Shikaakwa (Chicago)

On July 19, Kendra, Zoe, and Jonathan drove north for six hours until resting finally in the third most populous metropolitan area in the country and one of the ten most influential cities in the world: Chicago, named shikaakwa by the Miami-Illinois peoples who originally dwelled in that part of the land. We had only three days to experience what is, we mutually agree, one of the finest cities we've ever known. And that's saying something. We have known some fine cities: Atlanta, Princeton, New York City, Edinburgh, Geneva, Jerusalem, etc. But Chicago rivals them all. Wonderfully navigable; architecturally stunning; transportationally unparalleled; and beautiful, too.

3 days. 72 degrees. Sunny.

What more could we say?

We love it. And we'll return. Thanks to the generosity of some friends of ours, we rested in what must be one of the most gorgeous condominiums in the city, which is centrally located and magnificently overlooking the city toward the east.

Vacation, Part 1. A mysterious, friendly, and hospitable city.

Carl Sandburg wrote in his poem, Chicago,

"Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning."

Indeed!