Illinois

Have you ever been to the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois?

Rosemont makes an ideal base for driving into the Chicago area and parking your car.   Go ahead and get a hotel there.   By leaving your vehicle at an outer suburban parking spot, you can easily explore downtown Chicago on foot—skipping the heavy traffic and avoiding downtown parking fees.   My advice, here, will be similar to my "trip to New York" advice:  Ditch the car.   You just won't need it.  

Here's an action plan:

1. Get to the CTA Blue Line Station in Rosemont.

2. From this point of departure simply take the CTA Blue Line ("L" Rapid Transit) directly into downtown Chicago via train.  No car needed.   Remarkable!

The Blue Line will transport you to within walking distance of many of Chicago's most exciting attractions and restaurants. 

 Some of those restaurants will serve the famous Chicago-style   deep dish* pizza!   

*Note: 

If you decide to "put in an order" for the deep dish pizza, here in Chicago,  be sure to leave extra time!       Go ahead and pull up a chair.    Maybe order an appetizer and something to quench your thirst.   Why?  Because the Chicago-style deep dish pizza requires additional time in the pizza oven.   In other words, Chicago-style pizza requires more time to bake than the $5 slice of thin-crust New York style pizza that you will see served in Times Square.