Special sights in Chicago

Do you see it?

No, no. I don't mean the Sears Tower. Here, let's look closer.

Now do you see it?

No? How about this, then:

Ahhhhhh...now you see it. A sign that made my little ol' heart go pitter-patter. The real honest-to-goodness Route 66! Even if it did look just like a downtown Chicago street. Which, it was. Is. Whatever.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Leslie who kept mysteriously insisting that day that she had "something" to show me, something important enough to delay our visit to the Art Institute of Chicago. And since that was the reason for our trip to the Windy City, it was an intriguing mystery to me. So we walked along Michigan Avenue, turned the corner, walked a few steps and ... ta-da! This amazing sign. She knew it was there and knew it was something I absolutely shouldn't miss.

The captain and I have always said that, someday, we'll drive Route 66, the whole thing. And while I knew that it started in Chicago, it never entered into my mind as something to put on my Chicago agenda. After all, we were going to be downtown, without a car. I had no idea that sign was walking distance from our hotel. What a treat!

Leslie had something else to show me before we headed back up the street to the Art Institute. She knew I was a diehard ER fan, so she wanted me to see this.

To Leslie -- and to me -- this El station is pure ER. I've shown you both the east and west stairways on both sides of this one station, from the street up to the platform. Don't these stairs up to the El look like the ones the show's characters were always running up and down?

I miss ER. Thursday nights just aren't the same.