Chicago

Midway is a remarkably compact airport, squeezed into a super-sized city block, every inch of space put to use. It's pretty much all Southwest Airlines now and that's how we arrived, landing low over the Giordano's at the southeast corner (Cicero and West 63rd). And that's where we ended up for dinner after picking up our rental car.

We weren't quite as impressed as we were with D on earlier trips, but maybe there's just something special about the downtown locations. We still ate well, and then hit the road and Friday evening traffic for our drive up to Rockford.

On Sunday afternoon, we had enough time to swing along the lake and down Michigan Avenue before heading back to airport. Our sightseeing was limited to windshield views and quick photos from stop lights.