Route 66 - Day 1 & 2 - Chicago
Chicago
Google miles: 0
Actual miles: 0
Total trip miles: 0
We flew into Chicago last night, took a taxi to the Drake Hotel and then grabbed dinner at your typical, same the world over, Irish bar. We managed not to flake out until about 10pm in order to try and get on US time as best we could.
Tomorrow we pick up the bikes and set off on Route 66. However, today has been spent exploring Chicago. We started early this morning and officially kicked off our route 66 trip by visiting Lou Mitchell's diner for breakfast. The diner sits on Route 66's first street and has been open since 1923. It's popular with locals and tourists alike (I'm glad we got there at 8.30 - the queue was down the block by the time we left). It's nothing flash, in fact it's a pretty standard, old style diner, well known for its pastries. The food is simple diner fare and the staff are friendly.
After breakfast we visited the Art Institute of Chicago to see some famous American paintings including American Gothic and the Night Hawks. After that we went to the Millennium Park near the museum to check out 'Cloud Gate' by Anish Kapoor. It's a mirror finished, stainless steel, organic shaped sculpture, known affectionately as 'The Bean'. Its a very involving piece, so much so that we spent about half an hour interacting with it. It's a must see for any visitor to Chicago.
After a walk around the city and a relax back at the hotel, we hit another Chicago landmark (or tourist trap) Lou Malnati's pizza restaurant which serves up traditional Chicago style pizza. I'm writing this post there with a full stomach and a cold beer :-)
One more sleep before we hit the road!