This was a somewhat last minute trip that my Dad and I planned that same week. We drove up to Chicago on a Friday morning, and since it was a long weekend in Canada, we came back on the Monday evening after doing some shopping.

The drive to Chicago was great, we made good time and since they are an hour behind, we got there just after lunch. Wonderful! The only thing I do not understand about US Highways is the toll system... there are times when you spend $6 within 20 km, and other times when you drive for a 100+ km without paying a toll. On top of that, who carries coins these days? Whatever, Trump's a Presidential candidate... so I'm not surprised things don't make sense. Sorry my American friends.

Speaking of the US election, as we approached Chicago, we figured we'd check out the soon to be former President's house. Obama grew up on the south side of Chicago, which is apparently not a great area. Well, we soon found that out. Although he lived in a nice house, the drive there was... sketchy. Anyway, it was a waste of a trip as we were greeted by these signs:

We quickly headed towards the main city again, and we thought we'd see a few places since it was still the early afternoon. As an avid sports fan, we stopped by the United Center and Wrigley Stadium. The United Center was under renovation now that the Chicago Blackhawks were out of the playoffs, but I really just wanted to see the statue of MJ (Michael Jordan). We got some cool pictures, and left for Wrigley Stadium.

At Wrigley Stadium, we went for a tour... they really do provide more entertainment value than information, but the tour guide was great. Some awesome stories (true or not) and real history about the Chicago Cubs that I would recommend checking out. I did not realize how big baseball is in the US, it really is America's favourite passtime. After that, we called it a night as we were pretty exhausted from driving most of the day.

Aside: Ever since a friend of mine in India let me borrow his DSLR camera, I have felt compelled to get one of my own. A good camera really makes a trip more exciting. The day before going to Chicago, I passed a camera store... and I was reminded that I still hadn't purchased a good camera! I got home that afternoon and did some research, talked to my cousin who knows about cameras, and settled on a Panasonic FZ 200. It was about $500 including tax, and for an amateur photographer, I think its great and would highly recommend. All the photos on this trip were taken with that camera!