Conrad’s Capers — Pandemic Expedition to Chicago

On May 11, Conrad Stanley, the intrepid subject of this new blog, ventured forth from Las Vegas, a city where he lives, on a trip to Chicago, a city that he loves, taking advantage of ultra-low travel costs while the U.S. was mostly shut down due to the pandemic.

“I wasn’t afraid,” he tells us about moving around the continent while the rest of the country was hunkered down. “I took whatever precautions I could, but the lure of travel experiences for less than ten cents on the dollar was too strong to resist.”

Conrad flew on the ultra-low-cost Spirit Airlines. Spirit and other discount airlines are offering all kinds of amazing travel bargains when you know how to work the system.

The journey to Chicago was a quick overnighter, merely a warmup before flying to Los Angeles to catch the Coast Starlight train that hugs the coast all the way to Seattle.

“To save on the taxi or Uber fare and parking at the airport, I jumped on the bus at Flamingo and Decatur at 5:58 a.m. After a transfer at Paradise Road, I was at the airport at 6:26 on the nose, all of a 28-minute ride on two buses and the whole trip was free! At the time, the RTC wasn’t collecting fares due to the coronavirus.”

Conrad flew to Chicago for a grand-total ticket price of $17.10. Then he took the train downtown; the 24-hour pass cost $10, which covered all his rides for the day and evening, plus the trip back to the airport the next morning.

“My first stop, even before heading to the hotel, was to Chicago’s famous Portillo’s Hot Dogs. I knew it would be open for takeout. I ate two of them, a chili cheese ($3.35), as well as a classic Chicago ($2.85), both with all the fixins, right down to the celery salt. They’re made of Vienna beef with that casing that snaps when you bite through it.”

On a full stomach, Conrad’s next stop was the hotel, a four-star room he found on Hotwire for $55 (plus tax) at the Whitehall, situated within the Miracle Mile area of downtown Chicago just off Michigan Avenue. After relaxing for a bit, he hit the streets again to explore awhile and work off these dogs to get ready for dinner.

Unfortunately, a lot of Conrad’s old haunts were closed, but he walked by The Lodge, Mothers, Tavern on Rush, Gibson’s and Hugo’s Frog Bar, all of which brought back fond memories.

Finally, it was time to eat again—takeout pizza from Lou Malnati’s.

Lou is the son of Rudy Malnati, who’s roundly credited as the developer of Chicago-style deep-dish pies; founded in 1971, Lou Malnati’s is probably the best-known of all the Chicago-style pizzerias in the Windy City (except perhaps for Pizzeria Uno, which both Lou and Rudy managed in the 1950s. The medium pizza ($19.65) is advertised as serving three; Conrad’s comment about that? “Yeah, right!”

In the morning, it was back to the airport for the flight to L.A., which also cost the princely sum of $17.10. Even in the midst of the shutdown, the plane was packed. Obviously, a lot of other people were taking advantage of the cheapest airfares in history.

All told, counting the two flights, night in the hotel, train rides, and hot dogs and pizza, the entire Chicago sojourn came to $125 (plus a little tax).