Day 2, Chicago, Chicago!

I'd set the alarm for 7am but UK time-clock was still fighting, so I was awake before that, Catherine even earlier. We got ready and left about 9:30 for our first destination of the day, Lou Mitchell's restaurant. Breakfast beckoned. Even at this time of day, coming from the air-conditioned atmosphere of the hotel, it was clear this was going to be a warm one.

It's about a mile to Lou's from the hotel, so we rolled up about 10:00. Google, if you want to know more about this place. Basically though, it's a 1949 family owned joint that hasn't change much in all that time.   On entering, we were offered doughnut holes, as we were shown to our little booth. These are just doughnut balls and if I'm honest, just a tad on the dry side. A guy brought us some water, then our waitress, Amy, came over and barked the words that must start every conversation in diners all over the states, "you want coffee?". I say barked, it's not that she was aggressive or anything, just quite loud and with a rasping voice. Almost stereotypical waitress material.

Lou Mitchell's

We chose what we were having, Catherine, '2 eggs any way you want', which came as a fluffy omelette, with fresh potato slices, almost crisp (chip, for you yanks) like and a dark brown bread toast, myself, traditional eggs benedict. I couldn't complain about the food, mine was very nice and I didn't here Catherine complaining, either.   

Next on the agenda was a stop by the car rental place, just to make sure there weren't going to be any hitches come tomorrow morning. The guy in there couldn't really have been less animated and I almost expected a 'computer says no' from him but no, he had all the details on the system, so we should be all systems go tomorrow.

From there it was a short walk, along the new riverside walk, to the booths for the architectural  river tour. By now it was gone 11:00 but they had plenty of seats available for the 12:00 sailing, so we booked on that and sat by the river for 20 minutes till we were able to board. The sun was blazing down by now but the air-conditioned cabin just wasn't an option, as we wouldn't have been able to see the buildings the guide (a volunteer docent) was telling us about. I'd recommend this trip to anyone coming to Chicago. In deed, we were recommended it by a colleague of Catherine's and it didn't disappoint. The river affords views of the buildings that you can't get from street level and the knowledge of the docent only added to the experience. He really seemed to know his stuff. The tour lasts about 90 minutes.

Willis Tower, from the Chicago River

Back on dry land we made our way to my must do for this trip, the 360 Tilt experience. Similar to the shelf at the Willis Tower, which I did in 2010, this would tilt me out 30 degrees from the vertical, to leave me looking down at the street 900 odd feet below. Least it would, if it hadn't been closed for maintenance! Major, major disappointment :-(

We decided to head for the Navy Pier, checking out the old Water Tower, now a monument to the great fire of 1871 and  a very brief and thoroughly unfulfilling visit to Macy's. I was hoping to check out some wireless headphones, only they don't have an electrical department.

Navy Pier is a food court ostensibly, with some fairground rides and an atrium containing palm trees and dancing waters. We sat in there for a while, then went back out into the heat to watch the ferris wheel. Catherine doesn't do heights, so we weren't going on it but we sat in the shade and watched for a while. During this time, a small boy ran up and sat by us, asking Catherine if he could ask her a question. Given her approval, he gabbled out something, which neither of us understood. Catherine asked him to repeat it, at which point, this cute little lad turned into Damian, shouting aggressively. I should say there was a chap with him, who calmed him down and explained the lad was autistic and was asking if we wanted to buy a bracelet to support the charity. We politely declined, leaving them to move on to the next unsuspecting punters.

Rested, we made a stop in McDonalds for a McFlurry, small compensation for the loss of my Tilt experience. We then made our way back through the Millennium Park, taking in the Big Bean. I'm not sure of it's proper name. This is a huge bean shaped sculpture made with a mirror surface, so very popular for capturing your reflection in photos, along with the Chicago skyline.

From there we made our way back to the hotel, to give our feet a wash/rest before going back out, across the road, to check out the water and light show at the memorial fountain.

The fountain show lasts about 20 mins, the water and light show being accompanied by 5 pieces of music, including the usual patriotic stuff and the 1812 Overture. Water show is pretty good with the main jet shooting 150ft into the night sky.

Clarence F Buckingham Memorial Fountain

Having done the fountain, we went insearch of dinner. The pizza restaurant we'd ID'd yesterday was closed, so we wandered around trying to find somewhere that catered for veggies. Ha!, fat chance. We ended up in a burger joint, with Catherine having a portion of fries, whilst I tucked into a chicken burger. We shared a bottomless root beer. Maybe tomorrow I'll get a real beer ;-)

Talking of tomorrow, it'll be our first day on the Route, destination Springfield, once home to President Lincoln.

Until then.