Days 10 & 11 - Sunday & Monday

After the huge Crossroads Guitar Festival on Saturday, Sunday was always going to be a lazy day. Caught up with Rhonda & Brad who had to drive back to their respective home towns & the wandered around getting rid of the U.S. dollars we had left (too confusing to keep, it all looked the same). Yep more T-shirts & bits & pieces. Monday we were checking out, so went for a wander just over the road from the hotel to the Oak Street Beach.

Something felt different while on the beach & we couldn't put our finger on it. Then it hit us, the smell (or lack of). It's a freshwater beach, where's the seaweed, seashells, seagulls & smell of salt water?. Actually wouldn't be that hard to take. As you can see the weather was turned on again for us.
An overall thoroughly satisfying experience for the both of us (I even caught Andi tapping away to the blues a couple of times). Would not hesitate in going back.

Inside the hotel

Inside the hotel

Drake Hotel from the Beach Side

Got picked up @ 1pm (dunno why when the flight was leaving about 6.30pm) & thus begun long journey of getting home. Walked in the front door at home about 10.30 Wed morning. When we left Chicago it was about 28c & nothing but sun & when we arrived in Melbourne it was about 6c & anything but sun. Might be winter here, but there ain't no snow. Time to put our feet up & unwind (& do some washing)

ps: 16 T-shirts, 2 pr jeans, 3 pr runners, shorts & hoodies makes for overweight baggage ($$$$$)

ah well, shit happens

Day 9 - Saturday (& Friday Night)

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Ventured out to Mt. Prospect by taxi (wrong choice, unbeknown to us there's city cabs & suburban cabs. Mt Prospect ain't in the city. Driver had no maps or gps, just a rough idea how to get to Mt Prospect & because it's outside the limits you're charged @ meter & a half). We met up with fellow ZZ Top fanlizzters @ a great little venue Blues Bar for some drinks & to see the Eliminator Band.

Got up gingerly Saturday morning, This is the day that we came all this way for. Thunderstorms, 50% chance of rain & a top of 90 deg f (32c) had been forecast. They got the 32 right. Got there about 9.30 & decided after seeing the queues for General Admission (the race for front possie) that I'll stick with the seats we had.

I would have preferred closer seats for taking photos, but for the overall experience this spot was very acceptable. The sound was quite exceptional & we had an unrestricted view of the big screens. The DVD won't be far away. As for the concert itself, it more than lived up to expectations, definitely straight to the top of my long list of concert highlights. 12 hours of some of the most enjoyable & memorable music this little black duck has ever & possibly will ever experience. Even the compering by Bill Murray was great.

1. Sonny Landreth (joined by Eric Clapton)
2. Robert Randolph & the Family Band (Joe Bonamassa & Pino Daniele)
3. Robert Cray (Jimmie Vaughan & Hubert Sumlin)
4. Bert Jansch
5. Stefan Grossman (Keb' Mo')
6. ZZ Top
7. Doyle Bramhall II (Gary Clark Jr., Sheryl Crow, Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks)
8. Citizen Cope (Sheryl Crow)
9. Earl Klugh
10. Vince Gill (James Burton, Albert Lee, Keb'Mo & Earl Klugh)
11. John Mayer
12. Buddy Guy (Jonny Lang & Ronnie Wood)
13. The Derek Trucks Band with Susan Tedeschi (Warren Haynes, David Hidalgo & Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos & Johnny Winter)
14. Jeff Beck
15. Eric Clapton (Citizen Cope, Jeff Beck & Steve Winwood)
16. B. B. King (Eric Clapton, Robert Cray & Jimmie Vaughan)
17. Everybody

An absolute pearler of a day, way too many highlights to try & describe/review. I'd strongly suggest that anyone with any interest in these artists gets the DVD when it's out..

Day 7 & 8 - Thursday & Friday

Wednesday & Thursday nights we experienced some of the music Chicago is renowned for - The Blues.
Extremely hard to take, but paying for it @ the moment. Also ate quite well at these gigs, such delicacies as Fried Okra, Fried Mushrooms, Humungus pile of Ribs, Gumbo, Catfish tenders & Crawfish Tails. (Might have been the food that's made me feel ordinary). Wed nite we went to Kingston Mines (Chicago's oldest & largest Blues Club). Jimmy Burns Blues Band played on one stage for about an hour, then we all migrated into the next room & saw Maurice John Vaughn for about an hour & then repeated a couple of times.

Inside Kingston Mines

Jimmy Burns

Maurice John Vaughn

Got up slowly Thursday morning & took our time going to 2120 S. Michigan Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven Foundation in what used to be the home of Chess Records

Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters & Buddy Guy

Went down to Buddy Guy's Legends to see Jimmie Vaughan & the Tilt A Whirl Band with Lou Ann Barton. We were fortunate enough to grab a couple of seats at the bar. (We got there at 5, all tables were gone by 2).
Just sat at the bar all nite & wandered around snapping some photos.

Jimmy Johnson

Gary Clark Jr

Jimmie & Buddy

Buddy & Lou Ann Barton

Buddy & Lou Ann

Jimmie

Day 6 - Wednesday

 Last day of touristy stuff started out with thunderstorms, so wandered through shops (T-shirt collection grew again). Rain finally stopped so we ended up at Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) & went up to the

 The Skydeck. Cut a lap again on the tour bus. We've been on about 5 different buses from the same company & each tour guide has put their own slant on describing the city. All have been entertaining in their own way.

Thunderstorms hit again late arvo (had been hot, humid & windy 'til then). Tornado warnings were actually issued for some of the western suburbs, it got pretty ugly for a couple of hours. Stopped in time for us to go out though.

                                                                  Looking down through the floor of the skydeck

Day 5 - Tuesday

More wandering round today, starting down south at the Shedd Aquarium. Caught the Fantasea show with Beluga whales & Dolphins. Got a Water Taxi up the Chicago Harbour to Navy Pier & then down river to N. Michigan Ave. Short walk to House of Blues & then up to the Hard Rock Cafe. (Pity the one in Melbourne has gone) Relaxed here for a little with margeritas, mojitos, JD's, G&T's & loud music to keep us company.

Looking at city from Chicago Harbour

Navy Pier

 Getting late, so wandered over to Gino's East, supposedly one of the places to eat pizza while in town. Queue is out the door & about 50m long. When you finally get a seat & order pizza it takes 45min to an hour to cook the deep dish version. Quite happy to stick with what we have back home, it wasn't wort the wait.

Great weather again today, about 31, light breeze & not overly muggy. Rained again overnight, but it doen't matter.

Day 4 - Monday

Day 3 - Sunday

Jet lag's a bitch. Awake most of the night, finally dozed off around 6 ish. We both woke up around 11 (unheard of, even for me when I've had a few). Baseball was starting @ 1.20, still not sure how we were getting there or even where Wrigley Field was(other than North of us). Fortunately not far at all on the Red Line & a station was only a couple of blocks away.

View from our seat

We watched the game in what's known as a rooftop or skybox. Skybox on Sheffield is the one we went to.

Row of rooftops overlooking Wrigley Field

Very enjoyable afternoon, ticket price included all you could eat & drink (so we did). Again the weather was turned on for us, high 20's & a bit of cloud cover. Cubs won 12 - 1. Crowd of just under 40,000 at the game. Not a game I could go to regularly though.

After we left we headed down to one of the must do's on the journey Buddy Guy's Legends for a quiet ale & some live blues. Awesome place, sensational memorabilia & photos. I could quite easily frequent it daily, but for the small problem of living so bloody far away.

Going back on Thursday night to see Jimmie Vaughan & the Tilt-a-Whirl Band. 

Also added to the T-shirt collection again...

Day 2 - Saturday

After we surfaced we walked down The Magnificent Mile to a meeting at the Chicago Cultural Centre with CK from the Chicago Greeter. I stumbled across this service a few months before we came over & thought it would be great as an introduction to the City. CK took us on a walk around the city pointing out highlights, offering us tips on things to do & see.

The Cultural Centre

CK took us over to Millennium Park where we had a quick wander through. Amazing place, we'll be exploring more over the week. The Jay Pritzker Pavilion looks like it would be a great place to chill out & catch some live music (gotta be the right sort of course)

Entering the Park

An overview of the Park

Saw the start & finish of Route 66 (we'll come back & drive what's left of it one day)

Day 1 - Friday 18th June

It's begun, our 10 day trip to the Windy City.
Left home 5.30 ish Friday morning, (too bloody early, but didn't feel like sitting on Ring Road traffic). Went via Dads who volunteered to drive us to Tullamarine (& look after the car of course). Check in went smooth.
Quick sticky through Duty Free, maybe get something on way back depending on how big a hole Chicago puts in our wallets (I'm tipping it will be pretty big). Mosied ? on down to the departure lounge & started the first waiting session.

The plane lands (late) & taxi's over. It's fucking huge, the new A380 (doesn't make cattle class any less cramped though, just heaps more of them). Left about 45 mins late, direct to L.A.flying time approx 13 hrs 40 mins. Hell of a long trip when surrounded by screaming kids & shitty nappies!!!!!!!!!!
Hit a bit of turbulence about 10 hours in, & yep she's chuckin' (memories of the ferry trip in Samoa a few months ago), Finally landed just after 8am L.A. time Friday. Our knees rejoiced !. Through customs relatively easy, got our bags & walked over to the domestic terminal. Joined the queue going through customs yet again, this tie they were a bit more stringent in their procedures (shoes thru the X-ray machine).
Second waiting session starts, got about 3 hours to kill in the departure lounge (Oh joy).
Get on the plane (737 seem's like half the size of the A380 but it's just as cosy), just get comfortable, headphones in, book out when the captain asks us all to leave the aircraft, there's some sort of problem in Chicago, could be a 2 hour delay.
3rd waiting session fortunately only an hour, A freak storm had hit Chicago & delayed all flights in & out. Finally left & 3 1/2 hours later landed. Got picked up in a limo (steering wheel was on the wrong side) & taken to our hotel. Finally checked in just after 9pm Chicago time Friday night, (just after noon Saturday Melbourne time). Nearly 30 hours door to door, but we're here & let the adventure begin.

Tip #1 - Request seats on long haul flights away from the areas that have the baby capsules..
Tip #2 - Save harder or rob a bank & travel business class.

Time to pull the pin & try to catch some zzzzzzzzzzz's