A Day In the Life: Patch Reporter Explores Chicago

Rarely having an opportunity to travel outside of Southern California, when the opportunity arose to visit the Windy City, I packed my duffle bag, grabbed my camera and slung my laptop’s backpack over my shoulder, and was on my way.

Despite enduring a bumpy plane ride from LAX to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport; once I touched the historic city’s pavement, I decided nothing was going to shake up my trip. And, I wasn’t disappointed. The Fourth of July weekend proved to be both fun-filled and educational.

Exploring Chicago Via the Chicago Transit Authority

I, along with my buddies, Mike and Kurt, decided to explore a new city the way any single, 30-something male ought to: via the Chicago Transit Authority’s trains.

Riding the trains was neat. First off, they differed from Los Angeles’ Metro lines because they ran frequently and stopped more often. Nothing against the green line, but the first time I tried to ride the train from Long Beach to Hollywood, I wasted three hours of my life and was down more than $8. Not so in Chicago.

CTA employees were seemingly stationed at every stop, and one young woman, who saw us struggling to figure out how many trips a particular ticket afforded us, walked over and helped resolve the minor confusion.

A Taste of Chicago

Having arrived in Chicago a bit after 6 a.m., we were a little jet lagged and hungry. One would think the Sears Tower, Lake Michigan, Wrigley Field or any other landmark would be our No. 1 destination. However, procuring some grub was the morning’s mission.

But we didn't want just any grub, we were on the hunt for signature style Chicago eats. Sure, we could have grabbed a bite at the McDonald’s or Denny’s we walked passed after our initial train ride, but my goal wasn’t to eat something I could easily find back at home on Pioneer Boulevard or the .

Nah, I wanted something authentic. It was too early for deep dish pizza, so we opted for a breakfast spot in the Loop -- downtown Chicago’s commercial center.

Once there, I ordered the banana breaded French toast along with eggs and cheese, both firsts for me. Kurt and Mike each ordered biscuits drowning in gravy.

After our meal, we exchanged in some playful back and forth trash talk with the locals, inspired no doubt by my Dodgers hat and keychain, and Kurt’s devotion to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Chicago Cubs’ main rival.

Enjoying Chicago's Sights and Sounds

We walked off the calories consumed by choosing to bypass the CTA elevated L trains instead choosing to explore the area on foot. Looking around, I was entranced by the city’s architecture.

Chicago deserves the distinction of being known as a world class city. It’s aesthetically eye-popping.

Along the way, it was too early for admission, so we took pleasure in gawking at buildings which house the Lyric Opera of Chicago; the Goodman Theater and the Chicago Cultural Center.

Our walk was made easier by the fact that we were in close proximity to Lake Michigan and the Chicago River and the triple-digit temperatures hadn’t set in. The gloomy skies dropped a few sprinkles on us, but we found temporary refuge in an Irish pub.

After knocking back a few cold ones, the next stop was the Art Institute of Chicago, the most immaculate museum I have ever visited.

The American art before 1900 and African art sections alone are well worth the price of admission. The Institute is a place that even an art novice such as me can appreciate.

The Chicago Food Festival

Next, we took a tip from a few locals and headed to the annual Taste of Chicago Food Festival down Michigan Avenue toward Grant Park.

Once there, we waded through thousands of people to purchase tickets and begin sampling food from several of the more than 59 vendors present.

There were too many tasty foods to detail, but a few of my personal favorites of the day were sautéed goat meat with fried plantains; dry chili chicken and the frozen chocolate dipped cheesecake bar.

Over the course of the next few days, we experienced more of the same.

Unfortunately, July 4 was departure day, so I didn’t get to spend it with my family. However, I took solace in the fact that fireworks were visible in the Chicago sky as my delayed flight headed west for another bumpy ride back to Los Angeles.