This is a place of sparkling skyscrapers, beautiful artwork that seemed to be made by gods. Home to basketball legends, and a place where the wind never stops blowing. This place is called Chicago, also known as the “Windy City”.

Life is full of adventures and experiences that will never be forgotten. The adventure I experienced that I will for sure never forget started when a close friend asked me to go with him to Chicago. The friend that invited me on this trip goes to Chicago almost every year. This year he wanted me to go, along with two other friends. That whole week I was so excited to see the big city and so was the two other friends that were going.

The adventure started the summer before freshman year of high school. It was June, and I could still remember how sunny it was the day we left for Chicago. The clothing I packed for the trip was a couple pairs of shorts, lots of t-shirts, and some sweatshirts in case it got cold. My friend was loading up his blue van for the trip when I arrived at his house. When the two other friends arrived at the house we all got our stuff packed in the van and headed out on a great adventure.

I couldn’t sit still when we started driving, I was too excited to see the big city. It made the time go by faster on the road trip when my friends were with me. We would play card games, listen to music, and tell jokes about each other. I loved going through all the little towns in Wisconsin while we were driving. Made the experience even better when I got to see new places and new people. The van was a little cramped because we also had my friend’s little brother tag along, so sometimes we had to take pit stops to get something to eat, and stretch. My favorite snack I got at any gas station was sour gummy worms and an Arizona ice tea. I especially liked the sour gummy worms. The gummy worms would give off that sour taste that tingles your tongue with every lick you take, and over time it gets sweet so you can devour the rest. After I would be done with a gummy worm, I would take a sip of my tea, so I got to taste a new flavor of gummy worms. Going through Wisconsin was awesome and eventful. I never got to see the part of Wisconsin by the Eau Claire area, so every road we took was a new one for me.

The time it took us to enter Illinois was about two hours. It felt different when we entered Illinois. One of the weirdest experiences I had when we entered Illinois was when we took a pit stop at a gas station. When my friends and I got out of the van, we noticed an ordinary-looking gas station. We all started to walk up to the gas station when one of my friends pointed out this long-looking building. The building was made of mostly glass and at the front of the structure was a huge arch. My friends and I decided to go to this place.

When we entered, I was in shock. All the fast food restaurants that you could ever think of were lined up in this aisle of deliciousness. I was so over whelmed, but I finally decided to eat at Sbarro. I got a huge pizza and bread sticks. My friends all got Panda Express instead, but all of them wished they would’ve got the delicious slice of sausage pizza that I had. When we were done gorging ourselves with food, we all had to leave to get back on the road. I was so full of food that I could barely function. I slept all the way there. Until I was awoken by a gasp of breathe by one of my friends. As I rose up from my sleeping position I was welcomed by billboards and street signs. Until I laid my eyes upon a cluster of sparkles and twinkles. I knew we had arrived in the Windy City. “I can’t believe Chicago was this big!” I thought to myself. It became real when I saw the glistening skyscrapers get closer.  

The first thing I noticed when I arrived in Chicago was the big metal train that ran through the city. I watched as the people would get on the train. Slowly the train would gain speed and bring those people into the city. I couldn’t believe how many cars there were on a road at the same time. It seemed like time was moving so fast. Everyone had a place they had to be at a certain time. It had a crazy atmosphere to it, but I loved it. Loved seeing all different kinds of people that were roaming the streets. We had to meet my friend’s aunt in the city, so we picked her up in front of one of the many Starbucks that are in the city. When she entered the van she gave us all homemade caramel corn from a store nearby. When I first tasted the corn it had a taste of pure caramel. You could taste the saltiness of the corn as the caramel melted off the kernel. Out of all days it started to rain, but that didn’t dim our spirits. We kept driving and stopped in front of the Chicago Bulls stadium, where I laid my eyes upon the Michael Jordan statue. I immediately got out of the van and raced my friends to the statue where Michael seemed to be dunking over someone. The statue was made of what seemed to be bronze. Below the statue was all of his statistics and how many championships he won. When I was almost done reading all the statistics I saw a quote typed in bold letters. The quote said “Greatest player to ever play the game.” For some reason that quote gave me chills, I could imagine how Michael had an impact on the city of Chicago. After all of us were done taking pictures, we all ran back to the van. All of us were soaking wet, so we had to go to my friend’s aunt’s house to dry off and relax.

I was exhausted and ready to dry off and chill with my friends. The aunt’s house was located in the suburbs of Chicago. She works in the city, so it’s not that far away. The house was big with red brick walls and a solid white door. Most of the houses in that area looked the same, so it wasn’t uncommon to have a white door and bricks walls. When I entered with my suitcase I was told to bring my stuff in the room down the hallway. I was happy that I got to sleep in my own bed, and I even got to have my own TV. The next morning it was sunny and warm. I was all ready for the big city. Walking downstairs I was greeted by my favorite cereal, Fruity Pebbles. After I devoured my cereal, I grabbed my bag and met my friends in the van to explore more of the city. 

It took us about 20 minutes until I could see the cluster of sparkles in the distance. Our first stop on our trip was to go see The Bean. It was a very nice day out, so there was a lot of people that were in the park, where the Bean was located. It was hard to get through, but when I laid my eyes on the helmet-looking sculpture, I was in aww. As I approached the Bean it seemed to change color due to how reflective it was. It was so reflective I would walk around the Bean just to see how many people were behind me. What was kind of sad about the Bean was how many finger prints I could spot on it. Wish I could’ve seen it when it was clean.

Our next stop was to shop at the Sports Authority downtown. The Sports Authority was five stories high, and each floor was a sport. Some of the sports that were in Sports Authority were football, soccer, basketball, baseball, and track. That day I wasted all my money just on that one store.

I was pretty hungry at that time, so we decided to find a place to eat. My friend’s aunt knew a diner down the road that served pretty good food, so we all walked down to it. This type of diner was different from the rest. The diner’s waiters and waitresses would make fun of you as you walked by. Not in a mean way just to make you laugh. As we sat down I looked at the menu and noticed a “Chicago style” hot dog that I thought sounded delicious. A couple minutes pass and I notice my friends getting there food before me. I thought to myself that “it shouldn’t take this long to make a hot dog”. To my surprise it looked like it would’ve taken a while because this hot dog was over a foot long. I gazed upon the massive amount of beef, relish, unions, ketchup, and bacon. I didn’t think I could even finish the monster, but I was pretty hungry at the time. After a couple bites of the hot dog, my stomach started to rumble. I looked around my table, and could see all my friends had already eaten there food, but mine was half eaten. I got a to go box instead, and I also got a free hat from the diner.

It was getting late and the sun was about to set. We all decided to head back to the house. We had to leave early in the morning to go back home. I walked slowly to the van, so I could get one last good view of the amazing city. As I walked I noticed the sunset reflect on the glass of the skyscrapers. I glanced over at the side walk across from me. I could see the people that lived in the city walk to their apartments, or meet up with their friends. I didn’t want to leave this beautiful city.

The car ride back to the aunt’s house was very quiet, and I could sense that none of us wanted to leave. I walked into the house feeling sad and upset that I would soon have to pack up. It was late, my friends and I were very tired, so we all said goodnight and hopped in our beds. I could still feel the breeze of the city wind on my face as I lay in the bed. I kept thinking about all the things I experienced on this amazing trip. I eventually relaxed myself and closed my eyes, still thinking of the glorious Windy City.