Thank you, Mr. Shatner!

Chicago.. The windy city. When I learned that there were tickets available to go to Chicago for business, I flipped. Although, it was probably more for because it was my first real trip on the company dime rather than to go to Chicago. Chicago didn't have a huge draw for me. It's up there with Green Bay and Charleston -- there's maybe one or two things I know about the city but it still seems like the city is not close to anything. I know, I know -- Elliott Ness squared off with Al Capone here.. the basis of Eight Men Out and Field of Dreams films came from the 1919 White Sox scandal that rocked the baseball world.. Ferris Bueller had his day off here.. Still Chicago was just a town in the Midwest on a map in school.. Wrong! Chicago is happening.. A metropolis with character.
We arrived here after a 3 1/2 hour flight on Southwest (plane was empty with plenty of space to stretch out -- score!). After a half hour cab ride, "Welcome to the Omni, sir" says the doorman as he opens our cab door. Excellent! Thank you, Mr Shatner for keeping that little website priceline still going. Priceline got us a fabulous suite at the Omni Chicago for less than half the "Net Savvy" rate quoted on their website. And in fact, it's regular rate is higher than some hotels with half the amenities. The Omni is in a fantastic location, right in the middle of the Magnificent Mile, and is a giant room.
After settling into our suite, we got the 411 at the local Visitor's Center (3 blocks up the magnificent mile at the WaterWorks building). We got loads of great information here from the helpful assistant. She hooked us up with the public transportation map and let us in on the days when the museums have free admission.
From here we set out for a late lunch/early dinner at Portillo's. Portillo's is ranked 6th in Chicago for Chicago dogs on CitySearch (it's also the closest to us). Portillo's is not a hot dog stand. It's rather large resembling Fuddruckers which kinda turned me off, but the dog brought me back. It was a fantastic chicago style dog with relish, tomatoes, peppers, and pickle. The Maxwell St Polish was tasty as well with mustard and grilled onions. I got a large Sam Adams here for $3 also. The whole meal was less than $15 for the 2 of us. I love America! (well, let's say I love not being somewhere else where the dollar translates to 2 cents).
After the good eats, we walked over to Navy Pier (a longer haul than the map showed). At Navy Pier we watched Marcoux Corner, a acappella group, who were pretty decent, got some Chicago style popcorn (Caramel + Cheese), saw a stained glass exhibit, and rode the 150 ft ferris wheel (umm where's the parachute? first ferris wheel ride -- I nearly broke the side bar from gripping onto it so tight.. However after hitting the top of the wheel, I loosened up).
We waited at the bus stop for the free trolley back to Michigan Ave, but it was full and didn't stop. So we trucked it back to the hotel.
Now my feet hurt, but I'm ready for more.