OK, so I am finally back. Yes I did enjoy Chicago, a lot actually. However, I still stand by my opinion I have no reason to go back again, except maybe once during the summer months. I hear the summers are especially cool (weather), and I hate humidity. I also stand firm on my opinion that Chicago, at least downtown, is very similar to Columbus, but bigger an better in every way.
Here's why I feel that way. Downtown Chicago, has the same type of stuff as downtown Columbus, except 5 times better, and 5 times more compacted, but through a larger area of course. Museums, almost all the food stuff is the same, the buildings look the same, except taller, same type of bus transit system above ground, Chicago Theater looks exactly like the Ohio Theater, and a few more homeless begging for change and sleeping in the street. The most notable difference is the navy pier, which is pretty awesome the downtown is situated basically on a beach. That's a big draw for sure, that is if people use it in the summer to relax. There were a few restaurants and food spots I have never saw, and I made it my mission to only visit new food spots not in ohio.
Unfortunately most of the museums were closed for new year, but I don't care much I missed those anyway.
Here is where I went:
Navy Pier - First at night for fireworks, which was a lot of fun, then in the day to check it out again.
The Bean Statue - It was neat, my girl really liked it.
Willis Tower - Unfortunately it was a 4.5 hour wait to go to the top. So I didn't do that.
Gino's East - I actually really liked the Chicago pizza, but coming from Ohio, the land of the square cut, and from what I am told, land of pizza like bubble gum, it was impossible to compare the two. They are both completely different, and good in their own way. I however don't see Gino's as something I would crave.
Portillo's - Or whatever it's called. Got the beef sandwich. Pretty damn good.
The Grill - Some fancy steak restaurant, with a killer filet mignon. It was crazy expensive compared to a steak house here in ohio, and you didn't even get bread beforehand, and only one side. Which was weird. Maybe that's a Chicago thing. A filet and one side was about $60.00 before tip. That's crazy.
Jam and Honey - A nice little breakfast joint, that had some really good stuff.
Bubba Gump Shrimp - The one place I had been before in Gatlinburg, but it's so awesome I had to go again.
Chinatown - I really wanted to eat here, but my lady didn't want to. China town was pretty cool. I really wish we had one in Ohio. There are various Asian restaurants spread around here though due to the Asian population in ohio.
Northwest side - I did meet up with my friend Friday, and he drove us around a large portion of the city, and since he has a Venezuelan wife he took us here. We went to a cool grocery store his wife loves, that sells baked goods.
We drove around literally all day and checked out the bulls stadium, Wrigley field which was unfortunately closed. It was pretty cool that's it's right in the middle of all the houses. We also went by the WhiteSox stadium. We tried to get bulls tickets but the cheapest was $88.00 by the time we realized there was a game going on. We looked for scalpers, and couldn't find any 10 minutes after the game started, which I though was odd.
Subway - I spend some time just riding the subway, and getting off at random stops and walking around.
Trump Tower - It was trump tower, really nice outside.
Galloping Ghost Arcade - by far the best arcade I have ever seen. I could spend days there. They had it all! Radiant silvergun, ikaruga, all the ghosts n goblins games, mortal kombat games, street fighter games, gauntlet games. Also had Lucky and Wild, Bionic Commando, and so much more. They had to have hundreds of arcade games, including various MVS setups, and they were mostly all late 80's early 90's stuff. it was a $15.00 cover to just play all day. Well worth it.
I did a bunch more stuff too besides exploring.
For the most part I really loved the city, BUT there are a few things I did not like. Just from what I experienced, which is very little, it is really hard to judge. My main gripe is the people. I am use to traveling south, where people are much nicer, and more approachable. I feel like everyone was in such a big damn hurry, and didn't care about anyone except themselves. People never stopped honking their horns, as if it was going to help, and everyone seemed pissed at the world. Which is very similar to Columbus, and the reason I want to some day move from here. I definitely feel the further south you go, the nicer the people are, southern hospitality and all, because it was pretty noticeable that it was non existent here for the most part. One thing I noticed, was a girl slipped on the ice, and hit the ground, so naturally I was a gentleman and helped her up. By the time I made it to her at least 4 guys walked past her. Another weird thing was that I always hold the door open, and let people pass when going in somewhere. People looked at me like I was some sort of freak. One girl said "WOW! thanks a lot, that doesn't happen every day". I definitely noticed, when we walked into places, people just let the door shut in front of you if their wasn't one of those revolving doors.
People also didn't want to give any directions. I passed one guy, and asked how to get to Portillo's, he was wearing a Bulls jacket, and just said "I don't know", and never looked up. The directions I managed to get were from the CTA people in the subway. They told me to take the next sub down to the next stop, and I would be at the pier. Well, I went from 20 minutes away, to 40. I went back, and they gave me the right directions, but failed to tell me I needed to hop on a transit bus as the subway doesn't go there. I finally figured out, there was a transit and the subway was unnecessary. I guess maybe the locals don't know where it is like was stated earlier. But I did ask a cop too, I was surprised he couldn't help me. All that aside though, those are minor gripes. I can handle that.
What I really hated, which was the only thing I hated, was the ridiculous cost of parking. Good thing we did valet at the hotel, but when I was with my friend we paid all day, and it was a minimum of $16.00 per park. Which adds up fast. This morning we decided to eat it, and parked at navy pier, and 1.5 hour park was $20.00. The food prices and such were similar to Columbus for the most part, but the parking was insane. Then on the way out of town, we hit 3 toll booths in a matter of like 10 minutes. Now I'm all about a toll booth, since they go to the roads, but we paid $4.75, then 2 minutes later, paid $2.00, the 5 minutes later paid $0.85 cents. Why couldn't they just charge me the whole price the first stop and be done with it? A stop for 85 cents is stupid.
That's really my main gripe, and sole reason I would never want to live there. Anytime you leave the city, or want to go downtown you're paying out the ass. If I went to school downtown, or worked downtown, It would be impossible to afford. I felt like the entire city was desperate for money.
But all in all, no regrets, had fun, just got nickel and dimed the whole time. I know if I lived there, it would be like Columbus, I would rarely go downtown. I'm not into lavish restaurants, or Gucci crap. But it would be nice to be able to enjoy downtown without being reliant on public transit, or wads of cash.