I just got back from a business trip to the “Windy City” of Chicago, Illinois.
It was my first time in the mid-west and so I was really curious to see if all cities are just the same. I have been to many cities in the eastern part of the US as well as cities in Europe, Mexico and Canada. What makes Chicago unique is “the loop”. The city is built right on Lake Michigan, and the city itself, wraps itself right around her. I only really got to see Chicago by night. But it really might have been to my advantage. The bright lights of the city reflecting of the blackness of the lake was magnificent.
One word of warning, if you decide to take an evening look at the skyline by the lake, make sure you hire a taxi driver that will stay with you while you are looking. If they drop you off, you may have NO luck finding a taxi to take you back to the main part of the city.
For accommodations we stayed at the Ramada Plaza, on North Cumberland, near O’Hare airport. The rooms were clean and functional, but there was nothing really remarkable about them – no views, no real coffee pots in the room, no fridges or any touches that really made you feel at home. However, for holding meetings it is a great place. The meeting spaces were nice and spacious, the catering was delicious and the event staff very helpful.
The first night I was there we were in the mood for some Italian food. Chicago has a “Little Italy” but the restaurant recommended to us was not in Little Italy, but apparently is THE place to go for Italian: Italian Village Ristorante.
This place is very unique. The décor reminds me of an Epcot Italy clone. The walls are made of what looks like stucco and on these walls are street lamps and street signs. The ceiling is painted blue and there are strings of hanging light everywhere. It makes you feel like you are dining al fresco in an Italian village somewhere. It may sound a little cheesy, but honestly they did a great job. Not to mention the fact that the food is delicious. We could have guessed that from the get go, being that we arrived after 9PM and the place, which is HUGE was packed with people. For dinner, I had a nice big piece of grilled marlin, with an orange zest, pepper and olive oil glaze, accompanied by what may have been the most perfectly prepared mashed potatoes I have ever had. Now that is saying a lot, as I love mashed potatoes. It also came with green beans that were cooked just enough that they were still crunchy when I bit into them. Dessert was just as good, a wonderful, big, thick slice of rum cake and a good cappuccino.
There are 2 other restaurants (both Italian) under the same roof. Both were also packed. This place was a great recommendation!
The next night we ended up at The Water Tower Place, which is a huge 7-story mall. We took the glass elevator up to the 7th floor just to see what was going on. It is excessive. I expressed this opinion out loud, much to the delight of all the males on the elevator with me. The cool thing about The Water Tower Place is that they have an unusual food court called foodlife in the basement. They have all the usual suspects- Mexican, comfort food, Italian, burgers and dogs, but they also have choices like Thai, make your own stir fry, and one stall completely devoted to dessert. The other thing that makes this food court unique is that upon entering you get a card, this card allows you to go and get items from any of the stalls. Then at the end, they add it all up for you. It is decent food, for a good value with a unique twist.
It was a quick look at Chicago, and much of my time there was work related. But what I was able to experience on the outside of the conference room was very enjoyable.
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