April 7 - 10: Road Trip! Denver, Moab, Ogden and Whitefish (Heidi)

First of all can I apologise for this being so far behind... It was James' turn to write the next post, seeing as we've been going turn about, but he's been far too busy with trains for that... Hardly surprising, is it? ;-)

Thursday April 7

Despite grand intentions of getting an early start, we slept in again. We ate breakfast at the Four Seasons again, this time both of us opted for pancakes. James had the bourbon pancakes and I had the ricotta, ginger and lemon. They were actually a little disappointing. From the description I thought the ricotta was going to be in the pancakes, but instead there was just some spread on top and a little pitcher of lemon and ginger flavoured syrup. It tasted far better in my head.

Once we had packed we had the valet bring our car around and, once we'd jammed all our crap back in and set the GPS, we were on our way. Not far though. There was a train shop James wanted to go to before we left town and he promised he would be as quick as he could. After 75 minutes sitting in the carpark in a hot car (the weather was quite warm in Denver that day) I was over it and he's lucky he didn't take any longer or he would have been walking to Utah. We finally were on our way a bit after midday.

Lucky for him I soon got over my grumpiness thanks to the beautiful scenery. We went over the Rockies again and there was plenty to 'ooh' and 'aah' about. At lunch we committed a terrible sin and stopped at a Mc Donalds. I won't do that again soon - the buns on their burgers here are very sweet and I really didn't like my chicken burger thanks to that. At least the fries were edible. Our goal that day was to make it to Moab in Utah. Thanks to our late start we were unsure if we would make it so decided to play it by ear and were tossing up staying the night in Grand Junction, but made it there earlier than we thought so decided to eat dinner there and then push on. Dinner was at The Ale House and we were so glad we stopped. The food was great and James was rather fond of their beer too - he tried the Lucky U Pale Ale and even bought the shirt. The food was overwhelming though and neither of us was able to finish our meal. I think James is starting to feel less of a man for his inability to finish an American-size full rack of ribs. They are huge!

We arrived in Moab about 8pm and checked into the Super 8 - daggy and a little musty, but very cheap and perfectly acceptable when you just need a bed. Hard to take after the Four Seasons though! I think we fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

Friday April 8

We finally managed to get ourselves up and away at a decent hour! The good thing about the 'cheap and cheerful' motels such as the Super 8 is the free breakfast. Once we'd had something to eat, packing was fairly quick and easy as we'd not really had time to make too much of a mess and very soon we were on our way. First stop for the day was Dead Horse Point State Park. Sounds nice, huh? Wondering how it got its name? Well, apparently back in the wild west days, a bunch of cowboys used to use a corral at Dead Horse Point that only had a very narrow entry/exit to store horses they had caught. They fenced it off so they couldn't escape. Supposedly, one day they left the gate open so a group of horses they didn't want could get out while they were away. However, for some reason the horses didn't get out and they all died of thirst, even though the Colorado River was so close by.

The landscape in the area is quite amazing - huge mountains where plates of rock have been shaped by the force of wind and water of the centuries. We made our way to the visitor's centre first to find out a little about the park and were blown away, almost literally, at how windy it was. Little did we know, we hadn't seen anything yet. Dead Horse Point lookout was about another 10 minutes up the road so we drove up to check out the view. It's quite an amazing site - the Colorado River winds its way around the bottom of a deep canyon - but it's not easy to see when you have a face full of dirt and your own hair as the bone-chilling wind whips at you and threatens to blow you over backwards. It really wasn't that cold a day, but the chill factor in the wind was just nasty. We braved it for as long as we could before retreating to the car where it took me a good five minutes to get all the knots out of my hair.

Next stop was Arches National Park. Utah is famous for the natural arches in this park and apparently there's over 2000 of them. We didn't see nearly that many as we were pressed for time, but we did go and see Delicate Arch - probably the most famous - as well as a couple of others along the way. Once again we were nearly blown away by the wind. I guess I should have expected it seeing as it would take some pretty extreme forces to create the things we saw, but I obviously hadn't really thought about it. I would love to go back to Arches again and spend more time exploring the amazing landscapes.

We ducked back in to Moab for a quick lunch at Denny's (cheap, but better than Maccas!) before we hit the road to Ogden. Ogden is just outside of Salt Lake City and I was doing my first lot of highway driving for this trip. Probably not the best leg to have started on... Utah drivers are terrible and got progressively worse as we neared Salt Lake. Everyone was speeding and weaving through the traffic - and I suppose it was even worse being the tail end of peak-hour on a Friday night.

We consulted with Jill and decided to stay at the Days Inn in Ogden - probably a little bit nicer than Super 8 but owned by the same company so kind of similar. The Days Inn boasts the largest indoor pool in Utah and it was fall of kids splashing around, having a marvelous time. Our room looked over the pool so we were grateful it closed at 10pm.

For dinner we decided to try Roosters Brewing Company and Restaurant in downtown Ogden. It's obviously a very popular place and we had to wait a few minutes before a table came available. James sampled their very cheekily named beer - Polygamy Pale Ale - and bought the shirt which proclaims 'I tried Polygamy in Utah' on the front... I decided to pass on the ladies version which had the choice of 'First Wife' or 'Sister Wife' on the front. I can't wait to see peoples' reactions when James wears his back home... The food was sensational and we had a great time.

Saturday April 9

Before we could leave Ogden we had to make two stops - first for coffee, and then Union Station so James could do some train-stalking... I mean railfanning. Once he'd satisfied himself he had photographed every train and container possible, we hit the highway again and were soon on our way towards Missoula, in Montana. Once again, Utah drivers on the way out of Ogden were all nuts, but thankfully we soon left that all behind and were out on the open road again. It was a fairly uneventful day other than a few trains to photograph and we arrived in Missoula late afternoon. We had dirty laundry coming out our ears so our accommodation that night was to be decided on whether or not they had a laundry. After a few stops we decided on the Holiday Inn Express and it was definitely a step up from the Super 8 or Days Inn. The girl at the check-in desk was most curious as to why we were in Missoula and very nicely gave us a lovely room overlooking the river. Besides the laundry, one of the biggest plusses was the lift which meant we didn't have to attempt to cart our bags up a couple of flights of stairs like we had at other places. That was nice!

For dinner we grabbed a table at the Iron Horse Brew Pub in town. James tried some local brews and I was stuck with a root beer as I'd left my ID at the hotel. Nice root beer, but they had a fabulous cocktail list that I wished I could have taken advantage of.

Sunday April 10

We were up earlyish to take advantage of the motel's hot breakfast (also a step up from the continental breakfast at other places) and coin laundry but didn't have far to drive that day and didn't have to check out until midday (nice!) so took advantage of the extra time to reorganise our bags and sort a few things out.

Once again there was trains to chase at Union Station Missoula before we could go anywhere, but we were soon on the road again.

Once again the drive was pretty, but fairly uneventful. The 93 skirted us around the edge of Flathead Lake which was just stunning. I can imagine it's particularly popular with families in the summer!

Originally we had planned on heading straight to Essex from Missoula, but the hotel we were to stay at had no mobile reception and no in-room phones and I was expecting a call that night so we had to do a reshuffle. Whitefish is about an hour outside of Glacier National Park and a very cute and relaxed little town. We arrived mid afternoon and checked in at the Big Mountain Lodge, which used to be a Holiday Inn Express. Big Mountain Lodge boasts the biggest indoors waterslide - I was most disappointed that I didn't get to use it or the hot tubs out the back. Ah well... Once we'd unpacked and figured a few things out we went for a drive to see what trains we could see. We found a nice little loop that ran either side of the tracks and found a couple of trains just waiting around wanting to be photographed.

Once they had been shot from every angle we went back to the motel for a quick shower and change before grabbing dinner at a lovely little restaurant in town - Tupelo. Unfortunately they only had wine, no cocktails, but it was a lovely meal. Our waitress was most amused when she brought our meals out and had to ask James to stop trying to make out with my hand so she could put his meal on the table. Quite funny, but you had to be there. After dinner we wandered across the street to 'the tallest building in Whitefish' - it's a whole three floors!! - the Draught House, which is Great Northern Brewing Company's brew pub. We sampled a few beers and I was particularly taken by their Wild Huckleberry beer - beautiful! James took a liking to both it and the Big Sky IPA. It was a very quite night in town and we were pretty tired so we soon called it a night.

April 5 - 6 Anniversary and birthday in Denver (Heidi)

Tuesday April 5

When we did the online check-in the night before our flight to Denver, the only seats we could have had side-by-side were the very back row and I was less than excited at the prospect. So, we decided to select seats that weren't together and then ask the next day if something could be done, in the hope that it might mean an upgrade. If we were simply given the back row seats then so be it. But this time, I got my wish! We arrived at O'Hare and proceeded to the bag drop where I told the lady that when we had done the check-in there wasn't any seats together and that, seeing as it was our wedding anniversary, we really wanted to sit together, could she help? She went away and came back and handed us our tickets to seats 13A and 13B - American Airlines' Economy Plus class. All it really meant was some extra leg room but we were very happy.

There was a little turbulence along the way but otherwise it was a pretty smooth flight and a good landing. Soon we were inside Denver International where we had to catch a little train to get to the other terminal so we could collect our luggage. It reminded me of Narita in Japan. We grabbed our bags and then went and jumped on the Avis bus to go collect our hire car.

The guy at Avis tried to upsell us to an SUV, but after much debate between the two of us we decided to stick to the original plan and go with our Ford Fusion - so far we've been very happy with that decision. The Fusion's fuel economy is nearly as good as the Mini! Not quite, but close and when you've got thousands of miles to drive, the economy is important.

While in New York we decided to buy a GPS rather than renting one. We bought a Garmin which is the same brand that we rented last time and we were very happy to discover that this one has the same voice - Jill. So once we had piled all our junk into the car, we set Jill and told her to take us to the Four Seasons in Denver. It was our anniversary after all!

Arriving at the Four Seasons was almost like being in a different world. The kind of hotels we stay in normally are the kind where you park your car outside your room and cart all your own crap in. No such thing at the Four Seasons. There was immediately 2 valet parking assistants there to open the doors of the car for us. They then unloaded everything and put it into a trolley for us. We got our ticket for the car, handed them the keys and were told to just go inside, they would bring our luggage to the room. We checked in and were told that they had given us an upgrade (score!) and were soon on our way to the 13th floor - third from the top! The room was amazing. A bathroom the size of our bedroom in Paris greeted us on the left complete with a TV screen in the mirror, a shower, a bath (I'm used to showers in baths!) and two basins. The room was enormous and best of all was the massive king bed with the most comfortable pillows I have ever slept on. I'm still kicking myself for not checking what brand they were. And we had a pretty nice view out to the mountains too.

Despite the lush surroundings, we decided to venture out and check out the 16th Street Mall and the State Capitol Building before we doubled back down the mall to go check out Millennium Park and then cross the river to have a look at a local adventure store, REI, where there was an information centre about the Rocky Mountain National Park. Unfortunately the info stand had already closed for the day but we poked around and got some brochures which proved very helpful the next day.

Once we were done at REI we made our way back into town and stopped at the historic Tattered Cover bookstore before getting dinner at the nearby Wynkoop Brewery which is just near Union Station. The brewery was established by the former mayor of the same name and had some very interesting beers, including a stout made from milk - really good! They also had a restaurant so we ate there - ribs of course! Afterwards James wanted to look at their merchandise and struck up a conversation with some of the staff. They must have liked him as he was given some tokens for free beers! On our way back to the hotel I stopped at 7 Eleven to buy some water for the next day while James went to make a dinner reservation. Soon we were back at the hotel enjoying a soak in the tub.

Wednesday April 6

We had grand intentions of an early start but they went out the window. My family called at 5am to wish me a happy birthday and then I went back to sleep and didn't wake til closer to 8. I'm allowed a sleep-in on my birthday though, right? We made our way down to the hotel's restaurant for breakfast - James had french toast with huckleberry sauce and I had waffles with strawberries. Both very nice. Once again I was amazed at the level of service - our waiter joked that I was doing him out of his job because I poured my own cup of coffee! So this is how the other half live, huh? James even liked the latte they made for him enough that we didn't have to go out in search of another coffee place to get his fix - hallelujah!

We had preplanned our trip with Jill so once we had the valet bring our car around, we hit the road towards Golden to take the 'scenic' route into Rocky Mountain National Park. It was well worth it. Although it was an overcast and foggy day, the scenery was absolutely beautiful. We stopped for lunch at Backcountry Pizza in the ski town of Nederland where James continued the theme of the trip and tried a Steel Head IPA beer. Soon after we hit the road again we found ourselves driving in very light snow! It melted as soon as it touched anything, but it was quite magical and the first time James had seen falling snow which made it pretty exciting. We arrived at the information centre at Beaver Meadows about 2pm and, just as we were about to go inside, we were stopped by a journalist from AP who asked us if we were aware that the potential government shutdown thanks to their inability to agree on a budget would mean that we wouldn't be able to access national parks as they would be shut down. Um... No... He then interviewed us about how a shutdown would affect us if it went ahead. I haven't seen if the footage was used anywhere yet, but I'll definitely be having a look through our AP resources when I get back to work. Thankfully the shutdown did not happen - it went right down to the wire, but they eventually came to an agreement on the Friday night, saving us a lot of bother.

We chatted to the staff inside the information centre who suggested a route for us to take and soon we were on our way. Just before the park entry gate we came across a whole herd of elk grazing on the roadside - our first encounter with the wildlife. I was very excited. We paid our entry fee and made our way up through the mountains to our first stop - Bear Lake. I really had no idea what to expect in the snow but wow - it was fantastic! We had to clamber over a snow drift and then make our way a short way through some trees to get to Bear Lake. The view was nice, but the most exciting part was just walking in snow! James got a little bit too excited and stacked it after stepping on some ice, but it was quite funny and didn't slow us down. We had a great time just jumping around in the snow and I now know why it's referred to as powder. Once we were done goofing around we jumped back in the car and headed to our next stop - Spague Lake. It was pretty but the snow wasn't as fresh and fun as it had been at Bear Lake. Next stop was the Alluvial Fan which is a rock formation created by the force of water coming down the mountain when a dam burst in the 80s. Several people were killed in the incident. The rocks were carried down the mountain and dispersed at this spot, apparently in the shape of a fan. Personally I couldn't see it, but I wondered if maybe it would be more obvious from above as it's quite a large area. Unfortunately we were fast running out of time so we had to hit the road and head back to Denver once we were done at the fan. Instead of the scenic route, we took the highway which was considerably faster, but also considerably less scenic.

After a quick wardrobe change we made it to the Vesta Dipping Grill just in time for our 730pm reservation. At Vesta you choose your meat and then you can either go with their recommended side sauces to dip your meat in, or choose your own from their comprehensive list. James sampled some more local beer - Great Divide Denver Pale Ale. Our meals were lovely and the standout sauces of the evening were the sweet corn and the BBQ. We decided to order a dessert and share it and went with an apple dish. It was a little odd - basically it was a whole apple, peeled and cored, which was then rolled in a toffee and crumbly coating. It was served sliced up with a couple of dipping sauces and some ice cream. It was nice, but not quite what either of us had imagined. And most of all, not what James had imagined. Unknown to me, when James made our reservation the night before, he had organised for me to get a special birthday dessert. Apparently the person who took our booking forgot to pass that message on though, so it never eventuated. It's the thought that counted though! We went and grabbed a free beer at Wynkoop Brewery before making our way back to the hotel and having another soak in the tub. All-in-all, a fantastic birthday!

March 30 to April 5 - New York and Chicago (James)

Wednesday 30 March

Our trans-Atlantic flight was pretty good and we were soon at JFK, which must have had a facelift in recent years. It had a much more modern appearance than my earlier visits, when I remember thinking the decor must have been pretty good when it was installed in 1973. We made arrangements for our shuttle to our hotel - the Club Quarters Downtown and we were soon on our way... but that is where the speed ended. Shuttles can be a hit or miss affair at the best of times and our total trip time was about 2 hours. No late afternoon adventures this time, as it was after 7pm by the time we were at the hotel. Traffic was pretty busy, we were the last group on the shuttle to be dropped (they even picked one up on the way!) and our driver was insane enough to handle NYC traffic. I had the pleasure of sitting up front with him this time, which was rather amusing.

Our hotel was nice. We booked it through Hotwire, which is a website where you specify the neighbourhood, the quality (stars) and the price range but you don't find out the name of the hotel until after you have booked your room. You can normally get the rooms far cheaper but they don't advertise the hotel name as the hotels don't like you knowing how much cheaper you could get it. Ours was about a 4 star and we got it for about $110/night - cheap for NYC!

Club Quarters was right down the end of Manhattan, only a block up from Wall Street and the subway stop. The location was great for us, as most of the attractions we wanted to see this time were in that area. As it was a business area, it was nice and quiet after dark (no honking taxis all night), there were plenty of restaurants and bars, our room was spacious and clean.

We rugged up and ventured out for dinner and a quick jaunt to check out the Statue of Liberty at dark. It was not quick enough, boy was it cold! We hurried back to a nice little Japanese restaurant the hotel recommended. Heidi quickly ordered some goyza for a starter. She enjoyed her pork with ginger mains and my pork katsudon was very tender and one of the best I've had.

Thursday 31 March

The day began with a quick breakfast at a diner just down the road, catering for the hurried Wall St types. Heidi reacquainted herself with cream cheese bagels and I had a bacon and egg sandwich. It was a rather miserable day and we were pretty much frozen by the time we got to Battery Park and looking out at Lady Liberty. We didn't really want to stand in the drizzle and line up for the Liberty cruise, so we decided to take a couple of photos and move on. Just as well, as we realised that I had left the battery and memory card for the camera back in the hotel. At least our hotel wasn't as far away as when I did the same thing in Hiroshima last year.

After their recovery, we went down to Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange , St Paul's church (one of the churches used as a refuge during the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings), Ground Zero and the associated rebuilding works, the Sep 11 Memorial Center.

After a quick shopping expedition into JR Electronics, we then trekked it across the Brooklyn Bridge and down to the Brooklyn Bridge Park. Due to the weather, the bridge and the park were all pretty quiet and we were rather amused by the dog we saw in the park that was wearing booties to help protect it from the cold ground. We braved the cold for as long as possible and found a nice little pizzeria in the nearby "Dumbo" development for lunch. I had a slice of their Buffalo Chicken pizza which was absolutely amazing - the blue cheese sauce topping was so yummy!

Before we got to New York I had considered taking Heidi to Yankee Stadium today for their Opening Day - the first game of the baseball season for the Yankees. The prices were a bit steep and our time in NYC was fairly limited, so we decided to give it a miss this time. Our decision was justified with the weather of the day, which included a forecast of snow. Fortunately the pizzeria included a big screen teevee showing the game, so I was able to catch a couple of innings of the game during lunch. For the record, Yankees won.

We caught the subway from Brooklyn back to midtown and headed towards the High Line Park, which is another great example of New Yorkers' ability to make the most of what they've got and dedicate the use of land and infrastructure for public open spaces. In its former life, the High Line was built in the 1930s to elevate the tracks of a freight railroad above the Manhattan streets to prevent the many fatalities that were occurring due to accidents. The railroad delivered milk, meat, produce and raw and manufactured goods to the upper levels of the many factories and warehouses on the west side. The last freight train ran in 1980 and the line sat dormant since, over-run with weeds and decay.

Subsequent New York mayors had long planned to remove the infrastructure, claiming the line was preventing growth in the area. In 1999 a local "Friends of the High Line" group formed to advocate the preservation of the line and to turn it into an open space for community use. The plan eventually received support from city hall and the rest, as they say, is history. Stage 1 opened to the public in 2009 and Stage 2 is due to open in spring 2011 - we can't have missed it by too much. Negotiations are continuing with the freight railroad to secure the remaining section of the High Line for a future Stage 3.

The park itself has been a huge success for the area, known as the Meat Packing District due to its former industrial life, and redevelopment of the area is well underway and it is now one of New York's current hip neighbourhoods. On the way to the park we stopped into the Grammercy Markets for an afternoon coffee (9th St Espresso) and an amazing cupcake at Eleni's. The variety of bakeries, fresh groceries, gourmet foods, snack bars and coffee shops was amazing.

Despite the cold wind, we explored the High Line from start to finish and were thoroughly impressed. We'll definitely have to return when the weather is warmer, the trees actually have leaves on them and flowers are blooming. It was very interesting to look at the adjacent buildings and see where the freight cars were delivered into the buildings thanks to bridges across the street.

Once again we jumped on the subway and headed up to the Rockerfeller Center. In 2008 the rain and low clouds prevented us from checking out the Manhattan skyline from either the Empire State Building or Rockerfeller and it seems we are cursed. We decided the ride to the top in this weather wasn't worth it and we spent some time checking out the roses, the ice skaters, Niketown and the lego shop instead.

By now it was dusk and the temperature was still about zero and after a day of walking, we were pretty well buggered. Another subway ride and we were back to downtown and shivering our way to the Heartland Brewhouse for a sample of their fine ales and a hearty feed. I don't think I've ever come across a plate of ribs so big! Their Indiana River Light Pale Ale was particularly tasty! We rugged up, ventured home and were soon fast asleep.

Friday 1st April.

We awoke to news reports of snow (no joke) in the outer areas of New York City and we prepared ourselves for another day of near freezing temperatures. I had made arrangements to visit a friend in New Jersey, so we caught the subway up to Penn Station and were soon aboard New Jersey Transit's train 10:52 train to Dover. The sight of snow flakes falling along the way was quite magical, but made us slightly apprehensive about just how cold it was going to be when we got off the train.

After an hour on the train we got off at Convent station and my mate Dave soon had us at his office in Wippany NJ for a couple of hours of catching up. It was the first time for both of us to visit New Jersey and it was a nice day out of the city. We got back to Manhattan about 4pm and did some shopping around Penn Station - Macy's got its customary visit, as did the souvenir shops around the Empire State Building. Dinner was a delightful little pizza kitchen near our hotel and Heidi really liked her bruschetta pizza! Another visit to the Big Apple came to an end.

Saturday 2nd April

After the debacle with the arrival shuttle, we decided to just cab it to JFK for our early morning flight to Chicago. We couldn't afford a late arrival and the cab was only $10 more to get us there on-time at a reasonable hour. Our jetBlue flight was uneventful and soon my friend Chad was picking us up from the O'Hare airport. After dropping our bags off, Chad soon had us trackside at Eola Yard to check out some of Chicago's rail action. Chicago's weather was surprisingly warmer than NYC and the sun even made frequent appearances. Eola was quiet busy and quite a few railfans were out. After a while we dropped Heidi off at the local Premium Outlet shopping mall and Chad and I ventured out to West Chicago for some more trains.

Chad's wife Angela was out in Ohio for work for the weekend, so we dropped into a local Asian restaurant for dinner. Wow, what a place. It was an interesting mix of Chinese, Korean, Thai and Japanese foods and had an enormous selection of meals and drinks. Slushies seemed to be the speciality on the drinks menu and Chad (avocado), Heidi (coconut tea) and myself (watermelon) all enjoyed our offerings. Our giant sized meals were delicious and there was enough left overs to feed Chad and Angela for days.

Sunday 3rd April

After a quick breakfast and an introductory lesson on how to use their flash coffee machine, Chad took us off to the Two Brothers brewery for a pre-lunch tour of the facility and a sample of their ales. We had originally planned to spend more of today chasing trains but yesterdays glorious weather had turned into a rather bleak looking morning. I really enjoyed their pale ale and Heidi was quite taken with their coconut flavoured beer. I think she is still disappointed they aren't bottling it yet - almost as disappointed as Angela was when she had learned that she missed out on the tour.

We walked off lunch around the downtown Naperville area. After Angela arrived home we ventured out to Wildfire restaurant, which Chad had introduced us to last time. Heidi joined the sampling spirit and got the martini sampler and I tried another local pale ale. My ribs were as good as last time and Heidi enjoyed her pork and prawns. Angela gave us both a taste of her bison fillet and we were amazed at how flavorsome and tender it was. We all grabbed some dessert from the Cheesecake Factory across the road and returned back home to enjoy another awesome Key Lime flavoured tart. Yum!

Monday 4th April

The Chicago Cubs began their baseball season on Friday against the Pittsburg Pirates and were playing them again this afternoon. Like yesterday, we considered the bleak and cold weather of the morning not good baseball watching weather. The game didn't start until 1pm, so Heidi and I ventured off to do some window shopping along Michigan Avenue whilst Chad and Angela worked. If the weather fined up we were always able to reschedule and meet the guys at Wrigley Field at lunch. We were soon on a Metra train heading downtown with a carriage full of students enjoying "Monday Fun-Day" on their way to the ballgame... and serious drunkenness.

The last time we shopped Michigan Ave it was seriously cold... today was no different. We sampled Intelligistia Coffee, found our way to the river and headed up Michigan. We were glad to finally arrive at the John Hancock Observatory building and took refuge over lunch in the Skyline lounge - enjoying a bowl of nachos and a couple of mini-cheeseburgers (sliders) plus another local beer - this time an Emmets pale ale. All very tasty! This building is one of the tallest in Chicago and like the Willis Tower (nee Sears Tower) has an observation platform offering views of the Chicago skyline. The cost to get to the observation platform is more than a couple of drinks at the Skyline lounge, so we enjoyed our "free" view from the lounge's 96th floor before heading back to the streets and down to the old Navy Pier.
This redeveloped pier is usually packed with tourists and locals enjoying themselves on the Lake Michigan shore, however the place was a ghost town today thanks to the weather. Somehow we managed to brave the cold wind and walked the full length of the pier and back. There was a "stained glass museum" inside the pier that was interesting and quite random. By now it was getting on in the afternoon and we were pretty buggered from all the walking, so we heading back to the station via Millennium Park.

After sampling some last night, I was keen to try some more bison, so after we got home we headed out to Ted's Montana Grill. This restaurant chain, owned by media mogul and bison rancher Ted Turner, obviously specialised in bison meat and other Montana specialities. Thanks to Chad and Angela, we always eat and drink so well in Chicago - it's just as well we always walk a hundred miles when there. My bison fillet was amazing, as promised, as was the beer (Flying Dog pale ale). Chad took us home via Binnys, a local alcohol superstore (similar to Dan Murphys) and I marvelled at the beer selection. Chad and Angela are coming to Australia later this year and I was going to introduce them to Boags beer when they arrived, but it was available at Binnys (along with Coopers) and Chad was keen to take a 6 pack home to try. Not quite sure how they were selling it for half the price we get it for back home - about $7. We headed home and packed our bags, ready for tomorrow mornings flight to Denver and our roadtrip adventures.

Tuesday 5th April.

Our 3rd wedding anniversary began like a few other days on this trip. Wake, shower, eat breakfast, travel to airport, fly to destination. Our farewells with Chad and Angela were buoyed by the fact that we would see them "down under" in a few months and we would be able to return the favour. After a quick cab ride to the airport, we were soon at O'Hare awaiting our flight to Denver. The plane was 30 minutes late to the gate, but we were soon in the air and on our way.