Chicago summary: got upgraded on flight from London, went to Wingfest, drank lots, went to a blues bar and the top of Sears Tower, freezing cold weather.

Full version:

We had a great start to our trip when Jon's seatback TV wasn't working so we got upgraded just after take-off. The stewardesses then noticed Kath's engagement ring which prompted a chat about our travels and engagement plans, so they were really nice and gave us free champagne. Great start.

We landed at O'Hare on an icy runway in minus 7c, which was rather bracing. With Chicago being right on a lake shore we also now know the true meaning of the term 'wind chill factor'.

Our time in Chicago got off to a cracking start with a trip to Wingfest on our first full day. Wingfest is basically a celebration of chicken wings in all their many forms, culminating in a chicken wing eating contest. We met Kath's friend Teri in her local bar, Timothy O'Toole's, who had laid on a full day of festivities including transport to Wingfest on a proper American school bus, loads of free booze and of course as many chicken wings as we could eat. Which was actually about 6 each max. We were no match for the competition entrants, our favourite of which was a grown man with a mullet, dungarees, a Winnie the Pooh t-shirt and a cigar. He claimed to be a WWF wrestler but I strongly suspect he might just have been a mentalist.

The crowd from O'Toole's were amazingly friendly towards us right from the start and made us feel really welcome. (Big thank you to Teri for organising everything and being so good to us). There was lots of whooping and hollering when the O'Toole's entrant was in the ladies' wing eating contest, but sadly it wasn't to be. Time to drown our sorrows and head off to a bar with a live band karaoke. It's the first time we've ever seen anyone brave enough to attempt all the different parts of Bohemian Rhapsody on his own. A valiant but ultimately doomed effort.

In the rest of our time in Chicago we wandered around Millenium Park (freezing!), took a trip to the top of Sears Tower and looked down over the city, went to the zoo in Lincoln Park, went to Wrigley Field (where the Cubs baseball team play) and went to a proper blues bar called Buddy Guy's Legends.

Buddy Guy's was particularly entertaining as there was a proper old blues guitarist on stage but he had a radio mic so he kept wandering into the crowd. Imagine Kath's face as this old fella plays his guitar inches from her face for far longer than necessary, as the whole crowd is watching. It was pretty dark in there but Kath's face lit up the room.

We also found out that Chicago is pretty proud of Barack Obama. You can get Obama-related merchandise of every description. It later transpires that not all Americans are so happy with their new president, particularly rich Californians, but round here he's still revered.

Chicago is a really friendly city, and we've really enjoyed our time here - just wish it had been a bit warmer!

Love,

Jon & Kath