NYC blows Chicago away

I always thought I should visit Chicago just to check it out before I made the plunge and moved to New York. More than a few people had told me they like Chicago more than New York, so I did have a nagging thought of what if I, too, would like Chicago more? Maybe a whole new world awaited discovery in Chicago, and I just didn't know it because I had never visited.

Thus, a trip to Chicago was planned for June 2007 with Katherine, Ansley and Jackie, and I could finally see for myself what the fuss was about Chicago and be able to make a clear decision of which city girl I was. No sooner were the plane tickets bought than I got the opportunity to move to New York, and my research trip blew out the window.

As luck - or fate - would have it, my first friend upon moving to New York was Lauren, a girl from Chicago. Both new to the city, and both being the same age, having the same education and work background, sharing the same goofy personality and insatiable hollow legs, we became fast friends. Identifying so much with a girl born and raised in Chicago made me really think, "hmm, I just might be a Chicago girl after all!"

So it was Lauren's April wedding that finally presented the perfect opportunity for me to visit the Windy City. Ansley was the only taker on my offer to the original travel group for a re-do of our trip that never happened last summer. The two of us met up in Chicago, and we spent the Friday before the wedding really doing Chicago right: we had deep dish pizza, we walked Magnificent Mile, we visited Navy Pier and Millennium Park, we ate Chicago-style hot dogs, we visited Wrigley Field and did a drive-by of Soldier "da Bears" Field - heck, we even took a double decker bus tour of the city!

I agreed with the Chicagoans, "Yes, this city sure is clean" and "uh-huh, it is pretty", but all I could think was, "where are all the people?" and "where is the energy, the one-of-a-kind feeling of 'I'm somewhere special'?" Needless to say, while I appreciated Chicago, I felt no connection to it, no "love at first visit" like I had during my first visit to New York.

So, I'm sorry Windy City, but New York blows you away.

Navy Pier - just come to New York and visit South Street Seaport instead.

And who can deal with the wind?! It about knocked us over, and don't even get me started on what it did to my hair!

Oprah Schmoprah - unless you're in the audience for the Favorite Things show, what's the biggie?

I don't like baseball anyway.

A highlight of Chicago - the Redhead Piano Bar!

Surprisingly, I'm a fan of Chicago-style hotdogs, but if you're comparing, I could just as happily get fat eating New York-style pizza.

The best part about Chicago? It's where Lauren and Jake are from...but New York even has them now, too!