My recent visit to Chicago...

I took Amtrak from galesburg (that's my town... ) to Chicago. The train was great. It was smooth, cheap, on time, all around goodness. I stayed in the southern-ish suburb of worth. Nice little town. Anywho, i took the metra to downtown, and it was great. Well, i loved the metra ride, and i took the bus quite often when i was in downtown chicago, and i have to say, it was so much better than i expected. I thought it would be crowded, uncomfortable, etc. It was the complete opposite. It was comfortable, there was elbow room, it was awesome. I took the bus to UIC, and i did my thang there, and i walked to downtown. I have to say, chicago is amazingly clean. Everywhere i saw, at least. Just some of my observations...there is tons of construction, of all kinds, in the city and suburbs. I saw new factories, new homes, and those were all in pretty run-down looking areas of the city, so i can't even imagine how the nicer areas are doing. And of course, downtown is booming, that's a given. The Cheesecake Factory is awesome, i loved all the plazas, Jamba juice is tasty. Umm...also, The plaza outside of the Jackson st. exit from Union station has a beautiful view of the river-skyline. So, to sum it up, chicago amazed me. I didn't have a car, for the first time, and it was easy to get around, and cheaper, too. I don't see why more people don't take advantage of transit up there, they really don't know how good they have it. Plus, i'm a chatty guy, and there are some wonderful people to strike up conversations with. Oh, and chicagoans are so friendly! Okay, If i don't stop now, i never will, so just know that i loved chicago, and i can't wait to go to UIC and call it home!