and walked to the Water Tower, a few blocks away to get the bus.
Our guide was a black guy, Lance "Romance". He was absolutely fantastic. He made the whole tour interesting, funny and informative. His knowledge about his city was unbelieveable. Every time we stopped at a location he would hold a conversation with someone he knew,always starting with "Where you at?"
Chicago is the home of the skyscraper, and you can really appreciate that on the bus tour. What is amazing about Chicago is the diversity in the city. You have the skyscrapers but on the lake there are 18 beaches. The city operates on 3 levels, so you have underpasses and tunnels to keep the traffic moving.then you have the parks and waterfront area,pier and last but not least some old buildings and architecture that has been preserved alongside the modern bits.
I didn't know that Chicago was the 3rd largest city in the States and was so interesting. Most people think Chicago is all about Al Capone and mobsters. It has much more history than that.
We stayed on the bus all the time, we didn't want to miss any of Lance "Romance's" commentary! When we got off we were near The Hancock Tower, so we decided to grab something to eat and then
go to the observation point on the 94th floor. We had a sandwich each but of course in America a
sandwich is nearly the equivalent of a 3 course meal back home.We were in a cheesecake shop that was rammed, queues out the door, very noisy. The cheesecake 🍰 selection was huge as were the portions but it had to be done!
With full bellies we went upstairs to the Hancock Tower. The girls didn't want to go to the observation deck so decided to go to the Signature bar on the 96th floor. Their reason for it doing the
observation deck was they don't like heights but can overcome that fear when alcohol is available!
When we got to the top the vies of the city are amazing, 360 degrees from the Tower. You can really
see how the skyscrapers make Chicago what it is. You also get an understanding of how all the diverse aspects interact with each other to make a great city. At the Hancock Tower they have
something called "Tilt". What this involves is standing in a section of the window, holding on to the 2 bars either side and the window section then tilts downward slowly to an angle of approx 30 degrees. The whole experience lasts about 5 mins and is truly awesome (American influence already).
Pat and I then went back down the 94 floors to the lobby to go back up 96 floors to meet the girls.
They had managed to grab a table for 4 by the window. There was a large queue, or line as it is
known here, and security were checking ID. Pat didn't have his with him, so they wouldn't let us in. We texted the girls and they arranged for security to come and collect us.
You should have seen the look on the faces of all those people waiting in line when we were escorted, with profuse apologies, by the security manager to the front of the line, put in the lift first and then taken to the table in the bar where the girls were. I am sure all those people in the lobby were
wondering " Who are theses 2 guys? How famous must they be to jump this line and get treated like
this?"
The girls had got the customary bottle of fizz, has to be done. The views were great, the sun was starting to go down so several drinks later and a few dollars lighter,we decided to move on and have a drink somewhere else.
We eventually ended up in a customary haunt whenever we are abroad, The Hard Rock. We got on
the cocktails, Sarnie with her "cosmos" the rest drinking one called "Purple Haze".
They had live music and the band were setting up. They were called Wedding Banned, and looked
kind of weird. The bassist had on skintight shorts, sunglasses and a headband with Bruce on it. The
lead guitarist looked like Prince, both in stature and visually. The lead singer looked like a toned down Dr John(look him up)
When they started playing it became apparent that they were very tongue in cheek.That was reinforced when they played Rick Astley, Never Gonna Give You Up!
The Purple Haze cocktails were flowing and we were having a great time. Lel and Pat went home and Sandra and I carried on drinking.The girl behind the bar who had great all evening looked at the signed receipts and mentioned that there wasn't a gratuity. We explained that the we have were still drinking. Her attitude changed, we listened to the rest of the set and asked for the check.Sandra paid her and I called her over to give her a tip.I explained here ever tip was only $20 as she had assumed that we were not going to give her one when the first check was paid.She was threw the money back across the bar and said she didn't want it and I could keep it.We left,grabbed a MacDonalds in the biggest MacDonalds in the world and then walked back to the hotel.A great day out in a fantastic city.
Road trip starts tomorrow!
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