April 11, 2026
It’s a sunny cold day in Chicago!
We started the day with a Mob and Crime bus tour. The most interesting fact was that Chicago was founded in 1857 and just three years later it was considered the most dangerous city in the world!!! The city’s Northside and Southside neighborhood were run by gangs that peaked in the probation era when there were over 10,000 competing speakeasy’s many run by the police.
John Dillinger was one of the most famous criminal in the city. He was fatally shot by federal agents on July 22, 1934, in an alley next to the Biograph Theater. We went to the theater and the ally where he died from a fatal shot to the neck. One interesting fact was that is body lay there long enough that civilian took souvenirs from his body.
We then passed by the site of the St. Valentine massacre. It’s now an empty lot but in the day it was a garage. The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre was the murder of seven members and associates of Chicago’s North Side Gang on Saint Valentine’s Day 1929. The men were gathered at a Lincoln Park, Chicago, garage when between four and six men entered, two of whom were disguised as police officers. The seven men were lined up facing a wall and shot with Thompson submachine guns and a sawed-off shotgun; seventy rounds were fired from the Thompsons, and one cartridge was discharged from the shotgun. The shooters were never identified.
Since it was a clear day we headed to the former John Hancock Center that is now officially named 875 North Michigan Avenue and headed to the 94th floor to get a view of the city from above. It is amazing how big Chicago is!!! One of the really fun things to do is the tilt. It tilts you out 90 degrees from the building for an unobstructed view of the city…..oh yeah!!!!
Chicago is home to so many incredible museums and we had not done any of them so we decide we needed a bit of culture so we headed to the Museum of Ice Cream!!! I was a blast including the sprinkle pool and unlimited ice cream.
We got to experience the city lights again on our walk back.
We have one more half day in Chicago then we have a two day train ride to Los Angelos.
Now I think I have to visit Chicago! I love the way you tell the stories.