After a few weather delays in Atlanta, I arrived at Midway Airport right on time. I toured the airport for a few minutes before ascending to the top of the parking garage for some great views of downtown Chicago. From there, I headed toward the Chicago Transportation Authority (CTA) subway station. After a rather long walk through the garage, I was there. I purchased a five dollar day pass (Be sure to use the white automated machine. I wasted five dollars when I used a blue machine. There went half of my transportation budget) and boarded a train on the Orange Line toward the Loop.

The train was empty, so I took one of the “unsociable seats” (a single seat) and relaxed. But that wouldn’t last long as, at the very next station, the train was filled with all kinds of people. It was loud with laughter and talking and people shifting for position, but it was good. I love observing people in their own cities and taking note of their subtle differences from the ones I see everyday.

We had just left the Roosevelt Station, on time, and were headed toward the Loop. My stop, at the Library Station, was next. But, just a few yards from our station, we stopped. After a few minutes, a recorded message said that we were stopped because of signals ahead and would be moving shortly. Ten minutes or so had passed, and we still hadn’t moved. I noticed a train in front of us was stopped and watched for it to move. Finally, after five or so minutes, we started moving. But the train in front of us wasn’t. I watched curiously. We slowed to the very back of the other train and actually nudged it. I looked down from our place thirty feet or so above the city street. "We’re going to die..." I thought.

The conductor came on the PA and said that the train in front of us was "defective" and that we were actually going to push it to the next station straight ahead, the Adams Station. After a few minutes, we moved a few inches, then back a few feet. I could just see the mangled mass of steel I’d be trapped in as we fell from the "L" tracks. Then, we moved a few feet again. This went on for about thirty minutes as people talked frantically into their cell phones about what was happening. Finally, another conductor took the helm and soon we had the train out of the way and were at the Adams Station. Because of these delays, it seemed all my time permitting portions were undoable.

I, and the rest of the people, got the hell off that train. I descended beneath the "L" and walked east on Monroe toward Columbus and the lake front. There, I got some awesome shots of the line of buildings running on Columbus. I walked for a few blocks, amazed by the buildings around me (it seemed you could see the Sears Tower from anywhere) before heading toward the Randolph "L" Station to catch the Brown Line to Northalsted.

The "L" Stations on the loop are rather old with no escalators, so be ready to walk up a few flights of stairs. But you do get some good views of the street action below. But all I saw as I crossed the turnstile was a Brown Line train pulling away. But it was no worry. The trains were supposed to run about every seven minutes or so.

Another train approached, but it was a Green Liner. Then, a few minutes later, another Green Liner. I was getting a little frustrated as I watched more precious minutes slip away at the hands of the CTA. Then, another Green Liner. After twenty minutes or so, a Brown Liner pulled up. It was standing room only with twenty minutes worth of people crowding on.

It was slow going as we headed north out of downtown Chicago. To our west I saw what remained of the infamous Cabrini Green housing projects. More people got off than got on and soon we could all breathe again. I decided, with my shortened time schedule, to get off at the Diversey Station and walk the few blocks to Halsted Street. There, I pulled out my map and saw that the area I wanted to see, Northalsted, was actually two stations further down the line. I sucked it up and just began walking north.

I was not disappointed once I crossed Belmont. There was the line of shops and restaurants, formerly known as Boys’ Town, that I had come to see. It wasn’t as clean or vibrant as other gay neighborhoods that I had been to, but it was still rather impressive. Pedestrian traffic was rather sparse, but it was fairly early in the day. I would love to see the Northalsted area at night.

I had decided from that point just to get on the Red Line subway at the nearby Addison Station and go straight to the Magnificent Mile from there.

I disembarked at the rather unfitting Chicago Station. You would think the stop named after the city would look better than just a glorified bathroom with trains running through it. I walked east on Chicago for two blocks or so until I was in the shadow of the John Hancock Center and the old Chicago Water Tower. From there, I headed south on Michigan Avenue and onto the Magnificent Mile.

The Mile was crowded with upscale shops and upscale people. Sure, there was stunning architecture, colorful landscaping, and a Neiman Marcus, but what was so special about this place? It was nothing more than an urban retail row you could find in any large city. So I just kept walking south.

I guess I had passed Grand and the subway station that I had planned to reenter as I crossed the Chicago River, so I just decided to hoof it to the Clark Station which I knew was nearby to catch the Blue Line subway. I crossed the river at the Michigan Avenue Bridge and took a right onto Wacker, facing an awesome line of gleaming glass and steel skyscrapers. I walked in their shadow, through the popular Chicago Theater District to the Clark Station, which is located underneath a rather impressive vertical shopping mall and its glass atrium.

The Clark Station is just as gloomy and unimpressive as the Chicago Station. But, I was just there for a few minutes before a Blue Line train arrived. The CTA, it seemed, was finally redeeming itself.

I departed at the University of Illinois at Chicago Station, just to the southwest of downtown. There, on a large grassy field at the campus’s northern fringe, one can get awesome views of the impressive skyline. I stopped for a few minutes before making my way back toward the Loop.

I walked north on Halsted toward Van Buren which I would take east into downtown. But there at the intersection I noticed a Giordano’s Pizza, a place I had visited a couple of years earlier when I visited the city with a friend. If you’re looking for real Chicago style pizza, it’s here. It takes a while to cook, but is really worth it. And at $12.00 for a medium pepperoni pie, it is really a bargain for the taste.

Finally, I crossed the Chicago River into downtown once again. I walked a block north to Jackson so I could do a walk by of the Sears Tower. A few blocks later, there it was. All 1,400 impressive feet of it. I had visited the top a few years earlier and considered doing it again. But I had decided to take an earlier flight out of Midway instead of O’Hare, so it was out. I just stood there looking up in awe.

I reached the Quincy "L" Station on the Loop, right in the shadow of the Sears Tower. This station was more impressive than the others; it had been refurbished to look like an early twentieth century rail station. I boarded the next Orange Line train and headed back toward Midway.

The train ride back was rather uneventful and I arrived at Midway with more than enough time to make my 6:05 pm flight.