Chicago Downtown, Lake Front, To O'Hare Airport Tour, Obama Fact Of Interest

This tour of Chicago's Lakefront and Chicago Loop on the way to O'Hare Airport to go to Atlanta (where my Mom is) took place last week Wednesday morning. It started at roughly 45th and Lake Shore Drive and takes in a number of legendary and historic sites.

Starting with the large Rolling Meadows Apartments, we see the Lake itself, where Michael Reese Hospital (where I was born) stood. (A hilarious correction. My Mom informed me that I was born at The Bob Roberts Clinic; Michael Reese Hospital was were I was taken during what was at that time a life-threating battle with asthma).

We then came to the redeveloped River Front and what some call "Oprah Ville," a collections of condos and eateries that surrounds the studio where the Oprah Show is filmed.

After Oprah Ville, we passed the giant buildings of McCormick Place. The black building on the right replaced the original structure that burned down in 1967; the building on the left is the giant result of the expansion project.

Then, there's The Sears Tower (now called Willis Tower but everyone refers to it as 'Sears Tower'), and The Chicago Loop.

Then we see The University of Illinois Redevelopment Project. Chicago's West Side, and what used to be called "Jew Town." The stretch of Kennedy Expressway that extends to North Chicago, the suburban business district, including the headquarters of such notable companies as Bally's Total Fitness, and Wilson. The Hyatt Regency O'Hare, an architectural landmark, and the site of my first NFL Owners Meeting in 1999. And finally we arrive at the United Airlines Terminal Of O'Hare itself.

Along the way, Arnold, who's a family friend going back 40 years, explains some of Chicago's history. He also reveals that the man who's now President Of The United States, Barack Obama, sat in the back of Arnold's Mercedes Benz.

Finally, Arnold shares his view of the man who's Chicago's next Mayor, Rahm Emanuel.

Before Obama was an Illinois State Senator, he was a community organizer. The man who's Arnold's son-in-law would use that car to take Barack Obama to some of his community meetings. Yes, they're all friends of the Obama Family.

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