Return to Chicago Part 2

I forgot how big the Windy City is! Our last trip there we stayed at the Congress which is right on the Magnificent Mile. Our new hotel was central to mostly everything we wanted to do to. We started off to Navy Pier. It was about a mile and half walk but still doable. They call it the Windy City for a reason! The wind practically knocked me over a few times.

By this time our mile walked count was probably up around 7 or 8. We didn't eat anything because we were still stuffed from our lunch at Xoco. There are so many good places to eat there such as Bubba Gump Shrimp. I always wanted to eat there. It's on my list for next time! Navy Pier is also full of great art. There was this boat sculpture and many more throughout the area. Another thing is, everywhere we looked there were churros. That is something I would buy in a second, but again we were stuffed. We did stop at a Walgreens on the way though and get a water. I am still mad at Walgreens for cutting my hubby's salary by $6.00 but I am cheap and we get a discount there. I was later conflicted too. I will explain more later. Luckily I had paid for mostly everything in advance. 

Italian Beef Sandwich dipped in broth

Back to the hotel after another long walk. Another food on my list was the famous Al's Italian beef. It was voted by the Travel Channel and Adam Richman as the nations' favorite sandwich. Google maps was amazingly inaccurate this trip. It wasn't 4 minutes away from our hotel, but 15! We were up to about 10 miles walked at this point.  My hubby and I were still stuffed from lunch and split a Italian Beef sandwich. It was delicious but really expensive. The meal with sandwich was about $10.00. That fueled us for what the hotel staff assured us was a 20 minute walk down State street to catch our bus to the United Center to see Madonna 9/19. It ended up being a 45 minute walk!

The streets were crowded with people leaving work. I also stopped a few times to take pictures, and to take a breath! We saw the new multi-million dollar Walgreens on State Street that made me even more angry. Then the famed Chicago Theater which had a beautiful lit marque. 

There was every store imaginable on State street from Gap to a huge Target. I also loved how there were grocery stores and deli's mixed right in. We saw many people who lived in the area. A local was telling us there used to be no living areas downtown but today, you see them everywhere. We walked, and walked, and walked, and finally made it to Monroe street to our bus stop. We had been rushing to get there because we needed to get to the United Center to see Madonna. Or so we thought. We caught the bus and were let off right across from the United Center. They do not give transfers but you can buy a pass that lets you ride three times for a discounted price. $2.50 for each person was not bad. The buses reminded me of the Disney buses around closing time. They are jammed packed and standing room only. The only difference is there were a lot of crazies on this bus. 

Next time, the Madonna fiasco!