Most of my flights in the United States have been with American Airlines and note their clear and comprehensive screens.
I was flying Spirit and it was slightly tricky to even find their slightly less decadent screens. But more on this flight shortly…. Oh, the anticipation.
In the latest series of my irrelevant posts….. But, I was slightly puzzled that McDonald’s could supply six Chicken McNuggets but didn’t have enough stock for four. I’m sure there’s a more complex reason for it, but I decided that I was amused by the situation.
As mentioned in my previous post, my five days in Chicago had come to an end and I was returning to O’Hare Airport. The Blue Line is a 43 kilometre long service which is the longest on the network and one of two lines in the city which is open and operating for 24 hours per day.
I only realised at this point of proceedings that I could enter the station using a contactless card, something which proved suitably convenient as I had just tried to buy a paper ticket and that had failed. As an aside, I applaud the posters to offer the suicidal help and contacts, but that and the whole dank arrangement did make everything feel a little miserable.
It’s not easy as first sight to decide whether the wall has an artistic city skyline drawing or just lots of dirty marks.
But it’s dirty, all grimy. Although when a transport authority is operating a 24 hour service, I imagine that makes it more challenging to send cleaning crews in to deal with the issues.
Fortunately, I only had a wait of around three minutes for the train.
Lots of metal screeched to a halt with the sound echoing around the station.
The carriage had something of a 1980s feel to it.
It’s not the most comfortable metro system that I’ve ever been on with its tough plastic seating.
Nor was it the busiest during my trip, although in general this is one of the most used lines on the network.
However, it was cheap and efficient, and I was able to take a blurry photo safely back at the metro station at O’Hare Airport. This airport extension to the blue line was opened in 1984 and the transport authority is promising to make the cars rather more luxurious as they continue their roll-out. Having looked at some of these designs, they’ve removed the wood effect and put some cushioning on the seats, a definite improvement on the way.
Walking to the station to get my train to the airport, I meandered by Trump Tower which it’s fair to say has some very impressive views over the Chicago River. It’s not an unattractive building, it’s 92 floors in height and has 339 hotel rooms as well as many floors of residential properties. I had a look to see how much the residential apartments were, although I’d add that was just out of interest as I’d be horrified to have an address of Trump Tower. They’re not that expensive, a studio apartment is from $300,000, although there’s a $675 monthly home owners fee for the services offered to residents, so I imagine that’s a factor given that local property taxes are a similar sum.
I’ve been impressed at the Chicago L, or their subway system, since I first visited the city. It’s loud, clanky and feels like a hefty piece of engineering because most of it in the centre is elevated. Indeed, that’s where the nickname the Chicago L came through, the L is shorted for Elevated. It’s been clanking its way around the city centre since 1892 and I’m not sure that it looks much different from when they put it up. Saves digging under city streets I suppose as they did in London. Matters have changed somewhat since the initial construction, much of the now greatly expanded network is now under ground or at least at ground level.
Another photo of the L in all its subtlety.
And a metro train clanking its way around, which must have annoyed the residents at first floor level (second floor in the US) when they constructed it.
This was my stop (or start technically I suppose), Washington Station which is on the Blue Line and goes from the Loop all the way to O’Hare airport. It’s a relatively late build for a station, constructed in 1951 and it’s also connected in with the Red Line.
En route back to the airport, I had a little pop into the Smashburger at Michigan Avenue in Chicago. I had intended to look at the menu online in advance, but for reasons known only to Smashburger they’ve blocked it to UK phones. The company were purchased by Jollibee in 2015 and they’re planning a rollout in the UK both for their main brand and also for Smashburger, although they haven’t got very far with either yet.
The menu board, with customers ordering at the counter and then a staff member brings over the order. The chain are meant to be noted for their craft beer, but one look at the generic rubbish they were serving put me off that idea. I was also just slightly annoyed as I headed to the toilet, which was a hike of the like that JD Wetherspoons require in the UK, before I saw there was a code required which they hadn’t listed on the receipt. I then had to trek back to the counter whilst obviously by now being concerned that my food might be ready. I’d hate to think that I was late for food…..
As a positive though, the dining area was clean and well presented, with power points available which was particularly useful as my phone battery had started to get lower than I would ideally like having spent several hours meandering around Chicago.
It took around ten minutes to arrive, so I was back in time. I just had the burger as I thought I’d get a snack at the airport and this was all entirely adequate, but not particularly exceptional. The chicken was more firm than moist, all really quite run of the mill. The highlight of the visit was watching someone drop a cup full of ice all over the floor and they then patiently tried to recover every piece despite the logistical challenges of going under tables to find them. I was impressed at their effort to be complete in their task, as I think I would have left the ones under tables. But, I digress. I wasn’t sure that I could see anything of particular interest in the chain, so I’m content to have ticked it off my list of fast food restaurants without needing to make a return visit.
I really can’t produce a great deal of commentary about plants and trees, but I liked the whole set-up at Lurie Garden in Chicago which is at one end of Millennium Park in the Loop District. This post is nearly entirely just photos, but I was quite taken by the peace and calm in such a busy city environment. There were plenty of places to sit, numerous plants to look at and it feel very much like a public realm where everyone was welcome.
The metal covered building towards the end of these photos is the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry, best known to me for his Brain Health Twisted Building in Las Vegas. This park is one of my favourite places in Chicago and I don’t recall it feeling so open and accessible in my previous visits to the city. It’s not all nature though, there’s a car park with over 1,000 spaces here, which I managed to get lost in. Effectively a large section of this area is just a rooftop garden for that car park, but it’d be hard to tell that from these photos.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m not one for sitting outside, but this well reviewed craft beer and cider bar is primarily outdoor based and I thought that the views were really quite impressive. Located on the Riverwalk and looking out over Chicago River, this felt suitably on-trend as a location and just a little exciting.
My wide angle camera has distorted the shape of my laptop, but this felt a rather comfortable place to work for an hour. The beer was also suitably decadent, the very passable Neighborly Stout from Begyle Brewing who are a local outfit. The downside of all this al fresco drinking is that the beer had to be served in a plastic glass, but it was a creamy and rich stout so it could withstand that drinking vessel.
I was glad when someone came to sit there, as that pigeon kept staring at me and I wasn’t sure if he would launch into an attack. I’m pleased to say that he didn’t. They did serve a basic menu of food including some tempting hot dogs, but as usual I was concerned about some aerial attack from a bird wanting to steal it.
I was also pleased that the city wasn’t living up to its reputation as the Windy City, it was all peaceful and calm in terms of the weather. All really very lovely.
Um, well, I never claimed that this blog was always full of riveting content. Indeed, it rarely ever is. But, after visiting the rather lovely BuckleDown Brewing I needed to come up with a plan for food and I then discovered a discount voucher for pizza. This was at the time of Liz Truss’s budget which wrecked the exchange rate, so a thrifty option seemed most sensible.
I ordered on-line and went to pick up as the Domino’s was located around 100 metres down the road and I don’t like deliveries as I find the whole process quite unnerving. My friend Richard seems to find these interactions positively wholesome, but I hate staring out of the window in case I miss the delivery, so I invariably wait outside and by that point I might as well collect myself. I’m digressing again. Incidentally, he doesn’t mind getting taxis either, another thing I find far too stressful (and indeed expensive).
How lovely!
Very delicious, especially with the generous amount of jalapenos, and I like how Domino’s cut their pizzas into squares. I really do need to get out more to find that exciting, but variety is the spice of life. And beer. It had been quite a productive day and what better way to reward that but with pizza?
Blaze Pizza is one of my favourite chains in the United States, I remember my first visit to their outlet in Pasadena and that’s also where the company started out. It’s all a lot more expensive than I remember what with inflation and the poor exchange rate, but it’s still realistically priced.
There was a bit of a queue, but there were plenty of team members and the operation seemed efficient. The dough is made in the little kitchen area to the right, then on the main ‘production line’ the team members ask customers what toppings they like. It’s effectively a Subway for pizzas. I was behind one of the most complex orders known to man (or woman) which seemed to involve about 62 different toppings all presented in a certain way, but the team members remained cheerful and helpful.
After walking down the counter, then there’s a few minutes waiting for the pizza to be cooked. The anticipation….
And the final result, with banana peppers, jalapenos, sausage, pepperoni and olives. Very delicious and of course piping hot given it had just been handed to me out of the pizza oven. The cost was about £11, which given the exchange rate at the time caused by the bloody mini budget, which I thought was entirely reasonable. They have over 300 locations now across the United States and this wasn’t my final visit to them on this trip. Indeed, writing this up is making me want to return to the United States and I accept that’s a bit excessive just for a pizza.
On the previous day, I had visited Raleigh Beer Garden and I was, it’s fair to say, a little surprised and delighted at the range of beers available. I was impressed that I had visited what was once the bar with the highest number of draft beers available in the world, but thought little more of who the new world record holder was.
This is the answer, their sister venue, the Charlotte Beer Garden. They had a quite ridiculous 450 different beers available on draft, of which there were a substantial number that were notable enough for me to want to try. If I’m being honest, there were over 50 I really wanted to try. Unfortunately, I thought five was the maximum that I could reasonably try and just had to limit myself to those. My maturity knows no bounds sometimes.
The beer list was on Untappd and the service was entirely on point, personable, engaging and suitably welcoming. This is a venue which is being run to world class standards as far as I’m concerned, they’re clearly passionate about beer and service. It was clean as well, although I visited just after lunchtime when it was still quiet.
This is the Push It Real Good sour from Newgrass Brewing Co of Shelby, North Carolina. The flavour is of cherry limeade and I rate this as perhaps the best sour that I’ve had, riven with flavour, a rich mouthfeel, creamy and thick, completely delicious. I’d suggest that it’s hard to make sours much better than this, a true delight and a beer that I had to rate 5/5 on Untappd. Even my friend Nathan would have rated this 5…..
And then this, the Super Duper Nice from Tripping Animals Brewing Co of Doral in Florida, another beautiful sour with strong flavours of peach, orange and strawberry.
The decorative tree in the centre of the bar. The venue is similar in operation to Raleigh Beer Garden, namely one spirits bar, one bar with local beers and another bar with more national beer options. I’d suggest that it must be very hard to ever complete this venue, their selection changes so regularly and there is so much choice that I can imagine how surprised and delighted I’d be on a regular basis if I lived nearer. There were also plenty of power points dotted around the place, including at the bar, as well as wi-fi available throughout.
As may be evident by my enthusiasm, I liked this venue. I had decided to pop to Blaze Pizza so didn’t get food here, but they serve throughout the day although they have picked up a few negative reviews about the quality. As the venue’s name suggests, there’s an extensive outside area in addition to the cavernous interior so there’s plenty of space. This bar should have felt formulaic given the theme that they’ve gone for, and it would be easy to fail to reach the high expectations which I feel they’ve set themselves up with. But, they didn’t fail me and it felt an authentic and genuine place. This is a bar for the many and not the few…..
I’m not sure if I’ll be back in Charlotte any time soon, but if I am, this will be one of the first destinations to visit. Their exterior hides a heap of delights which are available behind these doors.
