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Jason, Martin (& Co) Across the USA!
Having passed through Wisconsin without anything particularly exciting we finally make it to the outer suburbs of Chicago. Stop in a place called Skokie and check into a hotel for a couple of nights. Once rested we make the slightly manic drive into downtown Chicago. We'd been warned Chicago drivers were the worst and it certainly turned out to be an interesting experience, and that was after we managed to get the car on the right carriageway and pointing in the right direction!
Once safely in Chicago and parked up we head for the Rough Guide recommended 'Andy's Jazz Bar'. Annoyingly get both ID'd and charged for entry but it's well worth it. Spend the night watching a Texan singer named Sharon Lewis with her band Texas Fire. The singer, band and audience all provide great Jazz and good laughs!! Especially amusing are a frisky retired couple dragged on stage after their rowdy antics get them noticed.
Start off the day in Wilmette, north of Chicago. We visit the Bahá'à House of Worship. It's an impressive intricate and seemingly delicate structure and incredibly silent inside. Jason meets a whole load of people he knows from working there a couple of summers earlier.
We catch the 'El' train into central Chicago and the first stop in the city, after McDonalds, is the Sears Tower. The building is largely unimpressive apart from its height and scale but the views from the top are pretty amazing! After that we wander around for a bit, pick up the end of the original Route 66 and head over to the park on the edge of the lake. Take a look around Millenium Park and the shiny kidney bean before wandering up the 'Magnificent Mile' of shops then catching the 'El' back up to where we left the car.
Once back at the hotel we pop across the road to the impressive Bonefish Grill for dinner. Have a delicious meal while watching the White Sox v. Minneapolis Twins baseball game. Game turns out to be quite exciting from what I understand. Impressed with the restaurant - the manager makes an effort to check on every table and they even have a lady who returns the revolving door to exactly the same position if anyone disturbs it by thoughtlessly walking through it.
The following morning we drive through central Chicago as we head south. We fight through the traffic to get to the University of Chicago to see Robie House, an excellent example of a Frank Lloyd Wright design before heading out of Chicago and out of Illinois.
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