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November 02, 2004

Chicago trip

Its been a while since I added an entry on my "blog".. haven't been feeling too bloggy, but alas I have something to share.

My wife and I just came back from one of the most enjoyable vacations that we've taken together in your 6 years of marriage. This past year, we've made it our goal to visit major cities of our great country and for the year of '04, we chose the river-city of Chicago.

Why a big city? Normally we've gone to tropical places like the Bahamas, Cancun/Cozumel, Miami, Hawaii, etc. Well maybe it was time for a change.. and boy, was Chicago a change!

In our past travels we've been fortunate to have dad's travel discount via American Airlines. This time however we decided to go through expedia.com for our complete vacation. Going through AA is definitely cheaper but we wanted to not have to worry about getting bumped-off as standby passengers. This gave my wife peace of mind .. happy wife, happy life as my good friend reminds me!

We stayed at the Sofitel Hotel in the North Loop of downtown Chicago. Softiel offered simple amentities but the room and view was fantastic. Next to our honeymoon inn, The Inn at Southbridge located in St. Helena, was definitely on the top of our list of *nice* hotels.

the pics of our room:

We wanted to "go easy" and flew ATA airlines :) This was my first time with this Airline having traveled primarily with AA and I must say it was very cheap and as one of the newer baby airlines - quite comfortable.

Top 5 favorite things about the city

  • Cleanliness of the city. Compared to SF, this city has got its act together!
  • Architecture, architecture, architecture! Not having the slightest clue between a fluted or doric column (my wife had to school me on that), I appreciated the buildings that were just everywhere. We took over 500 pictures!
  • A River runs through it! We both enjoyed the historic and masterful architecture of Chicago. The absolute best way to appreciate it all was to take one of their river tours.
  • Public transportation. Compared to the Bay Area's public transit, Chicago is like a breath of fresh air. We traveled 35miles from Midway Airport to downtown on a train fair of $2.75 each! Compare that to a taxi cab price of $30!
  • Night life. Chi-town is known for its rich and deep history of jazz and blues music. We loved the little club known as Blue Chicago. We also went to a jazz club called the Back Door.. both recommended by our concierge.

    For more pictures, check out my site: http://lacson.info/gallery

    Overall it was a much needed vacation for Lisa and I. Leaving the kids behinds w/ grandparents was definitely icing on the cake! It was a wonderful date with the wife of my youth!

    • Posted by patrick at November 2, 2004 11:36 PM

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