The Windy City

After Indiana, we drove back to Chicago to spend a few days with Allison's grandmother and their family friend. Their friend lives on Michigan Avenue with a view of Lake Michigan and is only two miles south of downtown. It was an awesome place to live because of its great view and a great location! Here's a picture from her living room.

We did a lot while we were there. We saw Cirque de Shanghai (we highly recommend seeing it), did an architectural tour, saw a play, listened to the free symphony in the park, went for a bike ride along Lake Michigan, visited Allison's friend, and more.

We really liked Chicago and even talked about how living there would be kind of fun. It's a major metropolitan city with great cultural offerings, and who would have thought, but quite affordable to live there. We could buy a nice apartment with a lakefront view for about $300,000. That kind of price is unheard of here in California. In LA, it costs over $500,000 to buy a loft located adjacent to Skid Row! California home prices are just ridiculous.

We also learned the real story behind Chicago's nickname, the "Windy City." It is commonly believed Chicago was named the Windy City because of the cold winds that blow off of the Great Lakes and into Chicago. However, the real story goes that the nickname was a term of derision. Chicago politicians went to Washington D.C. to lobby for their city to host the World's Fair, not too long after the Great Chicago Fire destroyed most of the city. D.C. called these politicians wind bags for their intense lobbying and hence, Chicago was named after the efforts of their representatives.