Chicago; Monday, 22 April, 2019

I had my latest lie-in of the morning and after breakfast I checked out of the hotel and headed out into town for my final day in Chicago.

After the queues of Saturday I headed back to 360 Chicago in the John Hancock Centre and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to walk all the way through and straight into the lift up to the observation deck on floor 94.

From here the views are probably more impressive of the beaches heading North out of the city, and of course the impressive sight of the Willis Tower – the tallest tower in the city.

The observation floor was so quiet that I was able to get a soda a sit in one of the window side bar seats to take in the view for a while. Having taken in the views I headed back down the tower and onto the main street.

From there I picked up the local bus a bit further north to Lincoln Park. The park is a large expanse of green space in the North of the city centre and home to both the Lincoln Park Conservatory – a collection of glasshouses and the Lincoln Zoo. Both are impressive for the fact that they are free to visit – which is a real rarity for a zoo.

I spent much of the afternoon wandering round the zoo and conservatory taking in the animals and plants before it was time to take the bus back south to the city centre and the hotel to pick up my bags.

I’d over estimated the amount of time I needed to get through the late afternoon traffic and in fact I ended up at the hotel with enough time to spare that I was able to have a quick drink in the impressive hotel bar – the hotel having previously been a bank the stunning double height banking hall is now the hotel bar.

With lots of time to spare I picked up my luggage and headed back to the subway to catch the train back out to O’Hare and start my long overnight flight back to the UK.