Chicago, Here we come! - part 1

CEBU, Philippines - What makes a place interesting? Having a heady mix of offerings for a wide range of travelers  old and young, male and female, professional or non-working wives, teenagers (they are a niche to nurture!), gays and lesbians, pastors and religious, et. al. Well, Chicago has something to entice all of the above. Honest!

Good news: Cathay Pacific now flies direct to Chicago from Cebu, via Hong Kong! We were tickled pink when we knew of this bit of exciting news some months ago when they launched the route. Again, we were tickled pink when CX Connie Cimafranca extended an invitation for us to visit the Windy City in winter…a season I wouldn’t have ventured into were it not part of my job. Then again, adventure always tickles us pink!

So, to Chicago we went last November 07, through Hong Kong (of course!), where we met up with our official escorts: Maggie Wong, manager of CX Cebu, and Anthony Legaspi of Hilton International based in Hong Kong. Hilton was our host hotel during our Chicago stay.

After an overnight stay in Hong Kong, we arrived Chicago at noon on November 08 and went straight to our first Hilton hotel – the charming Italian Renaissance architecture that is The Drake Hotel (140 E. Walton Place, thedrakehotel.com). The building dates back to the 1920s and is a luxurious landmark at the north end of the Magnificent Mile, right next to the shores of Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes of America. Chicago being a favorite Hollywood site, The Drake was a venue for the filming of movies like The Blues Brothers, Mission: Impossible, My Best Friend’s Wedding, among others.

If you appreciate Old World charm, huge rooms with huge beds, then the The Drake Hotel is for you!

November 09, we transferred to Hilton’s Conrad Hotel (521 North Rush St. at Michigan Ave., conradhotels.com) midway along Michigan Avenue, also known as the Magnificent Mile. The Conrad is definitely a hi-end business hotel with reception counters at the upper level of the building where quiet and discreet service awaits you. A hotel plus is its extensive (complimentary) Pillow Menu – w/calming scent, for romance, cold & flu relief, Snore-no-More, full body support, magnetic pillow to relieve swelling & insomnia, flat pillow for back sleepers. Other Sleep Enhancing Services: 1) Night Cap - $7/drink, 2) Sleep Elixirs - $4/herbal or tea concoction, plus other amenities like Amazon Kindle rental w/over 8,000 e-books to choose from , and Sleep Sound machine for deep sleep.

We were only too happy to be on the Magnificent Mile the whole time we were in Chicago. It is the world-renowned strip of Michigan Avenue parallel to Lake Michigan, where one finds the best stores for shopping: Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Zara, Tumi, American Girl Place at Water Tower Mall , Garrett Popcorn Shop, etc. Michigan Avenue dates back to 1871, when the Great Chicago fire gutted the city. Only the Water Tower and the Pumping Station – extant avenue landmarks – survived. Other avenue sights include the Chicago Tribune Tower, the neo Gothic Wrigley Building and Chicago’s fourth tallest building – the John Hancock Center with its Observatory as a must-visit for a panoramic view of the city, especially at night. 

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Cathay Pacific flies daily from Cebu to Hong Kong and back. And daily from Hong Kong to Chicago. (FREEMAN)