My three days in Chicago were a blast (forgive me for using an old-timers' term). I felt like I got a good taste of the best Chicago has to offer: the highlight being witnessing Bill Murray parachute out of an airplane. Yes - Bill Murray! As part of the annual Chicago air show, he tandem parachuted onto North Beach to much applause. (Gary Sinise was there too. They're both Illinois natives.) The show was really impressive - the F-18 jets flying in tight formation were a personal favourite. As was this huge plane that had vertical jets allowing it to hover in the air, perfectly still.
The other pleasant surprise was that Chicago actually has beaches. And good ones, too. I was sceptical about their freshwater beaches along Lake Michigan, but they were beautiful, and the water was a wonderfully refreshing temperature and I didn't come away with that yukky stickiness you get when saltwater dries.
The weather, too, was a perfect 27 degrees with a cool breeze (though I was told it was unusually good weather while I was there - usually it's much more humid in summer).
My old friend Lhendup (or Lenny as he's come to be known here) and his wife AnneMarie were the perfect hosts, taking me to galleries, local bars and jazz clubs. The Green Mill jazz club near his home used to be owned by Al Capone, and reportedly still hides a network of secret passages that lead across town. And their 3-year-old daughter Norden was a cheeky delight, fast befriending me - even wanting to share my bed at night.
