This morning was our last waking up in the superb Motel 6 of Arlington Heights. We decided to drive to the city today because we were going to the pier which had no metro stations near it, and the over ground trains cost even more than city parking! Chicago was a relatively easy city to drive in (and probably the only one of its type we will be passing since I didn’t drive in New York). There are express motorways practically to the inner loop which meant there wasn’t even much traffic (something London desperately needs!).

We drove straight to the pier and parked in a conveniently located multi-storey right on the shore. The boat tour lasted for half an hour and took us out onto lake Michigan to see the cityscape from a distance. The weather couldn’t have been better – warm sun with a light breeze and almost completely blue skies. After we got some lunch at the pier and I had a traditional Chicago pizza. This is basically a really doughy pizza with oversized crusts. Probably stick to the thin Italian pizza though!

That was the end of our time in Chicago and we headed out of the city to the North so we could take in the shoreline of the lake. We managed to stop at one of the cities many beaches which was a strange experience since you don’t expect a beach in the middle of a city! We then took the motorway back out and started the ride up North to our motel in Wisconsin Rapids.

The drive was slightly more interesting than some previous ones with the landscape first being very flat and then very forested. Neither of us knew anything about Wisconsin before getting here and it turns out there isn’t much to know. Its mostly known for its cheese and farming. The small town we are staying in is quite isolated but seems very friendly. Its famous for its cranberries and paper, and there is even a paper museum here; something we will be giving a miss! Tomorrow we complete the drive up to Minneapolis, which will be our last major city for quite some time.

Photo(s) of the day: Chicago as seen from Lake Michigan and the beach we visited complete with plane flying overhead to O’Hare (click to enlarge)!