Chicago is “my kind of town, Chicago is…..” a very impressive city particularly the stretch that borders the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. But with one very large caveat - the weather. Chicago is a great city to visit for the few (and I really mean few) weeks of the year when the weather is good. The summer months are unbearably hot and humid; winters are long, windy and bitterly cold.

But this time around, the weather is very kind to me - warm sunny days and cool evenings. This short visit to the “Windy City” (apparently named for windy politicians rather than the windy weather) was also a trip down Dowdell memory lane as Bob pointed out various landmarks and locations in and around Chicago that featured in his long association with the city. And that included visits to several restaurants with a long history in the city as well as occupying a prominent place in Bob’s memory - The Girl and the Goat, Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company, Green Street Smoked Meats, Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria

Bob’s memories and the great weather notwithstanding, floating along the Chicago River with a very knowledgeable guide to the city’s stunning a varied architecture was a highlight. Downtown Chicago’s skyline is arguably the most impressive in the US even outdoing New York. The skyline was for the longest time dominated by the “Tower-formerly-known-as-Sears” but now named for Willis presumably since Sears went out of business. But these days, what was once the tallest building in the US and the second tallest in the world (now way down the ranks) is overshadowed by many others - not in height but in innovation of design

Then it’s time to set off on the two and a half hour drive (not a rental car to be had in Chicagoland that weekend - lucky I’d booked a long way ahead) southeast into the “heartland” and South Bend, Indiana…..