Day 15: Chicago Chicago

Yoo hoo,

 

So we're currentley sitting in a grand public library in Chicago (this library is like a palace with marble and 10 floors!) and so far it's less windy and more of the rainy city, but the architecture here is really nice though and reminds me of all those 1920's gangster flicks.   

 

So update you guys first, we drove out of Niagara towards Chicago and stopped over at Toledo.  I tihnk I finally got the hang of highway driving now.  Basically you have to reserve energy by closing your eyelids halfway down and shutting down the left side of your brain, and it really works a treat!  When we rolled into Toledo we thought we were gonna get shot up or something cos it is quite clsoe to Detroit and we just happened to roll into downtown ghetto land.  hehe, well wild imaginations aside we had to park up and askl for directinos to the nearest place to stay.  And yes, we decided to go for the old "ask the concierge" trick and this time it worked a treat cos we ended up staying at some posh hotel at cut price :D  After we checked into our nice big room we decided to check out the town itself, yup by dricing to the nearest mall down the interstate.  It was a really ncei one in fact call ed the westfield and had some dinner at a really over the top irish pub.  We then rounded off the night by watching the new Disny film Cars which was really awesome. 

 

We then drove the final leg of our East side road trip to chicago, checked into a Hostel and returned the car to the airport :'(  I was more sad than I though cos they little beast has served us so well and well I hate goodbyes, and I am gonna miss that car!  Anyways, first impressions of Chicago.  First night we went out to find food, and headed down the financial district.  We must have passed like 5 blocks and no shop was open!  And when you pass a McDonalds at 8pm which is closed you start to wonder what is going on in this town!!!  Anyways, with hunger clouding our minds we trekked uptown and found some nice bars and afterwards headed out towards the millenium park.  Second, we went shoe shopping yesterday down the Magnificant Mile, which is a glorified bond street.  Haha, sfter our shoes got dessimated in Niagara Falls and both wearing those stupid bright green "i've been to niaraga falls" standard issues flip floips we had enough!  and decided to buy some real shoes.  Oscar said he hates shoe shopping, but after 2 hours in a mall picking sandals I'm not so sure :p

 

The good point about Chicago is the open air events.  Like in Millenium park is amazing cos there was an open air dancing lessons and bands, and a really cool music festival.  Also yesterday we went to navy pier which was a bit like an americanised versino of brighton, and spent the afternoon on the ferris wheels and playing a couple of rounds of mini golf (btw I won :p).  We ended the evening with a visit to a really col Chicago blues bar called Buddy Guys with a live band with some kicking tunes, nice food and pool tables :)

 

Now, we are like half way thorugh our road trip having driven over 1500 miles, passed through 9 states (New York/New Jersey/Rhode Island/Conneticut/Massachusetts/Ohio/Pensylvania/Indiana/Illinois) and had countless number of coffees and pit stops.  I thought I'd share some thoughts so far.

 

JT on world cup in america

 

So far being on the road we have hardly anytime to catch the games, though with such long distance drives there is one radio station we have been tuning into: "world cup XM1" :D  The commentators are really funny.  And no, not cos they are cracking jokes, but cos they are jokes in themselves.  They just have no clue about what they are commentating on, and provide no "analysis" on the game itself.  Trivial comments like "oh, they should have passed the ball more often" or "oh, they should have scored more goals" or "oh, they should have a better defense".  yeah lovely.  I liken the american commentary on "soccer" games with tarot reading or those horoscopes you get at home- basically a load of bollocks in that they are so ambiguous that they could mean anything.  Either way, it is kinda fun to listen.

 

JT on driving 

The weirdest thing is that watching films with american highways and their weird green traffic signs now does not seem like a distant world.  After like 1500 miles of driving it's just so familiar.  The bad thing is the speed limits are like 65 mph!  Combine this with the fact that they dont use speed cameras, and instead rely on sneakily hidden police cars that hide behind bushes on the interstate, then it is hard to drive much faster.  I mean just down interstate 90 there were like 5 close encounteres of police cars with speed guns.  The good thing I guess is that egveryone drives quite slow out here and gives more time to figure out where youi are going.  This is important for 2 reasons.  First in the state of New York, they charge tolls on everysingle road (well more or less) and with that money there are still loadsa pot holes everywhere and bloody hell hardly any lit up signposts.  This just means that it is really easy to get lost if driving in the dark so you better slow down!  Second, on most of the interstate it is like a 10 lane affair!!!  And also to make things even more intersting, they love spaghetti junctions with exits on both sides of the highway which makes lane changing a really interesting affair with every body just waeving in and out of eachother when approaching an exit.  The worst thing is that there are no exit warning signs like on the I-90 towards Toledo the highway just split off into 2 directions with no warning.  man, keeps you on your toes huh.  The most welcome thing on the drive are malls on the interstates cos they are convenient stops and I like malls; and also the higher speed limits in Pennsylvania (well only to 70).  The funniest sing i have seen on my travels said "correctional facility: beware of hitch hikers..."...lol.

 

Still with all my ranting on driving, it is fun though.  Once the sun is out, and your have the radio blasting with some random american soft rock it's a good feeling!

 

JT on food

FACT: we have put on weight.  The food is super duper portions.  Hehe, the best food so far is still the Skip Jacks in Boston.  As Oscar will ditest, I mention that place like every meal time cos those scallops were oh so sweet!  Basically I have given up on eating healthy cos it is too expensive!  Meat is cheap over here and your get alot for your money.  At the westfield shopping mall in Toledo it was fun cos there was a food court there and basically walking around you get free samples of the cuisine, and there are like 10 different counters in there!  After the second pass we were pretty appetised so plumped for a portion of some big takeout box thing of chicken and rice and we were pretty stuffed for the rest of the day.  This is the general case at every meal.  Last night at the blues bar I ordered yo-boys (or bo-yoy, i forget) and it just filled me up.  I think the large portions of meat here are apparent in the dietary cycles, in that there is alot more poo poo :P  Gonna find a grocery store for more jam sandwiches i think.

 

Anyways, time is running out on this computer terminal.   Tomorrow we fly out to Denver.  Hope everyone is having fun too!

 

Speak soon!

John.