Off to Chicago

The drive from Cleveland to Chicago is boring. I love the country. I grew up on a farm. And besides my family, I am one of a few people I know that can find beauty in a field of wheat or corn. But the drive to Chicago is 320 miles of this….

Then you arrive in Chicago. This pic is from the 20th floor of the Westin Hotel.


This is our first time at the Westin... I love it. We are up on the Executive Club Floor. Because Lou travels so much, he gets free upgrades at various places. We weren’t expecting to be on this floor…it was a nice surprise. The Club Room is three doors down from our room and has multiple large screen TV, couches, chairs and tables. There is free breakfast, cookies, fruit and beverages in the afternoon and happy hour with appetizers in the evenings. Plus the views out the windows are breath-taking. I’m sitting here watching the traffic and looking at these buildings. From the ground you don’t get a change to appreciate the tops of these buildings. The older buildings have so much character. The second building from the right has a dome on the top.

This pic is a view out our window. Marina City is reflected in the glass. This is a different kind of beauty from the farm.

This is a pic of Trump Tower which is still under construction.


Although is is sunny up top, it is already getting dark in the skyscraper canyons. This is the Old Water Tower, one of a few buildings that survived the Great Chicago Fire and the John Hancock building (on the right) on Michigan Ave.


Free Hugs.....the free hugs campaign is a worldwide movement. We saw people doing this in Paris also. These are a few advocates in Chicago.

Everything is decorated for the holidays. One of the window displays at Crate and Barrel. I stepped into it to take this pic. There was a chair in front of me. I tried to convince L to sit in the chair and let me take his picture from outside. I even taunted him by calling him “chicken”. He wouldn’t bite. I love Crate and Barrel for the 4 floor escalator that sits in the front of the building. Like a kid, I have to ride up to the fourth floor every year. All the furniture is up on 3 and 4…so I run around and test out the couches and chairs. Once of these years I am going to buy a leather arm chair. I just haven’t found the right one at the right price yet. Most of them here are ~$2000. Ouch.

And I found a long lost love in Chicago...he was so sweet and all decked out for the Holidays with his Santa hat on.