I spent a whole month travelling in the States and Chile. Here’s Day 1 to 6, which took me to New York, Chicago and Fort Worth.

Getting to Chicago

So I set out at 7.30am from home. Check-in and going to the airport was straightforward. The 15-hr flight wasn’t bad either. I had a great seat — 30H. It’s the aisle bulkhead seat. The window seat next to me (the arrangement is 2-4-2) was marked Crew Only. So basically throughout the flight I had both seats to myself. And lots of room to stretch and stand up.

My connection to Chicago was through JFK. Luggage came out slowly, no surprise as US airports aren’t known for their efficiency. But immigration and customs were okay. Had to haul both bags myself via the Skytrain to terminal 3. There were a lot of people and I was glad that my bags had been checked through so I could just give them to the bag drop people.

When I got inside I found out that my flight was cancelled! I got to the Delta desk and they gave me a standby for the next flight at 7pm. The worst thing happened, the 7pm got delayed several times, then finally it was cancelled too. So I got a standby for the flight at 7am tomorrow morning. I paid $25 to use the Delta lounge and to have a shower. The only thing the airline gave us were blankets, some water and some biscuits. Apparently it wasn’t the airline, the whole East Coast was affected by bad weather and 15% of all flights were cancelled.

The prospect of sleeping overnight at JFK isn’t nice. I’m lucky that I’m not in a great hurry, am comfortable enough deal with it. I’m treating it like an Amazing Race adventure, so I’m keeping cheerful.

Slept for a bit on and off. Was up at 5-ish, dozing near the gate. The board showed that the plane was already at the gate, so none of the delayed because plane was late coming in. But it still got delayed again and again because they were missing a crew member. Which is completely ridiculous. It’s not a flight deck officer but one of the stewardesses. Did I say ridiculous?

The time got changed from 7am to 7.30, then 7.55, 8.30. 9.30. Eventually it was ready and people who had tickets got on. There were only 3-4 standby tickets and I didn’t get on. Imagine 2 planeful of people yesterday all needing to get to Chicago.

I ran to the other side of the terminal cos I had a standby ticket for the 10.02am. But that came and went without me. I think I wasn’t high enough on the waiting list.

The next flights were at 12.30, 4.30 and 7pm. I got standby tickets for all of them, plus the 2 flights tomorrow morning. Seems that all flights are full and the prospect of getting on them aren’t terribly good. The best I could hope for was tomorrow. I did not want to spend another night at JFK. I’d been updating my host family in Chicago sporadically. Then Car suggested I may as well drive to Chicago. It’s a long drive (13 hours) but at this rate I’d be stuck in JFK all weekend and if I drove slowly I’d be getting somewhere.

That’s what I did. Got a one way rental to Chicago and set out at about 1.30pm. It’d been a while since I’d driven a) such long distances; b) in the US; c) left hand drive. The traffic getting out of NY was horrendous, but I was glad I was in a city I’d lived in before. I knew the van Wyck, the LIE, even New Jersey. Plus I had the best car invention ever — the GPS.

The route took me on the I-95 to White Plains, then New Jersey, Pennsylvania. I waited till I was in Pennsylvania to stop for dinner at around 8pm — chicken nuggets at Wendy’s. I wanted to get as far as I could while there was light.

Just before midnight I made Ohio. Slow going on the I-80, but I felt fine. I stopped every 1.5 hours to rest for at least 20 minutes. Sometimes I’d nap. Made it through Ohio in 4 hrs, and onto Indiana. The roads were fairly empty, mostly trucks. I’d describe the drive as tough but manageable. I had a good car (Kia Optima) which handled well and didn’t eat up too much fuel.

Had breakfast at one of the service stations along the way. Croissanwich from Burger King and a latte from starbucks. The toll for the Ohio stretch was $9.25, which was money well spent. The road quality was good. After Ohio came Indiana, and by then it started to get light. The fields at the side of the road were misty and the sunrise made the sky look nice. Didn’t want to stop to take pictures though, wanted to get in as soon as possible.

The first time I saw Chicago on a sign I did a whoop. Then I watched as the distance got smaller and smaller. It was a great relief when the distance got to double digits.

But no, the adventure wasn’t over. Traffic went from smooth to a dead stop. And then all cars were kicked off at exit 31 — apparently there was an accident up ahead. The very nice attendant at the toll payment station told me that I could follow the trucks to get onto the I-94. I called the house and they said yes, then get to the I-294. I was lucky to have the GPS.

I can’t remember when I arrived. May be about 9-ish? Distance travelled = 843 miles. Time = 16, 17 hours? I can’t believe I did that. Drove from NY to Chicago overnight.

Onto Fort Worth

We set out on our roadtrip proper at about 2pm. Hectic, but I’m glad we stuck to our original schedule. We made it through Illinois quickly, then to Oklahoma. I drove a little but got too tired and Car had to take over.

We got hit by thunderstorms so we were still delayed. As midnight struck we were still on the road, making slow but safe progress. We made lots of brief stops and at one point we slept for 1.5 hours at a rest area. It was great to see the “Welcome to Texas” sign. By then it was light and the miles seemed to just fly past. Texas did seem to be bigger in every way although it could be my imagination. Before I forget, here’s our rental car.

We got to Fort Worth mid morning. First stop was at Texas Christian University (TCU) where Car went to college. Wow. Big, beautiful campus. And everything in purple!

We hadn’t booked a hotel before arriving, because Fort Worth isn’t a huge tourist town we thought it’d be easy to get a hotel. After some online help we checked into the Holiday Inn Express near Bryant Irvin. Nice room, nothing fancy but functional and comfortable.

Had a late lunch at Waco, about 1.5 hour from Fort Worth. Car, db and I arranged to meet our friend JSI from Austin and Waco was halfway between the two cities. Nice lunch and it was great to meet friends in person. We chatted long and talked about everything and anything. I had chicken fried steak (no chicken in sight!) topped with gravy (which is more like a white sauce), mashed potato and green beans. I also took a picture of some fried chicken strips.

The drive back to Fort Worth was uneventful. We were early, so we stopped by a Target for a little while. The plan for dinner was another family affair. db’s brother invited us to his house where he grilled steaks and courgettes. For starters he fried sliced plantains topped with provolone cheese. Dessert was pie that db made. All very yummy.

Unfortunately I was very tired from all the travelling I’d done since Thursday. I was fading, falling asleep while sitting. A walk around the area helped, but soon I was asleep again.

We went back to the hotel soon after dinner. After a quick shower I climbed into bed — the first time sleeping in a bed since Wednesday night! Fell asleep straightaway.

Fort Worth

After over 9 hours’ sleep I felt almost human, although my first words were, “I can sleep for another 8 hours.” Hee hee. Breakfast was included and served in the lobby — simple stuff like bagels, omelette, yogurt, juice and the like. Sometimes you don’t need anything fancy.

We spent the morning exploring TCU extensively. It really was a very pretty campus, with impressive buildings and pleasant atmosphere. Top of the list for visiting was the bookstore. It was actually just a portakabin, since the old one had burned down while being renovated. Bought a couple of shirts, in purple no less — the university’s colours. Everything was in purple, from logos to street signs to courtesy bikes.

There was a lot of construction on the site, they were building new dorms and offices — showed how well the school was doing. Car was an enthusiastic and knowledgeable tour guide. db had invited her 7 year old niece to join us and together we all had a great time.

Lunch was at Mama’s Pizza which according to Car was the reason for the entire trip. I must admit the cheese sticks were particularly scrumptious. When I first heard of cheese sticks I thought they were thin crispy ones we normally have at Italian restaurants. Oh but no. Mama’s cheese sticks were a small pizza base, flavoured with garlic and topped with melted cheese. Yes, delicious.

Our original plan was to visit the Amon Carter museum but gasp it was closed. So plan B was a visit to the Stockyards. There was a lot to see! Cowboys, shops, museums and we managed to catch a cattle drive. Okay, it was kinda boring — the steers looked like they had just woken up and were lumbering along the road slowly.

There were more to see but a thunderstorm was approaching so we decided to head back to our hotel. For dinner we met db’s brother’s family at Babe’s for southern fried chicken. Yes, that was a huge mountain of chicken. It came with mashed potato, corn, green beans, biscuits (like scone) and gravy.

We took a short walk along the small town high street and enjoyed the sunset. I was less tired, but still a little. Heading towards DC tomorrow. Oh look, pretty sunset.

We had a leisurely start; breakfast at the Old South Pancake place — very old fashioned, with wooden panelled walls, formica tables and elderly waitresses. I had a stack of 12 “dollar” pancakes and ham. Good stuff, if very much choleseterol laden.

After breakfast we went back to TCU for a last look, and more picture taking. Then it was off on the road. The drive to Washington DC, according to mapquest, was 20 hours; it would most likely take over 24 hours, with stops.

On the way, we stopped at Longview where Car met with an old college friend. Late lunch was at a Bodacious Grill where they served authentic Texas grill. I had chopped beef in a sandwich. Chopped meant they chopped the meat off a huge chunk of grilled brisket and stuck the pile of meat between some bread. It was very delicious — another part of our “eat our way across Texas” tour.

The only other highlight of the day was this picture of an oil derrick. These were quite commonly seen at the side of the road, drilling for oil. I thought it was a hoot.

This is a combination of my 2006 and 2007 trips to Chicago.

Touristy stuff downtown

Chicago is a smaller city than NY, the central district (everything inside the Loop) is walkable. Even outside the Loop, like up on Michigan and Navy Pier, it’s walkable.

I travelled a lot on public transport in Chicago — Metra and CTA. But like a good tourist I also took the hop-on, hop-off trolleybus, which is okay value at $25 for a day.

The bus does a loop, from the Tribune building up Michigan Avenue, the central district, theatre district, museum campus and back up the lakeshore towards Navy Pier.

One of the most important landmarks is Sears Tower. There was a short video show about the history and its statistics, which was surprisingly informative. It was a hazy day so once we got up to the observation deck we could only see a part of the view. I can see how the skyline could look on a good day. I like Chicago’s architecture, it’s really beautiful, more than New York. I took this photo at a crossroad, looking straight up. I like it, it’s got an interesting perspective.

Everywhere is walkable. The skyline was impressive. I like the buildings in Chicago more than the ones in New York. There is a uniformity, yet artistry to them. New York skyscrapers all scream out or attention; the ones in Chicago are just there, laid back allowing people to enjoy. Even the sculptures are cool.

From Sears Tower we walked to Millenium Park. It’s really pretty. The big attraction are the unusual sculptures. The reflective bean was interesting, but I also had fun at the Crown Fountain where people could walk on the shallow pool between the two screens. Another fun thing about Millenium Park is the security guards moved around on segways. How sophisticated.

In the same area as Millenium Park are the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Art Institute. I browsed around at the CSO shop. Heh, didn’t realise Daniel Barenboim is a big shot there. I’m old enough, and like classical music enough, to remember Jacqueline du Pré’s death. Now I realise why the street outside the CSO is named after Sir Georg Solti. So when Barenboim leaves they’ll name another city landmark after him I expect.

Across the road from the CSO shop is the Art Institute. For $12 I got easily one of the most extensive collections of impressionists I’ve seen … though it doesn’t say much I’m not a regular museum-goer. I happily wandered around, it’s a cool museum.

Touristy stuff on the lake

The architectural cruise along the river and the lake was very impressive. The commentary was just right, information yet not intrusive. Lots of information about the buildings along the river, the skyline and the lake.

I visited Navy Pier both times. Can’t say I’m overly impressed — it’s nice enough to spend a couple of hours, with good restaurants, a killer view of the shore and lake, and some amusements. Not sorry I visited.

Federal Reserve

Visited the Federal Reserve of Chicago. There was a presentation on what they did (control the money supply etc) and we had time to walk around the exhibits. There was a big cube filled with $1m worth of $1 notes. A smaller dome of the same amount but in $20(?) and a briefcase of $100 notes. We were also given bundles of shredded money, a small roll turned out to be worth thousands of dollars.

Food

Since I stayed with Car on my visits, it’s always delicious home-cooked meals. But even going out to eat was great. Had lunch at a deli called Potbelly. Now I don’t know if it was our English or that of the servers but it was really difficult to order. We basically wanted salads. So we walked up to the counter and ordered 3 salads. Shuffled forward to the middle section of the counter and they asked us for our order again. It was confusing. We think they asked us what we wanted on our food, ie what toppings / dressings, but it wasn’t clear. We ended up with 2 salads (correct) but mine got switched to a sandwich. Sigh. It was a good sandwich anyway. We also had milkshakes and they were very good.

Another highlight was lunch at Bubba Gump at Navy Pier. Shrimps and margaritas, what else do we need?

Our usual hanging out place is Miller’s Pub, an Irish pub that serves good food and lots of types of beer. I was lucky enough to be in Chicago for St Patrick’s Day and the atmosphere was definitely very Irish. Another memorable meal was the steak and king crab we had at Lone Star — a Texas steakhouse in the suburbs.

Shops

I walked outside the famous Marshall Fields but no time to go inside. Apparently people in Chicago are outraged that Macy’s bought it and renamed. They feel that they’ve lost a big name. I sympathetise, it’s like bhs buying Selfridge’s and renaming it I suppose.

The main shopping strip is Michigan Ave, otherwise known as the Magnificent Mile. There were designer shops and department stores but honestly, once you’ve seen dozens of Tiffany’s or Burberrys you’ve seen them all. I had to go there of course, because of the Apple Store. Oh, and the bookstores! Sigh.

Wicked

One of the highlights of any Chicago visit is to see Wicked. I was also privileged enough to get a short backstage tour. Oh wow, it was a wonderful show! Simply fantastic. Better than Phantom. Better than Les Miserables. I want to see it in NY, in London.

How does Chicago compare with other US cities? Definitely very pleasant to live and move about it. Residents complain about the CTA, but it’s no worse than any other large metropolitan train system. House prices are relatively cheap. Weather can get extreme yes. At the end of the day, I’ll probably choose San Francisco because of the weather, the ocean and the cultural diverseness; but Chicago is not far behind. Heh, I speak like I’m an expert, but I’ve only really visited a few cities, so it’s not a fair comparison.