Day 22: And the humidity sets in...
Trip Start
Jun 01, 2010
1
22
51
Trip End
Jul 29, 2010
Where I stayed
Chicago, Illinois
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Kilometres: 598
As soon as we left the room this morning, it was pretty evident that not only has summer settled in, but the humidity here has as well! We heard on the news it was going to be one of those days that is apparently 30C, but feels closer to 40C with the humidity... guess it's good training for the desert!
During the first leg of driving we avoided the tolls and took some back roads along Lake Erie. It was some pretty nice countryside, especially the small communities along the lakeshore and long bridges to drive across, with the first stop being in Toledo, OH. The GPS had an interesting time going once we hit Toledo – we guessed there had been a bit of development since these maps were downloaded! Needless to say we confused it a little with a few extra turns and a brand new bridge. A friend of mine recommended to check out Tony Packo’s, a famous hot dog joint that was referred to in the M*A*S*H TV series, so we found the Front Street location – and it did not disappoint! Everything was basically covered in their classic chilli and cheese, and the hot dogs were fresh and juicy – plus it was neat to see some TV memorabilia and hot dog buns signed by many famous people. We even managed to pick a small souvenir of their classic pickles & peppers mix (so yum – hopefully it’ll make it back to Vancouver for some of you to try!)
Making our way out of Ohio, the next big leg was a straight drive through Indiana (with only a cold coffee stop... much more of the same really!). Didn’t realise the Indiana border was so close to Illinois (and Chicago), so it wasn’t long after we crossed that we could see signs for the Chicago Skyway (and a couple more tolls we had no clue about) and was brilliant to see the Chicago skyline come into view. We unfortunately hit Chicago right around traffic-time, so it was a bit of a crawl into the city, but we managed okay and thank goodness our motel didn’t require too many turns on the busy streets! We’re staying at the Ohio House Motel, which is a great lil’ throwback motel still thriving amongst the bustly city – it’s right at the heart of downtown, plus it has free parking... a huge bonus!
Since we gained an extra hour back crossing from Eastern to Central time now, we had some time tonight to do something - so we found a jazz club just a couple blocks from the motel! It was Andy’s Jazz Club, and seemed quite like a Chicago institution. Amongst the good drinks and nibbles, it was great to sit back and listen to a fantastic quartet, playing some original and classic latin numbers. Not a bad intro to the city really – time to rest up the feet for some more walking tomorrow!
