Illinois Travel Blogs | Travelogues | Travel Journals

The first time I came to Chicago on a visit I was about 13.  We came with my Grandpa, whose roots are in the area.  All I remember of that trip was our drive down Lake Shore Drive.  I've driven Highway 1 in California several time on my way between Carmel, CA where my brother and sister live and Los Angeles where my parents live.  When I was looking for beaches in San Jose when I was in college, we used to drive over to Sata Cruiz at night to sit on Highway One and listen ...

Because I haven't driven enough already, I decided to head to Chicago for the long weekend. I wanted to squeeze in a few more good friends, family and an Italy roommate I hadn't seen in 6 years. The timing worked out amazingly well and I was able to see and spend at least some time with everyone. I kicked it with Matt and (an unfortunately sick) Angie for a couple days, met up with Lanre for some drinks, spent the day downtown with Risa, grabbed lunch in Sears Tower with Jackie, had dinner wi...

The final leg of my mini tour was Chicago to catch up with some relatives I hadn't seen for a couple of years. What an adventure it was to get there from San Jose. My flight was scheduled to leave San Jose at 6:55am and arrive in Chicago at 1:10pm Chicago time, a flight time of just over 4 hours. So I got up at 5:30am, quick shower and my mate dropped me to the airport, curbside, for about 6am. I go to check my bags because I had already checked in online the night before. I find out my fligh...

We left Chicago at about 6 AM in the morning, blasting Sufjan Steven's "Come on Feel the Illinoise" album. Our first excitement of the day occured about 15 minutes after our departure. Auni missed the cash toll area and was headed into E-Z pass territory. She pulled over and Matt backed up on the shoulder of the expressway in Chicago! It was very scary and a good wake-up! After that incident, our drive was easy if not a bit boring, but we stopped in St. Louis for lunch. We had sushi, which wa...

Saturday, Aug. 5   Clarksville IN to Salem, IL   Our parking spot last night turned out to be a very cool place.  There is a street rod show in Louisville this week-end at the fair grounds so we had a private showing with all the fancy cars in the KOA.  It is hard to believe that the owners drive these cars on the main roads with all of the crazies out there.  We talked with a couple of guys from Quebec that were having the time of their lives driving to different...

Went to Chicago in February because my friend Devon was having Spring Break or something, and her aunt and uncle live right outside the city in Hinsdale. We drove there...eight hours of snow, ice, accidents and a ton of Starbucks coffee. Yum! The first night we were in Chicago, we went to a Monster Truck Show! Sweet times! Seriously. Grave Digger was there for anyone that knows about monster trucks! It was a good time though...amazing tricks, and the people I was with actually know the guy t...

Good times. Yeah. Good times. What a great place. Oh man. What.a.great.place. It's so great here. I just love it. Oh yeah man. How great.

A good friend from the NewBeetle org picked me up from the airport.We've had a lunch at Portillo's (?).I've had a delicious hotdog mmmThis friend was sweet enough to bring me to the hotel in Itasca (Holiday in Express) where my parents were waiting for me.In the early evening my parents and I went to the Woodfield mall (2nd largest in the USA) where I already purchased a cool pair of Skechers shoes!

I'm packed and ready to go!! I cannot wait to leave even if I have to be at the airport at 4am! I feel like I'm counting down the minutes! I'm still nervous for how Chris will react to everything but I've let the excitment win and I'm ready to go!!!

7/16/07 Well the flight wasn’t as bad as we thought.  We did manage to watch the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy on my IPAQ as well as some of the on-board movies including “Blades of Glory” which was good for a laugh.  We were certainly luckier than the poor couple behind us - she was six foot or more and rather large and the guy was at least 6’8” so he must have been miserable.  We tried not to kick our chairs back much. The flight attendant who comped us the drin...

Fishing the Kankakee River from Momence,Illinois down to Wilmington Dam, nice,peaceful, suprising lots' of fish, and if it is a tad toasty out in the ol'summer sun, fishing at the dams, both in Kankakee and Wilmington are refreshing, especially you have not fished here before! Sunday's grow a fishing group,wading, wearing waders or not, even float tubes, hook a line,see what you get?

1. Really enjoyed the one-hour cruise of the historic Chicago River that showcases over 40 landmarks of modern American architecture. 2. The Chicago Lakefront Trail portion of the GIT is a 10-mile paved path along the shore of Lake Michigan. 3. Millenium Park 4. Navy Pier 5. Sears Tower Skydeck 6. Outstanding pizza :)

Some of the buildings in Chicago are amazing as well as the public art. I love Picasso and the sculpture in the loop was incredible. All the kids were sliding down the elephant looking sculpture. My favorite sculpture is the Flamingo on Daley Center. We only drove by. It was the last day and we wanted to go to Burham Park by the planetarium and take the best pictures with the city skyline. Buckingham fountains were absolutely beautiful during the day and even more so at night with the li...

Work has brought me to the frozen north.  Sort of.  I traveled to Lincolnshire, Illinois and while there got to take a look around RTC (Recruit Training Command) Naval Station Great Lakes.  The US Navy's only basic training facility. The base sits on the edge of Lake Michigan in the Waukegan/North Chicago area.  One of the coolest things I saw there was the USS Trayer (BST 21).  Without going too far into it I can tell you that it is a life-size battle ...

Vandaag Six Flags Great Amerika. Alleen het was warm echt warm. En een park met 13 achtbanen is best heftig in een klimaat met een temperatuur boven de 40 graden!!!!    Dus wij snel ontbijten en de auto weer inpakken, omdat we meteen door zouden reizen naar Michigan. Dus best slopende dag zo, eerst pretpark en daarna lang rijden. Het park was anders wel heel gaaf. Het was erg groot en er stonden dus erg veel achtbanen. Bijvoorbeeld ook eentje met zo’n wokkel dat je achteruit, en...