Travel & Holidays LA, San Francisco and Chicago

I lived in Chi-town for several years, and will be there myself from March 19-29, so I will add this;

Portillo's find one. Eat there. Store Locations - Locations | Portillo's

Gino's East. find one . Eat there Locations | Gino's East Of Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

Italian Beef Sandwiches- find a place ... eat many

All the museums in Chicago are pretty amazing. Field Museum. Science and Industry.... all of them. But you need 5 or 6 hours for each one - minimum. They are huge . They are not far from Soldier Field, where da' Bears play.. ( the new one, not the old one they knocked down) take a tour if you get a chance

Walk around the downtown area - lots. It's spectacular. Far grander than New York. You'll be genuinely surprised at how amazing it is.

Hire a car and drive north @ 45 minutes to the Gurnee Mills outlet malls near Waukeegan, on the Michigan border Outlet Malls in Illinois: Gurnee Mills | OutletBound Great cheap designer stuff.

You dont really need to bother so much with Navy Pier or the Chicago lakeside and beach areas around Lakeshore Drive or The North Shore or The Gold Coast. As an Australian you'll find them pleasant enough, but nothing you havent seen before... and certainly names you've seen before!

The suburbs just to the north of the city are all very cool though.

Michigan Avenue - if you like shopping. It's one of the great shopping precincts on earth - the magnificent mile they call it. Nike Town is there - everything there is available nowhere else.

Union Station - you'll recognise it from many movies. Untouchables for example..

Chicago has two zoo's. Brookfield is very cool, and very large - but Lincoln Park is smaller and is just north of the city and is easier for you to reach if you are staying downtown.



Trump Tower. Willis Tower . John Hancock Building. All have great lookouts.

Lots of great Blues bars if you like that - House of Blues. Buddy Guys .

And back to food...

HOME - Chicago Chop House

Smoque BBQ

and beer ...

Goose Island Beer Company

Revolution Brewing | Chicago, Illinois

If you want to see where a lot of athletes live in grand golf course estates, drive out towards areas like Oakbrook. Google Maps

This is , I think anyway - one of the worlds great cities. Enjoy it.

 

Top of the rock is definitely a better view. You get to see the ESB and also a great view of Central Park. Head up just before sunset to see the city by day and night. You get time slots for TOTR which makes for a much more pleasant experience compared to the queuing at ESB N

However, ESB is still fantastic and I'd still recommend going. But go early, or go late when it's quietest. You don't want to waste half a precious day in NYC in a queue.

Nice view from the top of the WTC too. Oh and from the crown of the Statue of Liberty. So many views....

 

Well it is the tallest building in NY...
I think it's worth it, but check out the ticket deals and research times of day.

 

If Jamie is going to drive to Gurnee Mills he may as well go up further on I-94 for another 15 minutes to Pleasent Prairie at Kenosha, Wisconsin. I found the outlet there is cheaper than Gurnee Mills:

Welcome To Pleasant Prairie Premium Outlets® - A Shopping Center In Pleasant Prairie, WI - A Simon Property

@euro73, where in Chicago did you live? I used to live at Libertyville/Mundelein/Arlington Heights area. I loved living there.

 

100% agree with this. The real estate and cars you see will blow your mind.

In Chicago, hockey season is still on. Try and get Black Hawks tickets. It is an experience to behold.

2015-2016 Regular Season Schedule/Results - Chicago Blackhawks - Schedule

 

Downtown- river north for me. Best time of my life. Better than even brisbane by a long shot...as much as i like to hype brisbane

 

Lombard/ Villa Park . I also spent some time in Oregon, Illinois - worked on a ranch there for a couple of Summers - it's a couple of hours west on 64 /North Avenue. Not far from Rockford.

Yes the other outlet is also excellent. Good shopping to be had at either of them...

I'll be there on Saturday!!!!!!!! (Sunday , Australian time)

For those of you who have never been - here's a taste of suburbia and downtown...

 

And some of it will seem oddly familiar if you're a GTA fan

 

This is worth a look at the power some had in the and what they built,even better on a hire bike or car,one of the best coastal drives in the world from san francisco..
http://hearstcastle.org/

 

Lovely drive.
Weird story:
Patty Hearst - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

My son and I are off to NY in September. Son is mad on art, so no doubt we will spend a lot of time in art galleries etc. What should we NOT miss? I particularly want to do a tour to Niagara Falls, as I have never been.

 

If @Jamie Moore Facebook page is to be believed, it looks like he's currently indulging in an orgy of basketball, beer and mexican foods! Looks like he's having a great time.

 

Can get that in vegas as well...and more

 

Mate I am very jealous of you! Enjoy your time there!

 

Hey guys - having a blast! Will write a longer post when I get back. Here's a quick pic from a Cavs game. Just having a beer/lunch at Fishermans wharf right now.

Got a shoutout by the clippers announcers on tv too - I'll upload the video later!

Jamie

 

It's a bit of a drive up to Buffalo, recommend you plan and maybe stay overnight.

 

Thanks Azazel There is a 2 day tour which includes a hotel facing the Falls so we can see them lit up at night. Although it is a long drive the tour goes via various places on the way. I thought that would be a good option. A friend suggested we fly up and back but by the time you get to the airport go through security, etc., we may as well go on the tour by bus and see the scenery.