Chicago Trip - The Other Links

We stayed at the Hilton Homewood Suites in downtown Chicago (in the loop). I wanted to bring the sheets home with me because they were so soft. The rooms were spacious. It was like having an apartment. We had a king-size bed in a large room with a television and a small dresser. The bathroom was very large and had all of the amenities, including extra towels.

The sitting area for the "living room" was kind of small, but it was no matter. We had a large flat-screen television there. The eating area off the kitchenette was tiny and would have been cramped for more than 1 person, but we didn't use it for eating. My DH set up his computer there.

The staff were marvelous!


We traveled between the hotel and the airport via Airport Express. We had in the past thought it would be fun to just drive to Chicago. After this trip we are convinced it would not be a good idea. Parking was hideously expensive, presuming you could find it, and traffic was thick. When we arrived on Friday afternoon it was during one of the heaviest traffic times and at the start of a holiday weekend. It took 2 hours to get from the airport to the hotel, and that was with an experienced driver who knew how to take side streets which would avoid the express ways which had turned into rolling parking lots. It was a sort of impromptu tour of the parts of Chicago that aren't always on a tour!

As we were in the city -- either on foot or riding in a cab -- we found the city to be comfortable and clean. It has a lot of green spaces and trails for pedestrians as well as joggers, walkers, and sight-seers. There are spacious pedestrian walkways under the major streets.

I'm tired now. I need something to eat before I head off for my workout. But I wanted to post about the trip a little bit. We had fun. I'm glad we went.