6 days vacation in underrated Chicago- People think I am crazy (Marshall: 2011, homes)

[chicagocubs]

This has been a great read. I am coming "home" for a week the first week in Nov. I say "home" because I have not lived there in many years, although I was born/raised in Chicago. Lots of great ideas, some things I had no idea about....

MoItaly, you will have to log on while you are there and let us know how it's going!!

[MoItaly]

Originally Posted by ubuntumatrix

Yeah, I just got caught up reading your responses.

As a fellow local in Chicago right now, I have to tell you what amazed me when I first visited here from Florida.

Portillos
Navy Pier
Oak Street Beach when there's snow
Lincoln Park Zoo, this free zoo is so amazing I'm actually a paid member
John Hancock Center
Wrigleyville, you're coming when baseball is over, but it's a different exciting world.
Chicago Riverwalk
Millennium Park, if SoFla had it I'd probably never go to The Breakers
Food, Food, Food; first time I visited for two months I left 14 pounds heavier.

Where are you in WPB?
How are you traveling here? I'd recommend Southwest Airlines.

Can I tell you what I can't wait to have again in WPB though?
Decent Slow Pitch Softball

I will do everything you listed above, with exception of baseball of course. Honestly I was hoping the Bears were playing at home, but they're going to be in Cincy.

I am travelling with AA, they had the best price among the non-stop. I have to go to Miami though as from Palm Beach I would have to stop in Charlotte and I hate that stuff.

"Can I tell you what I can't wait to have again in WPB though?
Decent Slow Pitch Softball [/quote]"
You are not talking about the Marlins, are you?

[MoItaly]

Originally Posted by chicagocubs

This has been a great read. I am coming "home" for a week the first week in Nov. I say "home" because I have not lived there in many years, although I was born/raised in Chicago. Lots of great ideas, some things I had no idea about....

MoItaly, you will have to log on while you are there and let us know how it's going!!

Unfortunately I am not taking the laptop with me, so unless the hotel has a PC available I will come back for comments after my return.

[MoItaly]

Now that it comes to mind, yesterday I was browsing (as usual) among Chicago sites and for the first time I read about "the Viagra triangle".
Since then I have been trying to convince my wife that after all there is nothing to see in Chicago and it's darn cold, so maybe she could take a trip with her girlfriend in the sunny Bahamas, while I "explore" Chicago...but it doesn't seem to be working...

On a more serious note, I was asking for suggestions to a co-worker of mine who lived in Chicago for a few years, although he's from Ft Lauderdale. Mainly I wanted to hear what jazz club he would suggest beside the BS places for tourists who listen to some smooth jazz and think it's Charlie Parker.
Well, I have to reiterate how useful this Chicago firum has been because I got all the inside information from here; a few people I know that either lived in CHI or went several times were instead either clueless or unable to help.
Like this co-worker of mine: I was asking him about real classic Chicago jazz clubs but somehow all the names I was suggesting were "off". "Green Mill is in Uptown, you don't want to be there, dangerous area". "Jazz Showcase" is in the bad area, too south" etc.
Pretty soon I had the feeling that he was considering "safe areas" only the 2 million+ mansions along the lake coast...

So, I said "scr..w that" and went with a tip I got here from one of you. I am going to Jazz Showcase, went on the website and turns out that's a guy a know (I mean, the music) playing 10/22-10/25, David Sanchez. Plus, just for the wife, I guess Chicago has cabs to come back to the hotel...

These "tips" I get on Chicago from some "experts" I know seem to be all coming from people who obviously did not get to enjoy the city, which is probably why they left (none of them is a Chicago-born though). But then I got similar BS tips before going to NY as well...you know how some people are...the area has a few black guys, it's dangerous, hispanic guys...sketchy, working class-low income....stay away...basically they eliminate like 90% of a city and supposedly one should visit only the "Donald Trump areas".
Wonder what they would think if they knew what kind of neighborhood I grew up in during the 70's-80's in mafia-ridden, crisis-torn Northern Italy.
Anyway, the point of the long story is that I am very glad I posted on this fourm as I got a lot of great suggestions about places and also walks in areas that I did not find in the travel books I bought.
Thanks guys!

[Gtownoe]

Originally Posted by MoItaly

Now that it comes to mind, yesterday I was browsing (as usual) among Chicago sites and for the first time I read about "the Viagra triangle".
Since then I have been trying to convince my wife that after all there is nothing to see in Chicago and it's darn cold, so maybe she could take a trip with her girlfriend in the sunny Bahamas, while I "explore" Chicago...but it doesn't seem to be working...

On a more serious note, I was asking for suggestions to a co-worker of mine who lived in Chicago for a few years, although he's from Ft Lauderdale. Mainly I wanted to hear what jazz club he would suggest beside the BS places for tourists who listen to some smooth jazz and think it's Charlie Parker.
Well, I have to reiterate how useful this Chicago firum has been because I got all the inside information from here; a few people I know that either lived in CHI or went several times were instead either clueless or unable to help.
Like this co-worker of mine: I was asking him about real classic Chicago jazz clubs but somehow all the names I was suggesting were "off". "Green Mill is in Uptown, you don't want to be there, dangerous area". "Jazz Showcase" is in the bad area, too south" etc.
Pretty soon I had the feeling that he was considering "safe areas" only the 2 million+ mansions along the lake coast...

So, I said "scr..w that" and went with a tip I got here from one of you. I am going to Jazz Showcase, went on the website and turns out that's a guy a know (I mean, the music) playing 10/22-10/25, David Sanchez. Plus, just for the wife, I guess Chicago has cabs to come back to the hotel...

These "tips" I get on Chicago from some "experts" I know seem to be all coming from people who obviously did not get to enjoy the city, which is probably why they left (none of them is a Chicago-born though). But then I got similar BS tips before going to NY as well...you know how some people are...the area has a few black guys, it's dangerous, hispanic guys...sketchy, working class-low income....stay away...basically they eliminate like 90% of a city and supposedly one should visit only the "Donald Trump areas".
Wonder what they would think if they knew what kind of neighborhood I grew up in during the 70's-80's in mafia-ridden, crisis-torn Northern Italy.
Anyway, the point of the long story is that I am very glad I posted on this fourm as I got a lot of great suggestions about places and also walks in areas that I did not find in the travel books I bought.
Thanks guys!

You'd be safe going to the Green Mill in Uptown. There's a train stop a block from the joint and usually people walking around there at night. As long as your going from the train to the club and back you'll be fine. If you wanted to cab it there from downtown your prob looking at a $15 cab ride one way. It's a historic jazz club though so would be worth checking out.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Gtownoe

You'd be safe going to the Green Mill in Uptown. There's a train stop a block from the joint and usually people walking around there at night. As long as your going from the train to the club and back you'll be fine. If you wanted to cab it there from downtown your prob looking at a $15 cab ride one way. It's a historic jazz club though so would be worth checking out.

I am in that neighbohood occasionally and I would take the train there in a minute. Some nice restaurants up the street on Argyle (mostly Vietnamese). I strongly recommend Tank Noodle at Argyle and Broadway.

[MoItaly]

CHICAGO TRIP

Well, I am back after having spent almost a week in Chicago. Many of you gave me some tips before I left so I am reporting on my trip.
I did not have huge expectations about Chicago although I was curious and excited to go. As mentioned here before many of my friends/coworkers were totally shocked that I would pick Chicago for a vacation. Anyway, I love city life, that's what I was used to for a big part of my life in Italy, so I went.
In early September we spent a week in NY city and had a blast. I was a bit afraid that going to Chicago 6 weeks after having been to NY would cause some kind of comparison and would sort of "penalize" the city of Chicago in my and my wife's eyes.
The trip started the wrong way: missed flight (by 3 minutes, American Airlines is crazy!), long wait in Miami airport, long story short we made it to Chicago around 4 p.m. local time instead of 1 p.m; the last hour on the plane was a hell of a bumpy road. But we finally touch ground in Chicago.
The taxi ride was hell. Stuck in heavy, non-moving traffic forever, and I was really starting to get upset, also because we booked dinner at the Quartino online via opentable.org at 7:30 p.m. I was supposed to go get my Chicago card, metro card, well, a lot of stuff that obviously I wasn't going to do, which kind of upset me because I knew I would have to waste time the day after instead of starting my sightseeing as planned.

Anyway, after almost 2 frigging hours we finally got to the Hotel Avenue on Huron St/St Clair.
We are tired, hungry, kind of irritated (our day started at 8 a.m. in the Miami airport) so we are sort of waiting for...what's next.

As soon as I get out of the taxi I am hit by some crispy, cool air, and a little rain. It brings back something familiar, like a dejavu scene; the sound of car tires rolling on the wet asphalt, the smell of humid city, the gray color of a rainy cool day broken by some neon signs…it reminds me of my previous life, the one I spent in my hometown in North-Eastern Italy: city life, walking, buses, chaos, excitement and finally, finally, I am away from SoFla heat.

The Hotel Avenue was a big hit. Booked via Priceline, we got upgraded to a bigger, suite-like room on the 36th floor (the hotel has 40 floors). Beautiful, spacious room, nice skyline view and big lobby with nice fireplace and leather sofas/chairs.

We are still rushing though because of our reservation at the Quartino. So, quick shower, change (I finally get to wear my black suit that got totally forgotten in these years spent in sizzling South Florida) and we are ready to eat.
The Quartino Restaurant is everything you don’t want if you plan on a quiet night, nice conversation, and would not suggest it for a first date. The reason is that the place is crowded and wayyyy too loud. I am not complaining, just saying, you are not going to have much of a conversation in there.
The food though was very good, at times great. You bet the place is packed every night (we went 3 times): the prices are shockingly low, the food is surprisingly very good for a restaurant that did not have great reviews online. Oh, and the wine: boy, I was in paradise. Good wine at amazingly cheap prizes.

So, our first day ended great with a great meal: spaghetti puttanesca perfectly al dente, carpaccio for appetizer, we had ½ carafe (half liter) of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, plus another quarter afterward: unreasonably cheap! $ 34 for a bottle of great Tuscan red? I can barely find that wine in South Florida and when I do find it, I pay dearly for it. And the food was nothing like the Italo-American food of the Italian restaurants in Florida, it was the real thing.

After dinner (and the espresso and the grappa liquor) we went to Redhead. Kind of upscale environment, steep prices but my wife enjoyed her Port wine and I had two Glenlivet while listening to live piano bar music which is something we forgot about it in South Florida. We are happy campers and go back to the hotel, a bit “zigzagging” around 1 a.m. in the cold air with a little rain.


Day 2 –Thu 10/28

Day 2 started a bit off as far as sticking to the plan. In NY we followed our plans perfectly in the first 3 days and left the last two to walking and discovering neighborhoods. The plan was the same in Chicago but we were sort of playing catch up from the beginning. Pretty soon however we decided to let Chicago dictate the pace and flow of our vacation and it worked out wonderfully.

Half of day two - which was the first of our 3 days of the Go Chicago card where we were supposed to hit museums and landmarks like crazy – was quickly gone. Due to the Quartino+Redhead combo of the night before we woke up late. Then we had to do what we were supposed to do on our arrival day, go get the CTA card, go to Macy’s to get the GoChicago card etc…
So, all we did was the Museum of Science and Industry and we took it easy. Unlike in NY where we were spending an hour here, an hour there trying to see as much as we could, in Chicago I felt a desire to see more of fewer places and enjoy it without trying to rush too much. We went to the Museum of Science in Hyde Park with the bus, nice ride along the coast and then through Hyde Park, a good looking neighborhood. The weather was in the low 50’s and it rained, but it did not bother us at all; I’ll take that over the 90+ degrees and the humidity of SoFla every day. The Museum was great. Although we obviously did not see it in its entirety it was very interesting and hours went by quick. The U-boat part was really something that from interesting became almost a little emotional, reading all the names of those people, listening to the recorded messages/interviews…you realized it wasn’t a movie screenplay, it was history, it was about real people’s stories. We kind of browse through the rest of the museum and I would definitely go back in my next visit to Chicago (because I am going back to Chicago!).

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking in the loop and River North, enjoying a coffee at Intelligentsia, doing some window-shopping and just enjoying some cool weather and some wind, things that I have missed for a long time.

We went back to Quartino for dinner and tried other plates and – once again – it was great. I mean, they have real Italian dishes for less than 10 bucks! I can’t eat at freaking Olive Garden in West Palm Beach for that money. My wife ordered “Bigoli with Venetian Duck Ragu”. Homemade bigoli pasta with a ragu of tomatoes and duck sauce that was to die for. Cost $ 9.95. You gotta be kidding me. The second night we had a carafe of Rosso di Montalcino, a strong, robust and full-bodied Tuscan red wine that was just perfect. I was eating real Italian food (not “piccata” or “marsala” crap but real risotto with tuscan sausage and asparagous) and I was feeling like I was stealing, as the prices are really low in that place.

After dinner, things got a bit nasty on the weather side. It got cooler and it started to pour rain big time. I still did not mind, but I was totally wet and a bit cold when we walked right by The Joint.
I remembered reading about the place, so we went in.
We got a big booth at the end, nice table, and there were three musicians on break.
By the time my wife had her Jagermeister and I had my Glenlivet, the musicians started to play and they were just great. They were playing mostly Sinatra, Bennett music, which really matched the cold and rainy night. The singer was really talented and I noticed also the bass was good (I will know that he was actually great two days later…).
We had a great time, the boss came to say good night when we left (like three hours later) and service was perfect, on time, not obsessive. We had a great evening finally able to chit chat about everything from serious stuff to BS while listening to some great live music.

For the second consecutive night I was walking back to the hotel with my wife, both a little cold, both very happy and satisfied. In about 30 hours Chicago had already delivered a lot of what I was looking for and hoping for. And I was zigzagging a bit more than the night before.

Day 3 – Fri 10/29

If our planned sightseeing got a bit off track in the first day and a half, it definitely went off-road in day 3. Already “down” by two museums and two attractions according to my plan based on the GoChicago card, I did not make things any better by coming back to life late in the morning, a bit hangover. My wife wasn’t in great shape either.
After breakfast we went to the Field Museum, followed by Adler Planetarium and a visit to Navy Pier.

The Field Museum is one of the best I have ever seen; if I’d live in Chicago I would definitely get the annual membership. Lots of interesting stuff, don’t know where to start, but really, really worth visiting. Two hours is the minimum just to have a vague idea of what’s inside this beautiful museum.

Adler was great as well, we took two shows, loved them both. After we got our cultural fix we took the bus back toward downtown and walked to Navy Pier. It was raining and in the low50’s, so not a lot of people there. The place is nothing more than a “tourist-buy-crap” trap, every city has one, so we walked to the end of the pier, turned around and walked back to the hotel.
We had dinner at the hotel this time, at the pub downstairs (Elephant Castle); decent pub fare, reasonably priced.

Between the walking, drinking and little sleeping of the previous days, we decided to cut the night short and take a break so by 11 we were in our room watching TV.

Day 4 – Sat 10/30

That was the coldest day – at least in the morning – so my wife had the great idea to go to Macy’s on State where we spent money in nice leather gloves, designer scarves….all stuff we will use a lot in South Florida….But hey, it’s a vacation, so we splurge a bit. Anyway, I really enjoyed walking the city, we walked plenty that day, from the hotel, to Macy’s, then the loop kind of dribbling inside the maze of streets. We took it from the Lake to La Salle, from Chicago Av to Monroe, spent time and money in stores (Macy’s in Chicago, on State is better than the big one in Manhattan), had coffee at Intelligentsia, then we hit the Art Institute of Chicago and it was another wonderful museum.
I could not believe all the art they have inside. We spent a good hour only in the Impressionism wing, then we got to the 1500-1600 European masterpieces and we were like kids at Disneyworld. I haven’t seen so much beautiful art in years.

In the evening we went to take a walk along the Chicago River, then the adventure of finding a place for dinner.
Don’t you people in Chicago know there’s a recession going on? I haven’t seen restaurants as packed as in River North in ages. We thought there was something going on outside Pizzeria Uno, you know, like something happened...instead it wasn’t a mobbing crowd, it was the line to get in. We walked for about an hour checking out places: waiting time was anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour and a half.

So, guess what: we went back to Quartino for a late dinner (9:40 p.m. and it was still packed) and enjoyed another great dinner this time trying some white wine (Verdicchio) that’s a rare find in Florida. After that we decided that it would have been great to relax at the Joint and listen to some quiet music, like we did two nights before.
The Joint on Saturday is another beast. Nice though. They have a total of 3 rooms, one downstairs. We listened to some great live funky music and had a blast once again, dance, drank a bit, left around 2:00 a.m. and walked back to the hotel.

Day 5- Sun

Sunday I woke up with two thoughts occupying my mind: a) I am not 20 years old anymore and should have taken it easy with the scotch b) somehow I need to find a place to watch the Dolphins game.

Day 4 and 5, the last two, were “free” days, meaning our GoChicago card expired so we were done with the planned visiting to attractions. We missed a few museums that we wanted to see, but definitely took our time walking the city and in the museums that we got to visit, so we enjoyed them more than we enjoyed the MET and other museums in NY where we rushed for 3 days from place to place.
Also, I think our pace was slower than in NY because for some reasons we partied and drank much more in Chicago, so we did not start our days at 7:30-8 like in NY.
Talking about that, Sunday morning we had a light breakfast around 10:00 a.m., then we took off.
We took El, the brown line to Armitage and man, I was happy I did that. A nice stroll down Armitage Ave, amidst people walking their dogs, nice looking row houses and beautiful cross streets with lined trees and a bed of yellow leaves on the ground was the best tonic for a hangover.
The fresh air, the little sun clearing the day did the rest. We walked to Lincoln Park and spent a good hour only in there, walking, then sitting on a bench looking at kids playing, dogs running and people of any age jogging with their IPhones. We took in as much as we could, the last glimpse of fall colors that we hadn’t seen in years.

The walk and cool air got us hungry and we stopped at a place called Gold Coast Dogs or something for a hot dog. Spicy hot dog? Red peppers in it? Love it, best hot dog in my life.

We headed back downtown and after some more walking and sightseeing we ended up at the Rock Bottom (we went to ESPN Zone first but I did not like it as usual and even less I liked the wait of an hour for a table with view on the Dolphins game).

The Rock Bottom was nice. It’s a microbrewery so we tried some Chicago Ales, got a big appetizers (the things had three floors!) and while the poor Bears were getting hammered by Cincy on the megascreen, I got to watch the Dolphins against the Saints. Great start, then we decided to stop running the ball, Saints came back and beat us. The whole thing got me upset which led me to a few more beers (always an excuse…), then we had a couple of Jagermeister shots to…digest (that’s what we say in Italy) and by 8:30 p.m. we were kind of happy again. Not drunk, but relaxed and satisfied. Chicago felt more and more as a place we lived instead of a typical vacation place. We walked back to our area and stopped at Ghirardelli for coffe, then stopped at Borders nearby (huge!) and lost a couple of hours browsing and reading.

Another good day was ending.

Day 6 – Mon – Last day

The last day we – once again - walked a lot – even more than usual. After breakfast we started to walk west on Huron, then north on Rush to see some of the Gold Coast (in daylight…). We kept going until we got to Division, not before taking a few detours on Oak and Elm. At Division we headed west and kept going and going…We passed all the busy areas till La Salle, then still walking west on Division we found ourselves being among the few people walking on that street. After the intersection with Halstead even the cars became fewer and after Howe my wife started to get a bit concerned about us being in the wrong area. I told her it was okay and honestly I never felt in any danger. Yes, suddenly there was only us walking this wide street and in the laterals you could see a few groups of teenagers hanging around in the street…like they had nothing to do. But then again, the sight is pretty common in SoFla as well.
We kept going, passing under the bridge by Kennedy and that was a bit of a “wow” thing in a bad way as we saw all the “beds” used by homeless people during the night. We really felt sorry for those people. One thing is to know things happen, one thing is to walk right by it.
Anyway, we kept walking until we got to Milwaukee and then turn north walking right in the middle of Wicker Park. We stopped at a grocery store, Jewel, and were shocked by the prices of fish and meat; calling them low price would be an understatement. They had all kind of seafood and beef for prices that in some cases were a good 40% cheaper than in SoFla.
The walk on Milwaukee was real nice, a strange street, as if it’d be in the middle of overnight gentrification: pawn and thrift store right next door to “European boutique and leather”. It was a very enjoyable walk in a pretty colorful neighborhood, nice old house, and leafy streets everywhere. We got to North then Damen coming south and finally to the blue line stop, overlooking some small brick houses that looked like they were a century old, but fascinating.

From there we took the blue line south to UIC-Lexington and then walked north on Halstead throughout Greektown. We stopped at Mr Greek to have a gyro, which was good but not as good as the hot dog.

Our long walk ended at Fado, a beautiful Irish pub in dowontown. Unfortunately those kinds of pubs are nowhere to be found in SoFla. It reminded me of places I saw in England. Classic Irish, just a couple of TVs (and they were turned off), the typical pub to have a conversation and enjoy some good beer. Bass draughts were on special so that’s what we got. We were so tired that we ended up spending hours in there, ate something, played a quiz game with the locals and had a nice time.
I had 6 beers in there during all those hours, so when we left late in the evening (and the placed got packed like seemingly any place in Chicago) we headed straight up north for our coffee at Ghirardelli and a little time at Borders.

But during the smoking breaks I took outside Fado, looking at those lights in the darkening evening, the little fresh rain, enjoying a little taste of chill weather, I realized how badly I miss the city life.

So that’s it. It was a beautiful trip and Chicago delivered much more than we expected.

In short, if you plan to go as tourist:

FOOD
Forget all the chain names you are familiar with. Eating in a chain restaurant in Chicago should be considered capital sin. The city offers great food of any kind and you can find a lot of restaurants with very good prices.
A Chicago style hot dog is a must try, although some might not like it as it is spicier than the normal dog. I loved it as I don’t put ketchup in mine anyway, only spicy mustard, so the Chicago dog was an upgrade of what I already like.
Restaurants are everywhere, no need to be stuck in the tourist Rush/Division area

NIGHTLIFE
You name it. This city is paradise for music. Blues, jazz, piano bars everywhere, and plenty of places staying open late night (or early in the morning…)
Drinks are same prices or cheaper than in SoFla, with a few upscale exceptions, but for the most, I spend more when I go out in West Palm Beach and get half of the quality you can get in Chicago.

ATTRACTIONS
Navy Pier is really not a big deal, to do only if you have extra time to waste.
Museums like Science and Industry, Field and Art Institute of Chicago are “can’t miss” stuff, if you like some culture/art. The only bad thing about Field is that they have a lot of school trips in there and many of those kids are loud and noisy (if I had behaved like that as a kid in Italy, the teacher would have slapped me right in the back of the head…lol).

I am sure there are other museums of interested but I would go back at least to Field and Art Institute at every visit to Chicago.

PEOPLE
For the little I have seen, very nice. At all the places we were drinking and partying, I used to go outside for smoking breaks and talked to many locals and they were all super nice.

TO DO
Taxis are good to come and go from and to the airport. In a city like Chicago you are missing something if you don’t take the buses (they are plenty and frequent) and the EL lines. EL is not as comprehensive as NY City’s Subway system, but you can go around plenty and – again – there are buses everywhere. And of course, the best sightseeing is done by walking.

Don’t limit yourself to loop and Rush/Division. Chicago is considered to be a dangerous city, full of crime by many; I’d say a bit of precautions are okay – do your homework so you don’t end up in bad neighborhoods – but definitely no need to feel limited to walking back and forth the Mag Mile. The Loop area can be walked everywhere at least until 10 p.m.. The “loop becomes dead after 6 p.m. when the offices close” is a myth.

Pilsen/Greektown areas can be walked during daytime with zero problems. Wicker Park/Old Town especially around Armitage Ave are beautiful and interesting areas that can be walked to and throughout.

Take some time to enjoy Lincoln Park on the Lake.

And finally: if the line to go up the Sears tower is too long…don’t bother. The best of Chicago sightseeing is done walking in the streets, on the buses, in the stores, hiding in a nice café’ for a break, or in a typical Irish pub for a beer.

There are homeless and beggars in the streets, but harmless. It’s a big city, so it has big city problems, but there is no need to be afraid or feel unsafe in Chicago.
We walked at 2.30 a.m. in River North in streets there were kind of lonely at that time, and never once felt uncomfortable.

Chicago is a city that has plenty of things to offer and that are worthy discovering; might not have the hype of NY, but then again, it also doesn’t have the steep prices of NY.

One thing I know is that I will be back, walking other neighborhoods, trying other little bars and big restaurants, or simply stopping at a corner to watch people going by and casually stepping on a bed of dead leaves while I’ll hide a little smile behind my scarf.

[Avengerfire]

That must have taken a long time to write. Thanks for reporting back. However something is off here. The dates on your trip are incorrect.

[seastar311]

Thanks for the great review of our city! Glad you had a good time, and now I plan to try Quartino as soon as I can.

[Lookout Kid]

It's too bad that you got screwed with the coldest October weather in Chicago since 1876 (seriously). And the rain just won't stop.

By the way, that walk west on Division took you smack through the heart of Cabrini Green, formerly one of the most notorious public housing projects in the United States. Much of it is gone, but not enough for it to be safe. But of course, you lived to tell about it!