Patrick Beeson

Blogging has been on hiatus for a few days as I've been on vacation in Chicago. Not only did it provide a much-needed reprieve from work, but I've also found my new favorite city and the best beer I've ever had the pleasure to consume.

So why spend precious vacation days, or non-existent vacation days in the case of my girlfriend Lindsay, flailing around a large city?

Neither of us has been to the windy city before, and for some reason it held an attraction for me as the anti-New York City. It was truly the Second City in many ways.

And that's a good thing IMHO.

Getting there

Lindsay and I, being the non-traditional types, decided to avoid the congested skies and drive the 550-plus miles from Knoxville to Chicago. The drive took us through states neither of us had even been including Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.

The drive itself was part of the vacation and we used it as an opportunity to see the original KFC (it was closed), eat a peaceful breakfast in beautiful Lexington and grab lunch in downtown Indianapolis. The latter gave me a chance to sample some local beer -- a Hazelnut Stout at the Rock Bottom Brewery (it was just OK).

Lindsay and I are long-drive veterans and the trip through the cornfields of the midwest was very smooth.

But both of us were surprised at how easy it was to get to our bed and breakfast in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. God bless good street planning.

Our accommodations

The Wicker Park Inn is billed as an "urban bed and breakfast," which is mostly accurate. It's located on Wicker Park Avenue one or two blocks from Buck Town eateries and shopping.

The surrounding neighborhood was very cool. Every building had unique architectural elements that had me checking "for sale" signs.

Another bonus to this location was that the "L" ran behind our B&B -- and when I say "behind," I mean we could see and hear it rumble by every few minutes.

This wasn't as bad as I feared, and Lindsay and I quickly assigned it to the ambient noise folder after a few hours.

Another bonus was our slightly famous innkeeper David Broom whom you might recognize from the New Orleans season of MTV's The Real World. Hey, he is from Chicago so it makes sense. Sort of.

Traveling around the city

Having the "L" so close to our B&B meant that we never had a need to drive. We literally parked the car and walked or rode the train/bus.

(We did need to move it because of street cleaning though. The city even has these cool signs with colored lights that flash went it's the appropriate day to clean.)

Anyone visiting Chicago should purchase a CTA visitor's pass. It allows for unlimited rides on the train or bus, both of which you'll use often if only in blunder.

I estimate Lindsay and I saved at least $20 in fares, and more in shoe leather, using our passes.

The trains work much like those in New York and Washington D.C. except when they don't work. This was the case Saturday for the blue line, and we were forced to take the bus downtown and transfer to the train.

It wasn't a big deal, and the CTA employees were very helpful explaining how we needed to get to where we wanted to go.

In fact, everyone we spoke to in Chicago was helpful. I'd never experienced this outside of the South and certainly not in a city the size of this one.

Nourishment in the shape of a circle

As with anyone visiting Chicago for the first time, we had to try the famous deep-dish pizza. And we understood that there were two primary choices: Pizzeria Uno and Gino's East.

So we had both (on separate nights, of course).

Gino's East was the better of the two. The crust was deliciously flaky and had a cake-like texture. Sauce was on top of the cheese instead of vice-versa.

Pizzeria Uno was also very good, but lacked the cake crust appeal. It was also tight quarters in our booth whereas we had a chance to stretch out our legs (and stomachs) in Gino's.

I should also add that Lindsay and I split small pizza's in both places and had a slice to spare. These pizzerias mean business!

The other wonderful establishment I'll mention is Piece, located near our B&B in Wicker Park/Buck Town. It's also a pizza place, but also a world-class brewery with the medals to prove it.

The pizza was thin-crust and every bit as good as our Mellow Mushroom here in Knox-vegas and elsewhere. But the beer was the kicker -- their "Full Frontal" IPA was the best beer I've had. And I've tasted a lot of good beer.

I also tried their award-winning "Worryin' Ale," which was good just not as good as the IPA.

We ended up at Piece three times during our trip, each one a pleasure.

Things to see

We experienced so much during our vacation to Chicago that it's best to simply list the places we went:

• Shedd Aquarium
• Field Museum
• John Hancock Observatory
• Adler Planetarium
• Navy Pier
• Chicago History Museum
• Magnificent Mile (stores)

We also traveled downtown extensively, which was an event in itself.

Vacationing in Chicago was definitely one of the best experiences I've had yet. Lindsay and I are so pysched in fact, that I could see another vacation there sometime soon -- maybe we can try winter next time.

You know, just to see if it's as bad as everyone says it is.