I Fell in Love With Chicago

Friday, I drove into Chicago for the first time as an adult (I’d previously visited as a child and my only memory is riding the “L”), with the main purpose of seeing WWE SmackDown at the Allstate arena. Which means, I drove into Chicago only to leave Chicago for Rosemont, Illinois. The famous Allstate Arena is located in the village of Rosemont, but WWE and other entities tend to say “Chicago” because quite frankly, it’s a more recognizable name than Rosemont. During a weekday, as it was, the trek through the heart of Chicago to Rosemont was brutally slow and long. But on a regular weekend morning, the same journey went from more than an hour to about 23 minutes. Not too shabby! But even though I came for WWE — I’m a big professional wrestling fan and one of my all-time favorite wrestlers, John Cena (non-wrestling fans may know him from Peacemaker), is on his retirement tour this year, and I had to see him — I obviously wanted to explore Chicago and “sample” as much of the Windy City as I could.

If you read my review of Epic Universe, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Halloween Horror Nights, you know one of the more vexing issues for me was my old iPhone losing battery quickly throughout each day’s excursions. That is until I broke and bought the FuelRod for $35 to get battery juice back. A similar issue happened in Chicago, albeit much quicker, owing to the plethora of photos I took and the need to use Apple Maps to navigate the unfamiliar city. For my next trip, I’m 100 percent buying a portable iPhone charger, or upgrading my iPhone, or both! My other fail with, as I literally just said, the Windy City, is I didn’t dress quite appropriately. I wore shorts and a polo figuring it would be warm enough, especially with the amount of walking I planned to do. It was cold early in the morning and yes, windy. But it was a gorgeous day and for the most part, I was fine. Pants would have been preferrable at least, though.

Let me do the WWE stuff, and then I’ll get back to Chicago proper.

WWE SmackDown

I’ve been to a number of WWE shows over the years from TV shows likes this one to the biggest of them all, WrestleMania. This was my first WWE show since WrestleMania 38 in Dallas, Texas, which I wrote about here. It would also be my first time seeing CM Punk after he returned to pro wrestling since WrestleMania 29 in New York City/New Jersey, which is wild to think about. I was especially looking forward to experiencing professional wrestling in Chicago and professional wrestling in the Allstate Arena. For non-wrestling fans, Chicago and the Allstate Arena are royalty in professional wrestling: great wrestling crowds in a great arena. Honestly, I bet wrestling fans would say only Madison Square Garden in NYC tops the Allstate Arena for wrestling lore, hype, and excitement (stateside, that is). I was particularly jazzed with my selection of hotel, the Hyatt Place. It is quite literally a neighbor of the Allstate Arena. The absolute joy at the ease with which I exited my hotel, turned left, and was in the parking lot heading to the arena is unparalleled to any other experience I’ve had with a live event, WWE or otherwise. I would highly recommend that to anyone who is traveling outside of Chicago to an event at the Allstate Arena. I felt the gravitas walking toward the arena and waiting in line to get in. My first impression once I got in? This is a lot smaller than I expected. As a venue, the Allstate felt tight, especially for the more than 15,000 fans who piled into it, selling out WWE SmackDown. I had 200 section seat, which took me up the stairs. There, one concession stand was readily available, with a smaller liqueur, cotton candy, and popcorn stand. Restrooms were just beyond that. Going back down the stairs either to the merch stand or other food options didn’t make much sense due to the crowds. The main concession for our section ran out of pizza and hotdogs fairly early. And John Cena’s farewell shirt — each new city on the farewell tour, usually the last time he’ll be in the city, receives a city-specific farewell shirt — sold out quickly. No surprise there. During a down moment in the show, I tried to get one and ended up buying his hat and then bought the shirt on WWE’s online shop (shocked that it was waiting by my door when I came home on Sunday!). The pleasantly surprising fact was that I bought tickets advertised as “limited view,” but the view was great! My seat was on the side the hard camera angle to the left of the entrance ramp. I could see everything great. And the best part? Aisle seat. I love being able to easily leave my seat and return without inconveniencing others.

As for the show itself, again, I was there primarily for John Cena and secondarily, for CM Punk and the rumor that AJ Lee, who wrestled with WWE 10 years ago and was one of the few remaining big women’s wrestlers to not return to WWE (or AEW, for that matter) and is Punk’s wife, would return to help Punk battle the also real-life husband-wife duo of Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch, the World Champion and the Women’s Intercontinental Champion, respectively. Anything else would have been gravy. What I didn’t expect was not only would I get to see John Cena, but that he would be wrestling on television. That was a real treat and overall took about 40-ish minutes of the opening. The middle portion I spent waiting in line for food or at the merch stand. Then, at the end, as a surprise to me, Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins were both in the arena. Becky challenged Punk, who came out to a thunderous ovation, and Punk said he would never hit a woman, but he knows someone who will. AJ Lee appeared, returning to the WWE finally, and physically confronted Becky. AJ looked like she’d never missed a beat, literally, as she did her trademark skip to the ring. After the show was off the air, AJ celebrated with Becky’s IC Title and Punk. What a freaking show I was fortunate enough to get to see! And again, one of the best parts? After it was over, I exited the arena and was back in my hotel room in mere minutes. One of the best live WWE experiences I’ve ever had both in terms of the experience itself and the content served up.

Here’s a gallery of my crappy iPhone arena photos:

Now, let’s get to my experience in Chicago proper the next day, Saturday.

Skydeck

I started my morning with a much breezier drive into downtown Chicago, parked at the convenient garage on Franklin Street (I selected for 12 hours, even though I knew my iPhone battery wouldn’t last that long), and headed over to the Willis Tower a street over. The area on the ground floor known as Catalog was quite nice, and later in the afternoon when I returned for a bathroom break, it was popping with activity and bustle. Catalog featured an array of dining options, including Shake Shack. Two floors down is the Color Factory (which I hope to experience on my next visit!) and Skydeck. Upon entering the waiting area for my reservation to go up, it was cute to see a massive group of Amish people also waiting.

I had no idea as we navigated our way toward the elevator that I would also get a museum of sorts describing the history and culture of Chicago. I loved it! From deep dish pizza to Second City to the architecture to Michael Jordan, I had a blast walking through Chicago history and thinking about how impressive the city truly has been and continues to be. Then, I thought it was amusing that going up in the elevator to the 103rd floor was quicker than the time it took Hyatt Place’s elevator to go up six floors. Whatever mechanism makes the Willis Tower’s elevator so fast and efficient ought to be utilized for all hotel elevators. Nonetheless, without question, the view from the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower is extraordinary. Again, on such a clear, beautiful day, too. I then headed to The Ledge, which is the portion of the experience where you walk out on to, well, the ledge of the Skydeck and take pictures. Humbling and lovely. What a world humans have been able to create with engineering prowess, ingenuity, and daring. I nabbed a few souvenirs, did the loop around, including doing the ledge again, and took the elevator back down. The Skydeck was a poignant way to start my Chicago adventure: from above in grandeur before my close-up with its offerings.

Chicago Riverwalk

I was giggling to myself at this: I walked from the Willis Tower almost a mile so that I could do more walking at the Chicago Riverwalk. I walked to walk. While Skydeck was mind-boggling to experience, the Chicago Riverwalk is where I began to fall in love with the city. So many joggers, dog-walkers, families, couples, kayakers, and sightseers were already taking advantage of the delightful 1.25-mile public walkway along the Chicago River. As you’re doing this walk, the enormous skyscrapers that dot the skyline rise up around you, too. It makes for an awe-inspiring juxtaposition, the serenity of the river with the enormity of the city therein. It got me waxing philosophical about Chicago, a perpetual political football of a city, often used disparagingly. But I’ll wait until the end for that.

Navy Pier

I’m not sure if I actually made it to the end of the Riverwalk or not because once I saw a sign for Navy Pier: 10 minutes this way, I abandoned the Riverwalk, walked across one of the many bridges, and headed for the Navy Pier. The Pier is an impressive assortment of restaurants, a hotel, a giant Ferris wheel and other amusement park-like rides, stunningly beautiful flowers whose scents I couldn’t get enough of, and of course, surrounded by the shoreline of Lake Michigan. Movement, sunshine, flowers, and water? That’s the makings for instantly imbuing me with calm and happiness.

Magnificent Mile “Mag Mile”

After the Navy Pier, I returned to the Riverwalk, which then took me to the Magnificent Mile, and “magnificent” is really the word for it. This was the next moment where I fell even more in love with Chicago. Again, the views of the skyscrapers are breathtaking, but it’s the hustle and bustle of the city and the activity going on that was endearing. I stumbled onto a “Taste of Brazil” event, for example! I sampled Brazilian cheese bread from Nina’s Noms, only a year-ish-old at that point, that I could have eaten a dozen more of. Blue Bottle Coffee had a sweet latte I’m still thinking about. I loved everything about my experience with the Mag Mile, and I’m sure it only scratched the surface of what was going on.

The Bean, or Cloud Gate

You know I had to do the thing in Chicago! I had to go see the Bean! If you have no idea what I’m talking about, Google it and you’ll see the familiar stainless steel reflective bean, which I’ve come to learn has the official name of “Cloud Gate.” I prefer the Bean. The Bean is located in Millennium Park, which itself is a real treat in the heart of Chicago, nestled again between all those towering skyscrapers. I particularly thought the Crown Fountain was fantastic and a must-see. But the Bean! I had no idea it was that big. For some reason, I pictured it in my head as much, much smaller. It’s ginormous. So many people were around and under the bean taking pictures, smiling, and having a grand time. It really is among the quintessential pictures to take when visiting Chicago for a reason: it’s impressive as hell!

Sidebar: On my way to my next destination, I stopped and listened to a pitch ostensibly to raise money for athletes in the Special Olympics. Once it got to the point of the salesperson requesting $40 a month donation, I noped out of being polite and left. The reason I used ostensibly is I’m skeptical it was legitimate. After all, I work for a nonprofit that does these sorts of tabling opportunities and pitches to the public, although we’re not fundraising. Whoever these people were did not have any informational brochures for me to take or even a website to direct me to. All I could make out during the spiel was a guy wearing a Special Olympics shirt (at least, that was printed on the shirt) and the person pitching me had a badge that said Special Olympics. I remain skeptical.

Giordano’s Pizza

If taking a picture with the Bean is a quintessential Chicago photo-op, then eating deep dish Chicago pizza is the food experience to have. My colleague recommended Giordano’s Pizza, which was fairly close to Millennium Park. The place was packed on a Saturday afternoon, not surprisingly. As with my Universal experience, being by yourself has its perks: I walked right into the bar. I ordered the fresh spinach deep dish pizza, 10 inches. It didn’t occur to me until I saw guys next to get getting personal pan sizes that that was an option. My 10 inches was huge! Phrasing. That’s why I have half of it to eat for dinner tonight. I also had to have the two Chicago-based beers, Goose Island (I’ve previously had) and Revolution. While I don’t think I can quite get there in saying Chicago deep dish pizza is the best pizza, it did a commendable job of trying to win me over to that position. Giordano’s deep dish pizza was fantastic. So good that I ate more than I expected given the size of the pie. The flavor was immense and the crust nice and crunchy. I’ll echo my colleague now to anyone going to Chicago for the first time: If you’re looking for deep dish, head to Giordano’s.

That was my Chicago experience! By then, my phone was getting low in battery and I didn’t want to risk a dead phone with no way to navigate back to my parked vehicle (again, as if people couldn’t figure that stuff out before 2005!). Some of the items I had on my list I didn’t get to, but hope to in future visits to the city include Legoland, Nutella Cafe (which is near Giordano’s and the line to get in was absurd), Humboldt Park and one of its restaurants, La Bruquena, Wrigley Field, Shedd Aquarium, and the Medieval Torture Museum. I was also fortunate with my timing that the Taste of Chicago was happening Saturday, but again, I didn’t have the battery juice for it. (I could have gone back to my hotel, powered up, and returned for the drone and firework show, but admittedly, I didn’t want to make that back-and-forth trek through Chicago traffic again.) I also later learned a protest against ICE occurred in the downtown, which I would have loved to have seen and/or participated in. Is there anything I’m missing that I should experience next time I visit?

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t return to my waxing philosophical about Chicago point. For years and years, I’ve been hearing about how violent Chicago is, and especially during the Black Lives Matter protests that have essentially been going on for more than a decade at this point. The refrain you most often hear is, why don’t they care about Chicago? “They” being protestors, or most often, Black people, i.e., why don’t you care about the Black crime in Chicago? It’s a bunch of BS. I’ve written about this before, on how, of course the citizens of Chicago care about violence in the city in which they live! And in the present political context, the President of the United States is threatening to go to war with America’s third largest city, Chicago. See his disgusting post here.

One throat-clearing before I continue: It’s worth emphasizing over and over that violent crime in the United States, despite a recent uptick post-COVID, is at historic lows. It’s nowhere near the peaks of the 1980s and 1990s, nor the sort of crime we saw in the 1960s and 1970s. Factually speaking, we are living in the safest possible time to be an American citizen. It’s indisputable.

With that out of the way, I have two facts I want to make known.

First fact: In raw numbers, yes, Cook County, home to Chicago, leads America in homicides. But Cook County, along with Los Angeles County, are the two most populated counties in America. If you adjust for population, i.e., the homicide rate, Cook County’s was 15.8 homicides per 100,000 people in 2023, ranking 17th among 63 large-central metro U.S. counties. (Los Angeles falls even further to 37th.) See source here. What are the places with the highest homicide rates then, a much better reflection of a problem: New Orleans, Memphis, St. Louis, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. Put another way, places like Hartford, Connecticut (yes) and Indianapolis, Indiana don’t get the press Chicago does, but relative to their populations, have higher crime rates. That matters to any informed understanding of crime in America, cities or otherwise.

The second fact: People forget not only how big cities are, as the last fact demonstrated (Chicago has nearly 2.7 million residents, or more than 15 states and Washington D.C.!), but literally how big cities are. Which is to say, despite the crime occurring in Chicago, or D.C. or wherever, cities are so big and crime is so concentrated to very specific areas, that the conflation that to visit Chicago, NYC, LA, or other major American cities is like stepping into a post-apocalyptic hellscape is not based in reality at all. Take a look at this map:

These are all the neighborhoods that make up Chicago. I looked up the worst neighborhoods for crime and singled out eight of them with black Xs: Austin, West Garfield Park, East Garfield Park, North Lawndale, West Englewood, Englewood, Washington Park, and Greater Grand Crossing. I also added a circled star on the Loop neighborhood, which is where downtown Chicago is where I visited Millennium Park and the Bean. Do you notice something? Crime clusters! This isn’t to say there is not any crime in the other neighborhoods, but most of the major violent crime is occurring in specific, concentrated areas of Chicago. To see all of Chicago as one giant black X is such a disservice to a beautiful city, to logic, to understanding geography, population, and to fearmonger for political and social gain.

American cities, like Chicago, are a big part of what has made America the greatest country the world has ever known. People who continue to disparage a whole city and treat it as monolithic cesspool are disparaging America and its greatness.

So yes, I loved Chicago. I can’t wait to go back!