Chicago

We didn't get to Chicago until after dark, so sightseeing was out of the question. Liz's brother, Evan, lives in Chicago so we drove to see him first. Evan took us out on the town that night to a few of the local bars. Of course, driving/parking is out of the question, so we took taxis everywhere. This was an experience for me in itself, because I'd never ridden in a taxi before. I was also shocked at how expensive it was to go anywhere via cab. Evan must have dropped 30-40 bucks that night in cab fare alone (and we didn't go very far). It was a lot of fun!

This is the condo that Liz and I were staying at. This condo is on one of the nicest and most expensive streets in Chicago. It sure beats the Motel 6.

This is the condo's kitchen. Liz's aunt and I have the same taste in appliances I see.

The condo also has a magnificent view of the downtown area. It's even more spectacular at night, but none of those photos came out.

From the bedroom, you can see several of the adjacent apartment/condo complexes. Many of them have little rooftop gardens like this one.

Evan called us midmorning to take us to breakfast. He took us to a little spot that had a great outdoor seating area.

Liz and Evan at breakfast.

This is the street that Evan lives on. All these apartment buildings are narrow and tall and stacked right next to each other.

The buildings all have narrow alleyways between them which make great outdoor seating areas. With the apartment balconies overlooking the alley, I imagine they're great for parties.

Evan has a great apartment with hardwood floors and nice furniture. Liz and I really liked his place.

Evan wanted to take us to the Marshall Field's London Flea Market which is like a ritzy overpriced American flea market. The Marshall Field department store was on the other side of Chicago so we took the "L" over. The "L" is Chicago's tram system.

After the flea market, Evan took us to the Navy Pier. On the cab ride over, we passed this park area. I have no idea what the miniature coliseum structure is for, but it looks nice.

We got to the Navy Pier in the early afternoon. The weather was awesome, not a cloud in the sky and barely any humidity.

The Navy Pier has some carnival like rides and such. We skipped the ferris wheel and hit the bar huts instead.

The pier is right off of Lake Michigan (the opposite side of Whitelake). We couldn't tell if there was a sailboat race, or if everyone was just out because of the weather.

We also saw a bunch of these little 4-seater bicycle carts around. I guess you could rent these and petal yourself all over town. I think I'll stick with the cabs.

We had our fill of the Navy Pier and headed back to the main road to catch a cab. On the way, I got this picture of the downtown area.

Homeward Bound

Unfortunately, we didn't have much time in Chicago. I'm sure we could have had fun for weeks there, but we'd been on the road for 27 days and dying to get home. We had breakfast with Evan that morning and then started the long trek back to Tampa.

We drove for around 10 hours a day for the next two days to get back to Tampa. We didn't make any stops, but we took some pictures from the road. This is downtown Louisville, Kentucky.

As we got into southern Kentucky, we started seeing roads cut through rock again.

Dusk was approaching as we neared Knoxville, Tennessee. For miles there was this eerie haze that floated through the valleys between each hill. All we needed was a cemetery.

Tampa!

Finally we made it back to Tampa on our 29th day on the road. I though that we should take our time in getting home so that we could make our trip an even month, but Liz wouldn't have it. Its probably good though, because the cats were furious. Liz's cat Koa hissed and growled at us when we arrived (primarily at me... I guess I was to blame for us leaving).

Even though we skipped the entire northeastern US, we still had a great time. I guess we'll go up there for the BIG Crosscountry Road Trip #2. I be sure to keep you informed. It's been lots of fun. I thank all of you who went on the trip with us through the website. Your comments and interest have added to the overall experience of the trip. Thanks again and we'll talk to you soon...

Tony & Liz