Day 7-8: July 4-5, 2007--Chicago, Illinois

Happy 4th of July! The windy city or Chi Town as Chicago is sometimes called, knows how to celebrate the 4th. But before we get to chicago we headed first to Wisconsin and another state. Are you keeping track? That's Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin--6 new states!

We drove north towards Wisconsin driving through small Illinois towns along a two lane country road. Getting off the freeways is a good idea if you have the time since it gives you a chance to see the world at a more liesurely pace. You have to slow down when you enter a town because you are driving down main street U.S.A. And we certainly did when we entered the city limits of little Dixon, Illinois. Dixon is the hometown of President Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan grew up here, was a lifeguard at the local lake and returned here from time to time even in later years.

We crossed the border into Wisconsin at Beloit, Wisconsin along the border with Illinois. We traveled along the southern most border and arrived at Lake Geneva a resort town perched along a beautiful lake. We had a very forgettable lunch at a place called Scuttlebutts. Very disappointing. Walked around town and then headed out again. We visited a roadside shop selling fruit, veggies and Wisconsin cheese. Remember all you cheeseheads, Wisconsin is cheese country.

On we went until we ran into Lake Michigan. Well, we didn't actually run into it, but we couldn't drive any further east when we got to Kenosha, Wisconsin, a pretty sad little city that seemed really down on its luck. Not much to see there so we headed south towards our next goal--Chicago.

We pulled into town just in time to go see the fireworks over Lake Michigan from the Navy Pier. We walked over from our hotel. The problem was that the closer we got, the more crowded it got. Now, if you know me, you know I hate crowds. They just make me jittery and nervous. Well, this was a crowd like I had never seen before. Even my wife had had enough when a guy sat down so close to her that he was practically in her lap. We got up and headed out. We decided to go to dinner instead. We headed for Lou Malnati's which we had heard made the best Chicago-style pizza in the city. We ordered the basic pie that we had heard was what to order. It took 30 minutes for it to arrive and when it did I have to say, I wasn't that impressed. Chicago-style pizza is famed for the thick crust almost lke a pie crust it is so flaky and for how the pie is put together. First, they put on the cheese, then a layer of sausage and the tomato sauce goes on the top. Anyway, I didn't care for it that much. Give me a New York style, anytime! We walked back to our hotel late that night having seen nothing of the fireworks.

The next day we rose early to go on an all day excursion of Chicago. We started out heading down Michigan Avenue also know as the Miracle Mile because of all the great highend shops that line the street. Our next stop was the Art Institute of Chicago, a fantastic art museum in Grant Park. Some of the most famous paintings in the world can be seen there. We saw American Gothic and a self portrait of Van Gogh along with other paintings by Renoir, Matisse, Monet, Hopper and on and on. Wonderful museum! We had lunch in the cloisster of the museum, a lovely outdoor setting.

Our next stop was at the theaters where Broadway shows are performed in Chicago. Like New York, Chicago has a theater district. We got tickets to see two shows in one day. At the appointed time we walked over and saw a wonderful peformance of Wicked. The music is largely forgettable but the message the special effects, and the performances by the two female leads, was absolutely stunning! That evening we went to see The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Funny, clever and poignant! At one point in the show one of the characters comes out tossing candy and snacks into the audience. We caught a bag of Doritos! We walked back down Michigan Avenue to our hotel after a long, exhausting and amazing day of fun in Chicago! We slept 10 hours that night and after finally getting up we headed for our next destination--Michigan City, Indiana.