Our Chicago Hotel Area and Walking the Downtown Streets

When Melissa, Will, and I visited Chicago, Illinois last month we stayed at the Hampton Inn in their North Loop zone, off Wacker Street near the Chicago River.  I thought the building looked somewhat modern, and when I looked outside our room's window facing Michigan Avenue I saw what looked to be an ancient structure: the Old Republic Building, pictured above.  However, both buildings were constructed back in the 1920s and have undergone renovations over the years...ours apparently the more recent.  Curiously, we had previously booked a room at the Congress Plaza Hotel overlooking Grant Park but had switched before our trip because of the rumors that it was haunted...we had originally mistakenly thought that it was the locale of Stephen King's short story 1408...which was adapted to a movie starring John Cusack and Samuel Jackson...but King was thinking of another hotel, in Manhattan, for his story.  Nevertheless, we decided to leave "haunted" buildings for Scooby Doo and instead chose Hampton because we liked their consistent quality as well as the location.  The irony of it all was that the room they chose for us was 1407...just one number off King's haunted room, which was just around the corner down the hall.  But nothing amiss occurred during our stay there...the room was a little more cramped then we were used to at a Hampton Inn, but then just about everything else in downtown Chicago seemed a little cramped as well...

Walking up and down the streets of downtown Chicago had some similarities...and well as differences...with our trip to Manhattan, New York back in 2010.  There were plenty of panhandlers throughout the area, although we never felt in danger of being accosted by anyone.  Unlike in Manhattan, where the buildings seemed to merge one into another, there were substantial gaps between buildings in downtown Chicago, and consequently lots of creepy-looking alleyways to walk past...I felt a little safer back in NYC.  As the evening wore on in Chicago...unlike New York...businesses shut down and the streets became much quieter.  And I didn't see so many dressed-up executive workers like in the Big Apple...folks out on the streets here were mostly either tourists or more casually-attired locals.  Drivers were equally rude and aggressive in both cities and sometimes we felt rushed walking across streets even when the lights were with us.  Chicago didn't seem as oriented for tourists and entertainment as was New York, but I have to qualify that statement with the admission that we only got there late on Sunday and left early Wednesday, hardly enough time to explore anywhere near what it had to offer.  Is a return trip on the table? Well, if there's a specific reason to go back, sure...but I think given the choice I'd rather travel to someplace else...