The Windy City in One Day!

There is a complimentary shuttle from Chicago O'Hare to the Sheraton Gateway Suites that runs on a regular basis. I easily found the shuttle outside the airport and got on board. The shuttle ride is about 10 minutes. The hotel is actually in an area called Rosemount.

The entry to this hotel is fairly nice, the check-in desk is directly in front of the main doors. I am a Starwood Preferred Guest member, so I headed to the line that was marked SPG. I was checked in quickly and assigned room 1003. The desk staff and bellhop were courteous and friendly.

A special note: I did not actually pay for my hotel room, I used SPG points for a free night. But I understand the normal rate for my suite would have been $169 before tax.

The hotel has an atrium open all the way up to the top floor, which is the 11th floor. The bottom of the atrium houses the restaurant. All of the interior hallways face inwards towards the atrium.

All of the rooms in the Sheraton Gateway Suites Chicago O'Hare are suites. Mine has a living room with a window that faces the hallway. The living room has two sofas (one is a pullout) coffee table, wetbar with fridge, desk and chair, and a large TV.

The bedroom has a king size bed set at a 45 degree angle. There is a dresser, end tables, alarm clock, small TV, a small sofa, and a chair. There was a robe and chocolate set out on the bed, and a complimentary bottle of water on the dresser for me. From the window, you can see Chicago O'Hare airport in the distance.

The bathroom is accessible from the bedroom and is pretty basic. The shampoo and conditioner are from Pantene, and there is a little bottle of Scope mouthwash set out.

I slept rather well, there were no discernible noises to wake me up, not even from the airport! I awoke to find a copy of USA Today at my door.

I checked out early at 7am. The restaurant at the bottom the atrium was already serving breakfast and it smelled good!

When I checked out at the reservation desk, I was told my SPG points covered my entire stay, including taxes! I asked about the rooms, and was told floors 9 to 11 are for SPG members and are a little nicer! Heh.

For transportation into Chicago, I was told the best way is to return to the airport and take the CTA train into the city. The desk attendant suggested I take the regularly scheduled complimentary shuttle back to the airport.

One thing that bugged me is the Internet connection in the room is not free, and neither is the business center (which opens at 7am) All in all, this is a really nice hotel and they took good care of me. I'd definitely go back again! The rooms are clean, staff friendly, and it's very accessible.

Gino's East was on my "must dine at" list for Chicago. I had heard about Gino's East on the Internet, TV, and it was featured on the reality show "Amazing Race." I had to go eat here.

The restaurant is located at the corner of Wells, just north of Ontario. Carson's for Ribs and Ed Debevic's is also located on the same intersection...choices...choices...wow.

The inside of the restaurant is a bit dimly lit, but I didn't care. I was seated quickly and noticed that most of the surfaces were scrawled with names of previous restaurant patrons. The ceiling was an interesting sky blue color, with little toothpicks stuck in them. If anything, this restaurant has a personalized touch.

The menu is actually printed on the placemat. I ordered a lemonade and a small sausage and cheese pan pizza. Oh boy...I couldn't wait! The waiter was very friendly and very attentive, he brought my lemonade and a water over quite quickly.

After about 10 to 12 minutes, my pizza came out! Yessss... It's supposed to serve one, but could easily feed two. It sure smelled good. The waiter cut me a slice and put it on my serving plate.

My first bite was like magic! There's definitely a reason this place is famous. The cheese was gooey and stringy, the sauce was a bit watery but nice and sweet, and the crust was almost like a pie crust. The sausages were in nice big chunks so you can definitely taste it! It took me a while to eat it, and I definitely didn't have any room for dessert. But that's okay, I was quite happy!

The legendary deep dish pizza at Gino's East makes the stuff back home in California taste like manhole covers. The total bill for a small sausage pizza and lemonade came out to about $17 before tip. The food was phenomenal, the staff very friendly and personable. Heck, I'd move to Chicago just for the pizza at Gino's East. I'd make this a mandatory visit for anybody visiting Chicago.

Lou Mitchell's is on West Jackson Blvd. in the "Loop" under the shadow of the Sears Tower. I read somewhere that Lou Mitchell's is one of the best restaurants in Chicago, and a must for breakfast. Well, I arrived around 8am and there were about 10 people crammed into the entrance awaiting a seat. I chose to sit at the counter, so I was seated immediately. There is sidewalk seating, but it had just rained earlier, so nobody was rushing to sit there.

Lou Mitchell's is definitely a bustling place. Pretty much every seat was taken with families enjoying the morning, locals enjoying a nice breakfast before work, and business types conducting meetings over a power breakfast. There is counter dining at segmented counters which are shaped in U's to accommodate more diners, as well as table and booth dining, as well as a dining area downstairs.

I was offered some fresh donut holes. Boy, these taste better than Krispy Kremes. The waitress said they make all of their own baked goods, not buy them premade like most restaurants. There's something about freshly made baked goods at non-chain restaurants like Lou Mitchell's. I think a lot more attention to detail is devoted to their food preparation. They even roast their own coffee! Now that's quite rare for a diner.

The waitress was friendly and quite personable and offered me a copy of the paper. I ordered a coffee and glossed over the menu. There are all sorts of breakfast items from pancakes to omlettes and hash browns. I chose an order of pancakes and side order of sausage.

After about 10 minutes, my entree arrived. The order of pancakes was huge. I dug right in and was very impressed. The pancakes were quite tasty. My side order of sausage was huge too. There were two breakfast sausages, each the size of a link of bratwurst! Usually breakfast sausages are less than half the size of these! These were quite juicy and tasty. My pancake order was so huge I couldn't finish my pancakes and had to leave about a third of my pancakes uneaten.

My total bill came out to $13 for pancakes, sausages, orange juice, and coffee. While not cheap, you do get what you pay for, no pretty decorations, but just good quality food and a pleasant atmosphere and friendly service.

Millennium Park is in the heart of downtown Chicago. It's a 25 acre park that lies in between Randolph, Jackson, Columbus, and Michigan. It sits directly north of the Art Institute of Chicago.

The park features art exhibits, music festivals, and a nice restaurant. The Jay Pritzker Pavilion is the music soundstage. It was designed by award-winning artist and architect, Frank Gehry. I didn't explore too much of the Pavilion as the staff were busy setting up for a concert.

I went to see the Cloud Gallery at the AT&T Plaza (at the front of the park by Michigan Street) It's a mirrored elliptical structure designed by British artist Anish Kapoor. It resembles a glob of liquid mercury. It's very interesting in that it's basically a 360 degree elliptical mirror, offering unique perspectives of the Chicago skyline.

There is also the Crown Fountain. It's two 50 foot tall towers of glass blocks. The towers are backlit by LED lights to form faces looking from the inside of the towers. That's a very popular attraction.

There are more attractions as well. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to experience all of them. The restaurant at the park is the Park Grill. I was there quite early, so it wasn't open yet, but it looked quite nice inside.

I'd definitely go visit the Millennium Park! It's a very interesting, educational, and inspiring look at the city of Chicago.

Navy Pier sits on the Lake Michigan on the east edge of Chicago. The best way to describe it is something similar to Coney Island or the Atlantic City Boardwalk. It's a collection of restaurants, shops, and boat tours.

Navy Pier is very easy to find, as it sits at the dead end of Grand Avenue. There are plenty of signs pointing towards it. There is also a seasonal bus line that runs from the CTA stations directly to Navy Pier.

Navy Pier is host to good restaurants such as the Billy Goat Tavern, Haagen Daas, Charlie's Ale, Dock Street Cafe, and a food court with McDonald's, Starbucks, and more. There are also kiosks along the edge of the pier with funnel cakes, popcorn, and other yummy festival foods.

The attractions at Navy Pier include a Ferris Wheel modeled after the world's first Ferris Wheel at the Chicago's 1893 World Colombian Exposition. There is also an IMAX Theatre, children's museum, miniature golf, a fun house maze, and other carnival rides. And of course, there are all sorts of local musicians playing various types of music along the water's edge.
There are also shops with various tourist items and curios.

Being a Pier, there are cruises based out of Navy Pier. There's the Seadog power boat cruises of Lake Michigan, sighseeing river cruises and dinner cruises. I took the Shoreline architectural cruise of the Chicago River. (that's in another review!)

The Navy Pier is also a great place to view the Chicago skyline. I'd definitely recommend going to visit the Navy Pier when in Chicago. The Navy Pier is a fun, safe, and entertaining way to spend a few hours.

This is a review of the Shoreline Architectural Cruise that launches out of Chicago's Navy Pier. The Shoreline Sightseeing Cruises has several other places it launches out of.

Shoreline Cruises offers 3 types of boat cruises from Navy Pier. There is a water taxi to Sears Tower for $7. There is a Lake Michigan Chicago skyline tour for $12. I took the hour long architectural tour down the Chicago River for $22. There is also a 90 minute tour combining the architectural and Lake Michigan tour for $28.

I boarded the 11:30 AM architectural tour. It's on an open decked boat with rafters suspended above the deck. We were cautioned not to stick our hands above the rafters as the boat clears the bridges by only a few inches.

Upon boarding, we were given a pamphlet with a brief overview of the buildings we would see. Our tour guide, Kevin, was quite entertaining, as he narrated the tour with emotion and finesse. The boat ride started up the Chicago River and Kevin gave a rather detailed overview of the different buildings, including their history, architectural style, and any oddities the buildings have. A history of the rivers, city, and railroads were also part of the narration.

The boat ride was very smooth. There was only slight buffeting as we reversed course in the river. There is a bar on board where you can purchase alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The boat's rafters really do clear some of Chicago's bridges by a few inches.

I really liked the tour as it gave Chicago meaning for me. Before the tour, I didn't know about most of the buildings, so they had no significance to me. After the tour, I had a new appreciation for Chicago and it's history. I'd definitely recommend this for any new visitors of Chicago!

Sears Tower, the tallest building in the United States! A trip to the Sears Tower Skydeck on the 103rd floor gives unique and awe inspiring views.

The Skydeck entrance is off Jackson Street. After entering, I took the elevator down to the security checkpoint and ticket office. An adult ticket is $11.95. Once I purchased my ticket, I waited for the doors to a theatre to open. A brief History Channel film about the Sears Tower was shown inside the theatre. After that's over, I was directed to the elevators up to the Skydeck!

The elevator ride is quite smooth and very fast. It goes form below ground to the 103rd floor in about 45 seconds! Once on the Skydeck, I was treated to the unique and awe inspiring views from being at the top (almost, 103rd out of 110 stories) the tallest building in America.

If Chicago wasn't the fascinating city with tall buildings and many points of interest that it is, the perspective from the Skydeck would have been wasted. It's also quite interesting to see how much taller the Sears Tower is than other buildings.

Unfortunately it was a cloudy day and I was told visibility was down to 0 to 3 miles out. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the views. Near some of the windows, there are little computers with panoramic views pre-programmed into them telling you what you are looking at.

Once I left the Skydeck, there are a few souvenir shops you have to pass before leaving. I ended up buying a few shot glasses. They weren't cheap, considering I was buying something at the Sears Tower.

I would recommend this to any Chicago visitor or anybody who hasn't been there before.