Chicago, IL

I arrived in Chicago around noon. The first place I visited was Wrigley Field. They were offering tours for $22.00, but I didn't feel like paying that much just to see an empty field. Throughout my visit, it seemed like there was a tour for everything in Chicago. There are tours for food tasting, boat tours along Lake Michigan, double-decker bus tours within the city, and Segway guided tours of the city--those motorized vehicles that people stand on.

I pretty much exhausted myself by trying to see and visit all the landmarks of Chicago. There was just too much for me to see. The entire city is filled with art and sculptures. I could spend days there and still not be able to see a fraction of the city. I did get a chance to visit Soldier Field, home of NFL's Chicago Bears. The stadium is pretty huge. It has a line of Roman columns that guard the north and south entrance areas. If you were to stand in front of one of them you'd feel pretty small. I was reminded of when I visited Rome, although Rome's columns were much larger.













The city's skyline is also pretty nice. You could take a picture from anywhere in the city and have a pretty good shot of the skyline. At dawn I ended up at Millennium Park, which has the Cloud Gate, an elliptical sculpture that looks like a chrome bean, I'm sure you've probably seen it before. You can walk under this thing and see some pretty neat optical illusions. Millennium Park also has the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, a wild looking outdoor venue you've probably also seen on television or somewhere else. It kind of looks like a wild space ship. There was a concert going on when I got there, so I stayed for a while to enjoy it. There were a lot of things going on this 4th of July weekend. Too much to write about.


















After the concert, I got a hold of another Couchsurfer, Kent, and met up with him and his friends at Buffalo Wild Wings in Lincoln Park. When I got there I was surprised to see Zhi, another Couchsurfer who noticed my post on a Couchsurfing page and emailed me to comment on my blog.

Zhi (Photo: 2nd from right) is also doing a cross country road trip and is recording it in a blog of his own. You can check it out at:

http://travelswithzhi.blogspot.com/

Zhi started his trip much earlier and has been headed in the opposite direction, going from Maryland to Washington and back. We had a lot to talk about and share from our travels. I was pretty excited to see him. He plans on staying in Chicago until Thursday and then head to Cleveland. There's a good chance I may bump into him there also.

Last night I ended up staying with Kent (Photo: 2nd from left) at his apartment with Abby (3rd from left) and Jesse (far right). He had an extra bed for me to sleep on which was pretty comfortable. Kent is originally from Akron, Ohio and has lived in Chicago for 6 months now. He gave us a little tour of Wicker Park. I enjoyed as much as I could of the area and then had to leave, because the heat was unbearable. I rode my bike back to my car in hopes of blasting the air conditioning for some relief. I nearly past out from exhaustion.

Right now I'm in Lansing, a suburb of Chicago, and I plan on heading to Cleveland or Indianapolis from here. I haven't decided yet. But after talking to Kent about Ohio, he reminded me about Cider Point, and for those of you who don't know, Ceder Point is probably the largest amusement park in the United States, located in Sandusky, Ohio. It also boasts the highest roller coaster, the Magnum 2000, which is over 300ft high (about 30 stories). And Kent has inspired me to go and connect with my childhood past. So, I plan on stopping in Sandusky sometime in the next couple of days.