2012 Solo Road Trip: Day 12 (St. Louis, MO to Chicago, IL)

Drove from St. Louis to Chicago. The day's highlights included a quick stop in Bloomington, IL for pizza at Lucca's Grill and some street art [Check out the pix!]. In a Chicago suburb, I visited the classic Hala Kahiki for a dose of tiki pleasure. Afterward, amid all that drizzle and traffic, I learned to hate Chicago's tricky toll booths before grabbing relatively cheap lodging in the Loop's Essex Hotel. Night was a blur of dark alleys and glowing neon.

Shepard Fairey's "Mujer Fatal" mural located near
Code of Conduct tattoo and clothing shop (South Loop Chicago)