ChickSpeak

A brightly lit skyline with elevated towers reflecting off the water of Lake Michigan, and a cool breeze blows across my face. This scenario could only describe my wonderful windy city, Chicago.

History

Chicago got its name from the native Indian word that described the area. Chicago was founded in 1673 by European explorers, Louis Joliet and Jesuit Jacques Marquette with the help of local Indians. The first permanent settlement was in 1781 by Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, an African American. Chicago was officially incorporated as a town in 1833. Chicago also has more historical moments such as the “The Great Chicago Fire,” a huge fire that burned for three days, killing hundreds and destroying about four square miles of Chicago, the construction of the first skyscraper in 1885, and the completion of the Sears Tower the world’s once tallest building.

How to Get Around the Windy City and Enjoy the View

O’Hare Airport is hub of national air transportation in the United States. After your flight lands there are a variety of transportation options. Usually a taxi from the airport would be the most sensible means of transportation. Taxis are usually found around the downtown area while the major forms of Chicago transportation are the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) and Metra trains.

CTA is Chicago’s largest and most popular means of transportation, it consists of city buses and elevated train lines known as The L. CTA has various buses and L routes that can get you to and from each side of town with ease. The CTA is a great if you want to do a little sight seeing. The L is broken up into six lines or routes that are color-coded. These lines are red, green, blue, brown, purple and yellow.

Each color has a specified route and most of them pass by the downtown area, also called the (Loop) which is a great route for sight seeing, main attractions and shopping. Even though there is ample transportation available in Chicago, I would still suggest to rent a vehicle if you plan on traveling back and forth from different locations. Chicago also has multiple highways or E-ways that can get you to and from different locations unless there is Rush Hour Traffic (between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.) However, I suggest tourists get a driving lesson before you hop on the fast, busy city streets and highways of Chicago.

Tourists Hot Spots

The home of “Chicago’s World Famous Stuffed Pizza” is filled with many great attractions that bring people from all around the world. Museums, aquariums and grand hotels help Chicago tourists to have the trip of their dreams. Below, l highlighted my favorite attractions that every tourist must visit on their trip to Chicago.

Magnificent Mile is located on the Northern part of Michigan Ave. between the Chicago River and Lake Shore Drive. This boulevard is filled with exclusive shops like Coach, Burberry, Levi, Saks, and Nordstrom. This also includes four and five star hotels such as the Hilton, Swiss hotel, or the luxurious Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago.

Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago stands about 92 stories high and is located along the Chicago River. This hotel holds 339 guest rooms and 53 spa guest rooms. Each one, two, or three bedrooms are very upscale hotel suites that include full kitchens, spacious bedrooms and a fireplace. There is also the famous Sixteen restaurant located in the hotel that serves modern American cuisine.

Navy Pier is a major tourist attraction. It is a large pier on Lake Michigan close to downtown Chicago. This is a great place to visit anytime of the year. The main attraction here at the pier is a 148-ft Ferris wheel that is located on the edge of the pier and 44ft carousel with 36 painted animals. Navy Pier is also the home to the Spirit of Chicago Cruise. This cruise is great for, graduations, birthdays, and weddings. This cruise would make any special event a special memory. I have never rode the Ferris wheel because I am afraid of heights but I plan to face my fears one day and ride it.

Sears Tower Chicago’s most famous attraction! This was the world tallest building since 1974, until the recent construction of the Petronas twin towers in 1997. This tower has 101 stories and stands 145-ft. The sky deck of this skyscraper is located at 1353 ft. and is  glass balcony that extends about 4ft out. In July 2009 the Sears Tower named to the Willis Tower, which many Chicagoans refuse to accept. If you’re afraid of heights this may not be the attraction for you. But you can still snap pictures of the outside of the tower for your tourist scrapbook.

Millennium Park is approximately 24.5 acres. This park consists of an outdoor music pavilion that holds 14,000 people, and ice rink theatre. This famous park is a great place to go on a date or even just take a walk alone. This park is the home to one of the largest fountains in the world, the Buckingham fountain. This fountain features 134 jets powered by 3 pumps that shoots water 150ft-in the air. The Buckingham fountain displays a 20-minute water show with choreography of a light display at night. This fountain is one of my favorite Chicago landmarks. I remember visiting the fountain every Friday with my mother. The lights and water can create a very romantic atmosphere for you and that special one.

Unique Places for Fabulous Chicks

Chicago is not only known for skyscrapers, and deep-dish pizza. There are many attractions that get overlooked in this busy city. Below, I will share my favorite Chicago hot spots that you may not find in your average travelers guide.

My favorite bar/restaurant of all time is Bar Louie. If you love great food (especially great cheese fries) a great environment, and even better drinks, you will love this place as much as I do.  They have great music and sometimes they even have karaoke nights, which can brighten up any dull night. I always order the same thing every visit, because their smothered cheese fries are my weakness. Bar Louie has multiple locations in Chicago, but my favorite is located in the Hyde Park neighborhood, near Lake Michigan.

Ever wanted something to eat while you were at the movies, but the movie already started and you didn’t want to miss anything? Well at Hollywood Blvd waiters come to you and take your order, so you won’t miss a thing. This a very unique places to go to for any occasion. This movie theater gives you the best of both worlds. The restaurant style seating in the movie theater, kills two birds with one stone, because you get dinner and a movie.

Losing weight just got more interesting and fun. Flirty Girl Fitness provides fat burning cardio routines that involves all type of dances like hip hop and chair routines. This studio is located in the downtown Chicago land area on Randolph. You can go online and register for these intense cardio classes or you can plan private events and parties for your group. The most popular class is the class that teaches you pole tricks. So ladies get a group of you and your girls and put on your tallest pumps and shortest shorts and go and play around and learn pole tricks while you burn fat.

Why This Chick Fell in Love with the Windy City

Chicago hasn’t had the best publicity lately and many have said some negative things about the city. Negative things happen all over the place and I want to shine some light on the positive things about my city.

My city is the greatest!! I was born and raised in Chicago and this city is all I know. Whenever, I visit different cities, I always compare them to Chicago and there is no comparison.  Christmas is near, the best time of year. Chicago will soon be covered in blankets of white snow and Christmas decorations and houses decorated with lights as far as the eye can see. Christmas in Chicago makes me feel all-warm inside. I think about my family and shopping downtown on State Street, Santa Claus in the malls and Christmas songs blaring in different stores. There is also ice skating and taking time to make snow angels with my family.

The different seasons and the fashion and overall Chicago style made me love this city. I fell in love with the people, the atmosphere and any and everything that deals with Chicago. But the absolute factor that made me love Chicago is the downtown area at night. There are bright flashing lights everywhere you turn and even far away the brightly lit skyline is breath taking. So, if you have never been to Chicago, I advise you to put “visit Chicago” on your to do list. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Shaneika Booker is a senior studying Journalism at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. When she’s not writing stories for ChickSpeak, or H.A.S magazine in Chicago, she’s blogging and Twittering like CRAZY, changing her hairstyle every week, or just sitting around watching SpongeBob on Nickelodeon. She plans on relocating from here hometown Chicago where she has lived for 23 years and working in the entertainment world at a popular magazine in Atlanta or NYC.