Windy City wind up

What are we to make of Chicago - a city comparable in size to Toronto (although Chicagoland dwarfs the GTA).
They connected the airports to the rail network in 1963, something yet to be achieved in Toronto. You can ride downtown from Midway Airport for $2.25, on an uncrowded train. They have good budget hotels - we stayed at the Essex Inn at 800 South Michigan Ave for $443.75 for five nights. Well under half the cost of staying in Manhattan. This includes over $10 per night of State and Local Taxes which takes the shine off the subsidised fares. You are paying for transit whether you use it or not. The city is easy to get around - we used the loop, underground and took a bus ride.
Present day Chicago scores low on the crane index - there is little evidence of construction. The downtown has many empty lots and car parks - evidence that the economy is sluggish. You don't have to stray far off the beaten track to find poverty and dereliction, although many visitors would simply avoid these areas, which are all too visible from the train. The decline of manufacturing has cost Chicago dearly. While they were squabbling Asia stole their lunch.
The lakeshore knocks Toronto out of the ball park with green spaces and a top class art museum. There is also a pleasant lack of commercialism, billboards etc. The magnificent mile shopping street stands comparison with anything anywhere (if shopping in expensive stores is your thing).
The Chicago History Museum, in the north end, at $14 dollars was well worth a visit. Many of the displays have succumbed to political correctness and I was disappointed to find no mention of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency or the Checker taxi, both of which played an interesting part in the history of Chicago. I bought a six-inch ruler, made in USA, for $1.09 cents including tax, in the souvenir store.
Would I recommend a trip? Yes. We avoided Pearson Airport in Toronto, always a bind at holiday times, by travelling on Porter Airlines from the Billy Bishop City Centre Airport. Our landing fees landed in Toronto, and delays were minimal, unlike at Pearson which was in chaos with delays of up to three hours on arrival.

Made in America

First stop this morning is Union Station, recently named by Trains magazine as one of the top ten surviving railway stations in the USA. We then went for breakfast at Lou Mitchell's which is near the startline of Route 66, which they promote. The full diner experience, they open at 05:30 in the morning, handy for an early start.
We leave the CBD heading for a Salvation Army thrift store, definitely on the wrong side of the tracks, where Annette scores a Pyrex Crazy Daisy creamer, 32 cents including tax. We then head for the Magnificent Mile on the north side, one of the smartest shopping districts anywhere. We check out the old Water Tower, a survivor of pre-fire Chicago from 1869.
Mayor Daley is off to China to try and persuade them to bankroll a high-speed train to O'Hare airport. We rode home in a taxi made in South Korea, in the city that once produced the Checker cab. More evidence of decline. There will be no recovery until America learns to make things again.
Picture shows detail of Oliver Typewriter Company building on Dearborn Street. According to a plaque at the site the company went out of business in 1940.

Home in time for tea

Catch the #22 bus from Dearborn Station. Breakfast at Elly's Pancake House, 101 West North Ave, Chicago. Then Chicago History Museum ($14 per head) for tour and, after North & Clark Cafe, we have a quick search for Sam Gebo in the archives. Pit stop at Jewel supermarket for banana cake and ride back to hotel on the red line subway, in the rush hour, in time for tea.

Wandering in the Windy City

Walked uptown yesterday. To the Chicago city model in the Santa Fe building, the Palmer House Hilton (Chicago's most opulent hotel), Atlas stationers on the Loop, Heaven on Seven Cajun brunch (fried shrimp and cheese grits), Chicago Institute of Art on Michigan Ave (why do cities have fabulous art collections and decaying infrastructure), back via Fine Arts Building with hair-raising ride to tenth floor in ancient lift. To Lou Malnati's on State St., for deep dish pizza last night - the place was packed while local chain restaurants were deserted. Chicago has been cold and windy but warmer weather is on the way for St. Patrick's Day - about time.

Self-styled world's greatest architect

To Oak Park, Illinois on the trail of Frank Lloyd Wright. Took the Green Line train out via Cicero through the suburban wasteland. Breakfast at Delia's Kitchen on Lake Street before taking the FLW walking tour, with headset, to neighbourhood properties, followed by tour of the FLW house, ably conducted by Audrey the docent. We finished at the FLW Unity Church where the amiable folks talked us into taking another tour. There was a magnificent art deco Post Office across the street - comparable to one in Nashville, Tennessee. Photographed the Lake Cinema (not FLW). Back to the Windy City where we detrained at Wabash & Adams, with the start of Route 66 close by. Stocked up on supper at Au Bon Pain on Adams and crashed out back at the hotel.

Make no little plans

Took the Porter flight from Toronto City Centre Airport to Midway, Chicago. Rode the Orange Line train to Roosevelt on the loop and walked to our hotel. Tickets $2.25 each. Walked to State Street and scored a history book about Butte, Montana for 25 cents, in the discarded section of Chicago Public Library. Early supper at the Artist's Snack Shop at the Fine Arts Building on South Michigan Avenue. Formerly Studebaker carriage showroom and workshops. Tea and carrot cake while watching the Gatornationals drag racing from Florida on TV. Pic by ALT.

Chevy oddball with a mountain to climb

Marvelous movie of Chevrolet Corvair on Pikes Peak, when Corporate America wasn't afraid of trying something new and different. Let us hope the Volt doesn't meet the same fate.