Chicago to Rochelle via Milwaukee

Chicago Botanical Gardens

We left the housesit on Monday morning, Smokey safely re-united with his owners. En route to Chicago city we stopped at the Chicago Botanical Gardens, a 385 acre living plant museum situated on nine islands and featuring 26 different feature gardens. Being limited by time we didn't get to see everything but what we did see was stunning, particularly the impressive vegetable gardens complete with bee hives, the amazing collection of Bonsai, and the tropical glasshouses.

Returning our rental car to O'Hare airport we rode the blue line "L" train (an abbreviation for eLevated) into downtown Chicago, a couple very kindly giving us their day pass tickets that they no longer needed which saved us a few bucks. Cities being expensive to stay in we were fortunate to find a good deal on an older style motel which has seen better days but was clean and perfectly located in easy walking distance of the central downtown area. First stop was the John Hancock Center, a 100 story, 1,127 feet tall (344m) skyscraper with spectacular views over Chicago. Many people pay the entrance fee for the Observatory on the 94th floor but we opted for the Signature Lounge on the 95th, where for the price of a cup of coffee you get the same stunning views plus a hot drink. The Ladies restroom also enjoys this spectacular view, but alas not the Gents.

Panorama of Chicago from John Hancock Tower

The other best way to view the city is by river boat, and we took one of the many river tours to learn about the brief but intense history of this city and see the diverse and wonderful architecture from different angles too. Back on foot, the Magnificent Mile with its mix of upmarket retail stores, restaurants and hotels was worth walking along but we preferred the buzzing and lively atmosphere of the Navy Pier, stretching out into Lake Michigan and from where we took another short boat tour on the lake to see the skyline.

Buckingham Fountain with Chicago skyline behind

Uniquely, almost all the waterfront remains as open public space, which truly makes this city feel bright and airy. In particular, Grant Park, home to the Buckingham Fountain which is one of the largest in the world and has hourly water shows, and The Cloud Gate, a stainless steel sculpture nicknamed The Bean which made for some fascinating photos with reflections of the buildings.

The Bean. Can you spot us in the reflection ?

Chicago is the starting place of historic route 66, not that there is much to see of the "Mother Road" anymore but we did take a selfie by the sign, to go with our picture from the end of the route in Los Angeles. Chicago is also famous for deep pan pizza and it would have been rude not to have had one, plus the leftovers made for an unusual cold breakfast the following morning.

Two days were probably not enough in Chicago - we could have stayed longer to see much more in this city that pleasantly surprised us by everything it has to offer. On our way out after having picked up another rental car we stopped by the famous Wrigley Field to get a brief glimpse of the ivy wall at this unique and historic baseball ground which is home to the Chicago Cubs.

Harley Davidson bike no 1

Sel with the Bronze Fonz

A few hours drive north took us into the state of Wisconsin, and the city of Milwaukee where Harley Davidson are headquartered. Their museum opened here in 2008 and houses an impressive collection of motorcycles, artifacts and exhibits from the company's 110 year history. Plenty pictures taken that day, and nearby we also saw the Bronze Fonz, a bronze statue of The Fonz from the series "Happy Days" which we both remember from our childhoods and which was set in Milwaukee.


Backtracking slightly West we re-visited a place that was closed when we came by three weeks earlier - the sculpture park of Dr Evermore where everything is made from scrap metal. The centrepiece is the Forevertron - you'll have to read the link to get a better understanding of it, but we are glad that we came back when it was open as it is all a bit eccentric and slightly bonkers.

Dr Evermore's Forevertron

The Infinity Room at the House on the Rock

Dr Evermore also created much of the art at our next stop, which was the House on the Rock, a complex built by Alex Jordan with many unique features like the infinity room with over 3000 windows. Again, there is too much to describe here so please click the link to find out more about this fascinating and unique place.

Stopping for the night in Dubuque, at the junction of three states (Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin), we picked up some fresh fruit at the Farmers Market, and took in the view from the top of the Fenelon Place Elevator, claimed to be the steepest and shortest funicular in the world.

The front of Antique Archeology

Driving south along the banks of the Mississippi we called into the small and pleasant town of Le Claire, Iowa, which is home to Antique Archeology, and the base for the reality TV series American Pickers. Having watched a few episodes both at home and in the USA it was great to see the place and browse some of the picks that we have seen on TV. Le Claire is also the birthplace of Buffalo Bill and there was a great museum dedicated to him here.

Tampico, IO - birthplace of Ronald Reagen

Finally, and on the subject of birthplaces, we stopped at the small village of Tampico, IL, which is the birthplace of Ronald Reagan. The small apartment where he was born is now a museum and we had a guided tour of it, along with the restored bank underneath. Filled with pictures, artifacts, documents and clippings it shows that you don't need to have years of history to be interesting. We also stopped briefly at Dixon, the boyhood home of Ronald Reagan, though we only got to see the outside of the house there.

So as you can see it has been a very busy few days for us already, sorry no new pictures on Facebook this time but we will need to do something soon as our camera is running out of memory ! Please do click on the links to read in more detail about the things we've seen, and we'll post again very soon.