Chicago on the Fly!

Michigan Avenue

When we discovered last year that we could overnight in Chicago at no extra cost we booked our Toronto-San Jose flight with a pit stop in the windy city. Wouldn't you know it, the morning of our departure, rain storms ensued and our flight was delayed. We arrived in Chicago shortly after lunch, leaving us with just the remainder of the day to see the highlights. Here, it was the accommodations that made all the difference. We checked in to the Hilton O'Hare Chicago hotel, which is attached to the airport. The blue line train to downtown Chicago is only an escalator ride away from the check in counter. We dropped off our bags and jumped on the train for a half hour's uneventful journey.
From Clinton Station, we made our way walking

 to Michigan Avenue, passing under the infamous "L" train, and then headed north towards Millennium Park. No time to check out the Impressionists; we stopped long enough at the Art Institute of Chicago to admire Kemeys' bronze lions,  and then continued on to Crown Fountain. An interactive and totally cool piece of art, Jaume Plensa's Crown Fountain is actually two 16 metre high LED screens that simultaneously project faces and shoot water. A short walk farther and we were at the world famous Chicago "Bean". It's 110 tons of cool urban art, officially titled "Cloud Gate", but shaped like the world's biggest, shiniest jelly bean. Designed by artist Anish Kapoor, "Cloud Gate" attracts the tourists in droves, all posing for selfies in its giant reflective surface. After a few dozen shots ourselves, we continued on.

The Chicago River

Where Michigan Avenue crosses the Chicago River, "First Lady Cruises" offers fully guided architecture cruises. Here, we had our first bit of bad luck - that morning's rain had raised the water levels just enough that the cruise boats could no longer fit under the city bridges. Undaunted, we carried on to Navy Pier, where a variety of cruises on Lake Michigan can be found. But the cruises are just the tip of the iceberg. Give yourself lots of time to enjoy one of the many restaurants, catch an Imax movie, or do as we did, and get lost in Chicago's Funhouse maze - 4000 square feet of twisting, turning mirrored tunnels.

Next stop dinner - we caught a cab to 600 North Clark (at Ohio) where choices include McDonald's or the Rainforest Café. We grabbed a few cheeseburgers, because we had only a few minutes to wolf down some food before it was time to board the bus for Weird Chicago's Haunted History Tour. Macabre tales included stories of theatre fires, drownings, hotel hauntings, serial killers and of course, Al Capone and the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. A short walk back to a train station and 40 minutes later, back in our hotel room for bed. Best of all? A five minute walk to the airport check-in counter the following morning. A whirl wind tour of Chicago - all for the cost of one night's accommodation! *Travel Tip - Check out Groupon deals for cities you plan to visit - we scored two for one tickets for Weird Chicago's Haunted History Tour.