Boulder to London

I woke up this morning to a pleasant surprise…there was not a cloud in the sky!  What I thought was going to be a cold and wet day sitting inside watching football, was suddenly full of possibility.  Since it was still early, I went down to the gym and got a quick work out in.  It wasn’t that great of a workout, but it made me feel better about the deep dish pizza last night.  I wish I had waited to run until this morning, but oh well. 

From the gym, I hit the hotel Starbucks and returned to my room to search the Internet for things to do.  I came across the river architecture tour and decided that it would be a great way to spend a few hours before the weather decided to change.  According to the website, the first tour departed at 11 which gave me plenty of time.  I did a few things around here, went down to the river and got my ticket for the boat.  I was a little early, but it was a nice day to be outside. 

The tour itself was good, however it was very fast.  As we floated by each building, we were given the year it was built, the architect, what it housed today and maybe a bit or two about the history of the area.  There were so many buildings that this cycle repeated itself about every 15 seconds.  Most of Chicago was rebuilt after the fire in 1871 and many of the new buildings were built in the last 30 years.  While there is still some construction going on in Chicago, my informal real estate vitality index (number of construction cranes that litter a downtown skyline) shows that it lags London by at least a factor of 10.  One interesting aspect of the tour was that over one stretch of the river, you could smell the most intense chocolate smell imaginable.  The tour guide didn’t comment on it, which I thought was strange since the entire audience was somewhat distracted by it.  It turns out that there is a chocolate factory in the area that emits a quite pleasant aroma.  Sure beats the smell of paper factories and feed lots that pollute some of the towns I’ve lived in. 

After the tour, I walked along the river and up Michigan Ave.  I stumbled across this really great sports bar called Mother Hubbard’s. The place was full of TVs, had a local feel, served good wings and offered up a few beers that I hadn’t tried.  I highly recommend it and may get back over there to try out one of their famous burgers over the next few weeks. 

My schedule has changed up a little bit.  I’m going to leave Chicago for Houston later this week, spend next weekend in Colorado, and then head back to Chicago next Sunday.  I look forward to seeing everyone in Colorado and a few days in Houston will give me some temporary reprieve from the cold.