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The Second City Revisited - Chicago in the Spring

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Highlights:
My first visit to Chicago last October had left a lasting impression upon me. It had always been on my “dream list” of cities to visit for my love of architecture extends beyond ancient Greek and Roman sites in Europe to these wonderful, jaw-dropping vertical “cities-in-the-sky” that are synonymous with Chicago.

The opportunity to return arose partly thanks to my brother; being a huge motor racing fan, he’d decided to travel to Indianapolis for the famous Indy 500 and suggested we meet in Chicago for a few days after the race as it was also somewhere that he had always wanted to experience.

Having seen so many great sights last October, I decided that this time I would strive to see a totally different array of buildings, parks, museums, and attractions. Chicago has so many to offer, that this was relatively simple to organise using a good up-to-date guide-book and an accurate street plan of the city.

Major requirement was to see the city from the John Hancock Building observation deck. The tower is more centrally located than the Sears Tower, affording amazing views of not just the Magnificent Mile and the surrounding neighbourhoods, but far beyond on what was to be a fine, clear day. Combined with the Hancock visit was a stroll along the Mag Mile, taking in famous landmarks such as the Water Tower, the Wrigley Building, the Chicago Tribune Building, and the ever-growing Trump Tower which must have grown by 200 feet since last October.

Other must-sees included the truly spectacular Tiffany Dome inside the recently-acquired Macy’s Store, the opulent splendour of Union Station and the Chicago Cultural Center, Dearborn Station and Printers Row, Maxwell St market, China Town, Lincoln Park Zoo, the Adler Planetarium, the wonderful prototype skyscraper that is the Reliance Building, and the Carson Scott Pirie building.

Other “none-the-less tangible” highlights included the weather which was again very warm and dry and of course, the native Chicagoans who as in last October, were polite, friendly, and all-too-ready to assist two out-of-towners with information and directions.

Getting to Chicago was even cheaper this time round with a return fare of £389 courtesy of American Airlines, some £30 cheaper than last year’s fare with BA. The Boeing 777 had plenty of legroom and I had been fortunate enough to reserve window seats for both out- and in-bound journeys.

Quick Tips/Suggestions:
AIRFARE

I began looking for my travel ticket in January and at that time, all the major airlines such as United, AA, BA, Lufthansa and KLM were looking for at least £600 for a return flight. I often employ the services of Expedia to gauge the sort of price I think I ought to be paying but they were also at a similar level. I left it almost to the last moment in late April when the ticket prices fell dramatically, and when the Dollar was at a $1.94 rate to the Pound. I booked the ticket direct with AA as they were actually a few pounds cheaper than Expedia.

ACCOMMODATION

Once again, I opted to make the Write Inn at Oak Park my base for the stay. Upon e-mailing them, I was told they only had single rooms available for my dates which I thought might be a little cramped. But upon checking their website, their standard singles are at least what we would recognise as a double over here so I had no qualms about reserving the room.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

We used the El almost exclusively during our stay; it’s cheap, safe (certainly during regular hours), reliable, and serves almost every point in the city that we wanted to see. We did hop on a couple of buses to take us out to Lincoln Park, using our 5-day pass which is valid for all El trains and CTA buses. One point I would make is that we were recommended to take either the Metra or a cab if travelling back to Oak Park much after 10pm. Some of the neighbourhoods between the Loop and Oak Park are less than salubrious but this was the only time when personal safety ever reared its head and we did heed the advice. Cabs are cheap enough anyway with a 15-minute ride out to Oak Park from the Loop costing around $24.

GENERAL

Boy, was it hot during our stay; we arrived at O’Hare to a blistering 92 degrees with what must have been 90% humidity - it was like walking into a wall from the air-conditioned comfort of the terminal. We drank lots of non-alcoholic drinks and tended to eat “a little often” to avoid discomfort. Shorts and T-shirts were order of the day along with good walking shoes or trainers.

Best Way to Get Around:
American Airlines offer four flights a day from Heathrow to Chicago – I booked the earliest of the day which departed LHR at 10.25 arriving O’Hare at 13.30 local time. The flight is of 8-hours duration but the Boeing 777’s used on this route offer plenty of room to move around and a good selection of movies, radio stations, and pre-recorded music to suit most tastes.

Once at O’Hare, I used the services of the Village/Blue Cab Co who specialise in airport runs for a reasonable fixed price of $26 from O’Hare to Oak Park, a journey of 20 minutes. They will collect from Midway for a similar rate but only take fares back to Oak Park and no other city suburbs.

Again, as mentioned, the El proved to be the best and most cost effective way to get around with a 5-day pass costing somewhere around $18, this being valid for all CTA trains and buses but NOT the Metra. The El system consists of eight lines including the new Pink line, each represented by a colour, that serve almost everywhere within the greater Metropolitan areas. There are interchanges within the Loop where free transfers can be made to other lines within a 2-hour time limit for a flat fare of $1.75.

The journey from Oak Park to the Loop via the Green line takes 20 minutes with trains running regularly. The trains we used were generally clean and on time. The only delays that can occur are when the various lines converge upon the Loop where the Brown, Purple, Orange and Green lines use the same tracks resulting in occasional signal stops.

We also used the CTA buses on occasion where the El stops weren’t that conveniently located. Lincoln Park was accessed from Downtown using the # 151 service.

Although cabs are very inexpensive by UK standards, we only used them if in a rush or late at night. Most of the drivers rent them on a shift basis from the cab firms for around $60 a shift; anything they make is theirs to keep and to-a-man, they all were complaining about the price of gas which was hitting $4 a gallon in and around the city. They soon piped down when I told them it was close to $9 a gallon in the UK!

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