With a lovely Canadian hospitality fresh in our minds, we set off back into the USA as we headed towards the Great Lakes and Chicago. With some of my favourite movies of all time filmed here in Chicago, it was one of those cities I have been looking forward to with great expectations.

Previously on our trip, Kam and I agreed that we each could choose a tourist location each. Kam could have Prince Edward Island, if I could have Chicago. What this entailed is complete subjection to each others’ tourist hotspot, without objection. For me, I endured ginger pigtails, farms and Lovers Lanes, Kam however was hit with a three pronged 80’s cult classic attack of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Blue Brothers and The Breakfast Club. Although the instigating reason for us visiting Chicago was for film locales, we quickly found out that there was much, much more to the ‘windy city’…. But I am getting ahead of myself…

We left Niagara early, and headed in the direction of Lake Michigan (one of the Great Lakes). Now, although we knew exactly where we were, our mind couldn’t compute the fact that what we were looking at wasn’t the ocean, it was in fact a completely land locked lake. With tides, waves, sand and no sign of the opposite side of the lake, it was completely surreal to see Lake Erie and Lake Michigan close up. We had a brief stopover near the shores of Lake Michigan, however, after a night of being mauled by a huge swam of mosquitoes, we were ready to move on (I later found out that Michigan’s native bird was the mosquito J). We stopped for the morning at a lovely beachside/lakeside town and watched as jetskis, sailing boats and beachgoers living it up on the lake, very beautiful and idyllic.

Because I was so keen to see Chicago, it was decided to extend our stay here by a day. I called ahead to book another night at our accommodation; this worked out to be perfect timing! Sitting in Maccas, stealing their free wifi (we did buy a soft serve for 50c!), I noticed that instead of booking our accom in Chicago for 2 nights, I accidentally booked it for 32 nights! Horrified, I noticed the free cancelation policy was due to expire in 2 hours! After a few worried minutes of an impending $1200 accommodation in Chicago (or at least a 32 day visit), we quickly had a new hotel locked and loaded and we were back on the road!

As we drove into Chicago we were greeted with a fantastic view of the skyline that makes the city so famous. The peering peaks of Willis tower (formerly Sears tower) and Hancock towers and other skyscraper that filled downtown excited both Kam and I. We were ready to hit the town! We opted against the super expensive inner city accommodation, and headed to the Baymont Hotel in outskirts near O’Hare Airport. It was a fair way out, but what made it so convenient was the free shuttle to the airport, and the 24 hour train line that linked the city to the airport. The travel time was a bit longer, but for money conscious travellers it was a great option.

We ventured downtown, with the intention to hit one of the many great Blues clubs in Chicago. Kingston Mines was our first sampler to some proper Blues music, as well as some proper southern food. The venue had 2 stages, allowing the audience to jump between the 2 artists throughout the evening. This also meant that there was constant music, as when one artist finished, the other started up. The music was great, the vibe was unreal, and the time seemed to disappear. Before long we found ourselves stumbling into our hotel room at 3am!

After a deserved sleep in, we hit the city for day two. Today was a mixture of seeing movie locations as well as visiting some of the highlights of Chicago. First stop, the Cook County’s Sherriff office; the finale to the greatest car chases in movie history, the Blue Brothers. Being a Sunday I couldn’t go inside to see if the elevator did indeed play the Girl from Ipanema, but it was great to see the exterior, and the courtyard outside (including a massive Picasso sculpture). We took to the streets and walked our way around the city taking in the wonderful architecture before we found ourselves in Millenium Park. Intrigued about the crowds of people gathering, we inquired about what was happening, and how we can be involved. It seemed as though today we had stumbled on a Guinness Book of Records attempt, and it seemed that, Yes, we could be involved!

Without question we signed contact sheets, disclaimers and agreed to take part. We were then shuffled into a cattle pen, and promptly handed a bowtie. Our goal, to be part of the largest group of people in the one place to simultaneously tie a bowtie. I personally don’t know what Kam was more excited about, learning how to tie a bow tie, or getting into the Guinness Book of Records, either way we hoped to claim both these mantles by the afternoon. With a sea of almost 600 people fumbling with matching bowties, it was a funny sight. Kam and I borrowed the ears of a few people who had some very respectable ties around their neck. We got a few tips here and there, but we did struggle a little. It wasn’t until 5 minutes prior to showtime that the light came on in Kam’s and my head. We had got it, just in time too, after about 45 minutes of practice, the officials and camera crew came out. With just 225 people needed to break the record, it only took 2 attempts to have the record in the bag, and after the obligatory photos, dance routines and singing; a sea of bowtie-clad people hit the streets of Chicago.

We set out along Milennium park, and visited the Bean, leaving the Chicago Institute of Art for tomorrow, because of the time taken up breaking records! We then headed up, up, up to Willis tower, what was once the tallest building in the world (and a small role in Ferris Buellers Day Off). The weather was fabulous, and we had great visibility, especially from the completely clear glass sky decks that protruded from the 103^rd floor. It was an amazing sensation as you saw the world beneath your feet, and well worth the wait.

Not content with just a Guinness Record, Kam and I found ourselves talking to a camera crew positioned on one of the skydecks. It turned out that an episode of “Rolling with Zac”, a TV show for the Oprah Winfrey network was being filmed, and they needed extras. We found ourselves on camera trying to see how many people we could fit on the skydeck with the host Zac and his wheelchair. It was a bit of fun, and we have been told to keep our eyes peeled in January for what will obviously be our big break into Hollywood.

A few more location spotting took us to Union Station to see the site of the famous pram scene in the Untouchables, and then to a few other Ferris Bueller hotspots. Now tuckered out from breaking records, and being celebrities, dinner and music was on the cards. If Blues was last night, it needed to be Jazz tonight. We hit Andy’s Jazz Bar, an institution in Chicago, and within seconds of walking in the door, were introduced to “some of the most influential artists in the Chicago Jazz scene”. It didn’t matter that we didn’t know them, we sat front and centre at our candle lit table as the band played. A fantastic dinner was had while we bopped to the fantastic music in the dimly lit club.

Our last day in Chicago I let Kam off the hook, I didn’t subject her to the brunt of the location spotting (Warning: time to get my movie geek on!). This involved me travelling to the fictional town of Shermer, Illinois. You see, cult director John Hughes set every one of his movies in this fictional town, which was actually based on his hometown of Northwood, just north of Chicago. My day began at Ferris Buellers school (exterior only), which also doubled as the school used in Breakfast Club (interior only).

Due to the fact that the school was full of students, I couldn’t get many photos, but I was advised by the security guard that I although I couldn’t take any photos on the premises, I could take some from the road. Further around the corner, I visited the football field made famous in the final scene to The Breakfast Club, and the ‘Save Ferris’ watertower, which has only just been repainted 4 years ago. The exterior of the school in Breakfast Club was now a police station and another great sight to see.

But the one location I was looking forward to seeing was the ultra modern residence of Cameron Fry where his father’s priceless Ferrari plunged through the glass pane windows into the ravine below. Obviously frustrated by movie buffs like myself, the owner of the house reluctantly let me trapse into his backyard to take a couple of snaps of the building that played such a large role in Ferris Buellers Day Off. It may have been super geeky of me, but I got little goosebumps being there, pretty cool moment! J

I picked up Kam and the remainder of our day was spent at the Chicago Institute of Art, seeing some amazing artworks from Picasso, Cezanne, Van Gough, Monet and Renoir, as well as a few quintessential American artworks, such as American Gothic and Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawk”. It was pretty amazing to see them. What struck me, and what I think what was even more incredible, was that Kam and I have been lucky enough to have already seen quite a few of these artworks over the years in Canberra. It was then that I realised how fantastic the Australian National Gallery actually is for bringing some of the greatest artworks out to Australia; and for all of you non-Canberrans, you should really give it a visit!

Our evening was rounded off with a dish that I had also been looking forward to, Chicago’s famous deep dish pizza. I did a bit of research as to where the best place to eat would be, and we made our way to Uno. Unfortunately it was packed, however right around the corner was another restaurant that was recommended called Due, so we decided to head there instead. Perched above the street, we opened the menu and read about the restaurant. What I discovered was that the restaurant wasn’t “Due” – as in owed, it was “Due”- as in number 2 in Italian. We had actually foregoed the 1st pizza place in Chicago to make the deep dish pizza, for the number two place. The good news is that the restaurant was owned by the inventor of the deep dish, and the food was still fantastic.

Chicago had been all that I hoped it would be, and I would be happy to return again. Unfortunately there is no rest for the wicked, tomorrow morning we had flights booked. Vegas here we come!!!!