Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 2

Woke up to the sight of the Mississippi River on the outskirts of St. Louis.

Meet Me in St. Louis

Went to the dining car for breakfast at 8:00am.  I had a cheese omelet, roasted potatoes, sausage, croissant and decaf coffee.  Not bad.  We had the table to ourselves this morning.

We arrived in Chicago about 2:15pm.  There had been a heat advisory on the tracks for Illinois, meaning that our speed had to be reduced.  We walked from Chicago Union Station (where the baby carriage scene from the Untouchables was set) to our hotel in the Near North neighborhood.

Yes, we walked

The hotel we stayed at was the excellent Hotel Sofitel Chicago Water Tower.  A modern French hotel that was the perfect location for our trip.  The room was perfect.  I'll put this hotel as tied for my favorite room together with the Augustus Tower room at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas.

Hotel Sofitel

Hotel Sofitel

At night the floor lights changed color and the walls were filled with moving points of light

Half of the room

Excellent Bathroom

The room view was of the Hancock Tower.

Room with a View

The temperature on this day and the next was 97 degrees, so after checking in we freshened up and relaxed.

So here's the part to be prepared for after your train ride:  I had no problems once I got off the train and walked to the hotel and went up to the room - no problems.  However, once I sat down or laid down or stopped moving, the whole hotel was swaying from side to side.  It was the weirdest sensation as it really didn't even feel the same as riding the train.  I didn't get nauseous, but the effect lasted until the next day.  The sensation was much worse coming home as I was already sick.

After relaxing from the heat we walked the couple of blocks to the Cheesecake Factory at the base of the Hancock Tower.  This really wasn't out of a desire to be touristy; we have them at home also.  The restaurant was just close by and had a good selection.  We ate on the patio around 6pm.  The table was in the shade and by this time it had cooled down a little, so it was pleasant.  I had the tomato basil pasta with chicken and mozzarella, brown bread with butter, and a Kahlua cocoa coffee cheesecake.  Well come on, how could I be at the Cheesecake Factory and not have cheesecake?

Hancock Tower late afternoon

Later in the trip we'd be at the top looking down

Quite the crowd at the Cheesecake Factory

 After dinner we walked along the waterfront to Navy Pier.  There were people everywhere.

On the Waterfront

Dusk

On the Pier

Navy Pier

Panorama

We saw the sights and then on an impulse bought a 75 minute speedboat on Lake Michigan / architecture on the Chicago River tour.  The tour guide Dan was really good at what he did and it was nice to be on the water at night after the heat of the day.  Seadog Cruises.

Chicago really does have an amazing mix of architecture that somehow works together.  Your eyes never tire from lack of something to see.

After the boat docked, we stood in line at Garrett Popcorn on the pier and on a recommendation from my brother got a bag of the Chicago Mix popcorn.

The counters are trashy, but the popcorn is classy

The floor is also trashy.  We stood on it anyway to keep it from flying up into the air

Chicago Mix is a mix of hot, fresh, sweet caramel popcorn and savory cheese popcorn.  I would have never put these two things together on purpose, but it was the best!  Something about the flavors and even the textures made them delicious together.  We finished the bag off on the walk back to the hotel.