Chicago My Kind of Town | A Relaxing Travel Chat

In this episode of The Insomnia Project, Marco Timpano and Amanda Barker take listeners on a calm and reflective journey through Chicago, sharing gentle stories from their recent visit to the Windy City. This relaxing conversation wanders through the many nicknames Chicago has collected over the years — from The Windy City and Second City to City of Big Shoulders and City by the Lake — inviting listeners to imagine the character and history behind each one. As with every episode of this calming podcast, the discussion moves slowly and comfortably, making it perfect for background listening as you unwind, ease anxiety, or settle in to fall asleep.
Marco and Amanda reflect on memorable sights from their trip, including the famous Chicago Bean, the beauty of the city’s renowned architectural boat tours, and their admiration for Jeanne Gang’s St. Regis Chicago, one of the city’s most striking modern buildings. Along the way they share the curious story of Chicago’s “Phoenix Cow,” discuss department stores with possessive endings in their names, and offer a small tribute to designer Elsa Peretti. The conversation drifts through travel memories, architecture, art, and a few favourite Chicago restaurants, all delivered in the familiar slow rhythm that helps quiet racing thoughts. Whether you’re listening at bedtime or simply looking for a peaceful moment during the day, this episode offers a soothing escape into stories of one remarkable city.

Chicago My Kind of Town
(Original airdate: April 23, 2023)

Marco: Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation about the mundane. You could say the uninteresting or the inconsequential, I think is probably the best way to.

Amanda: I think that's better. Mundane. Sometimes people have, uh, feelings around that word.

Marco: Sure. So the inconsequential. So everything we're going to be talking about on our podcast, if you're new to the podcast, is going to be inconsequential. So it doesn't matter if you get to the end of the episode, feel free to drift off. And if it takes you to sleep, great. That's our goal. Uh, we used to say, and I still do. It's the only podcast we hope you never get to the end of. I want to thank you for joining us. I'm your host, Marco Timpano.

Amanda: I'm Amanda Barker.

Marco: Amanda, we just got back from a lovely trip.

Amanda: We did. We were in Chicago. Have we talked about this on the podcast?

Marco: I don't think so. The Windy City.

Amanda: Yeah. Chi Town, I think it's called. It has many nicknames.

Marco: It has many nicknames.

Amanda: Uh, here's a little saying about Chicago that we did a beautiful architectural tour of Chicago on the river and they said on the tour that New York.

Marco: Oh, I love this.

Amanda: Yeah, yeah. New York is all talk, LA is all show, and Chicago is all work. And I actually think there's a lot to be said for that. Um, it's definitely a working person city. Um, not on this trip, but I did for some time, for a very short time, live in Chicago. I don't know how long you have to be somewhere to say you lived there because it was a very short. But in any event, um, there was a time in my life where I had a home in Chicago for two months. And, um, I went to the union museum.

Marco: I didn't know there was a union museum.

Amanda: There is an old town. Yeah. And, um, Chicago is very known for its unions. I don't know if you noticed, but something I noticed driving under the bridge. There's such a series of bridges and tunnels and things there.

Marco: When you say driving, do you mean floating under the bridge?

Amanda: I actually mean being in the Uber.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: I guess I wasn't riding under the bridge. And, uh, the union that had painted the wall on the tunnel, they had spray painted it there. So everyone knew what union it was, what local.

Marco: It was Local 192.

Amanda: Yeah, yeah. Very, very much a working person's town. And that's what we were doing there.

Marco: I've got some nicknames for Chicago. Amanda, uh, see if you want to

Amanda: lay them on me. So Windy City.

Marco: We know Windy City for sure. It looks like it came from an article in the Gazette, the Cleveland Gazette in 1885. Um, it was referred to the Windy City was uh, actually to Green Bay in 1856 was the first known, repeated effort to label Chicago with this nickname from 1876.

Amanda: And one of the things we, uh, learned on our architecture tour is that a lot of the buildings actually have a wind floor. A floor that the wind can pass through for the structural integrity of the building.

Marco: That's actually the third most used structural integrity. Wind dealing, uh, with thing, um, they said on the tour.

Amanda: Sorry, what?

Marco: I said it completely wrong.

Amanda: But basically there's third most structural.

Marco: There are three things. The tall buildings. There's three things the tall buildings do to compensate for the wind in the city. And the wind floor was the third most popular. The most popular was they have these giant tubs of water, barrels of water, so that when the wind sways and pushes the building one way, the water sloshes. And I'm using the exact words they said on the tour, sloshes in the other direction.

Amanda: Like a ballast.

Marco: Like a ballast keeping the building, um, less Rocky back and forth, I guess.

Amanda: Right. Like the water itself actually. So the water is in the. Where would it be?

Marco: I guess they have a structural part. Um, I feel like it was in the center of the.

Amanda: Wow.

Marco: Of the thing. And they said that one, that's the most popular. And um, they've said it multiple times. I can't remember what the second one was. And the third one was the wind Floor. And there was one building, uh, that incorporated all three. I think the Second City is another name for.

Amanda: Yeah, so I've heard a few theories about the Second City. The one I always heard was that because it wasn't LA or New York, it was considered a second city to New York or a second city to la. More New York, I think.

Marco: New York, I think.

Amanda: Yeah. But I heard another explanation, I don't know if you caught that one for why they call it the Second City.

Marco: Oh sure, go for it.

Amanda: So another explanation was because there was the Great Fire, um, in Chicago, very well known, very documented.

Marco: Mrs. O' Leary's cow was blamed, Mrs.

Amanda: Oleary's cow was blamed for this fire. And um, so they rebuilt the city. So the second City, because it wasn't the first version of that city, because so much of the city had in fact been rebuilt. Which is kind of an interesting and fun definition.

Marco: I like that.

Amanda: Take better. We also know the Second City because of course it became the, the name of a theater company. And that is where you and I met. Although we didn't meet at the Second City in Chicago, we met at the Second City, uh, in Toronto, which is an off, you know, part of that company.

Marco: And we're both Second City trained and

Amanda: worked for the organization that originated of course in Chicago. But, but as part of Toronto.

Marco: Now you mentioned this nickname, uh, Amanda. Chi Town or Chi Town, uh, pretty obvious origin there. Uh, how about city, uh, of Big Shoulders?

Amanda: Never heard of that.

Marco: The City of Big Shoulders is a nickname coined by Carl Sandberg in his 1914 poem Chicago, which describes the city as stormy, husky and brawling is the last of several nicknames in the poem. The others hint at the city's major industrial activities. Like you mentioned before, the City that Works, uh, for example, the meatpacking industry and railroad industry.

Amanda: Yeah. And again the unions. Right. Railroad unions and bus unions actually.

Marco: And therefore it's sometimes, uh, said that it is the City of Broad Shoulders. I never heard that, but I really like that one.

Amanda: Mhm.

Marco: Chiberia. Have you heard of that one?

Amanda: No, but that's fine.

Marco: It's a great one. It's like Chicago and Siberia. And it was coined by Richard Castro, a Meteorologist working for CBS Chicago during a cold wave in 2014. So recently. Amanda. And it brought the coldest temperatures to the city in multiple decades. Mhm. City in a garden.

Amanda: People say that of Toronto too.

Marco: Okay. Here it says, in the 1830s, the government of Chicago adopted the motto Urbs in Horto, a Latin term that translates to city in a garden.

Amanda: Interesting.

Marco: That's displayed on the city seal, Amanda.

Amanda: Yeah, and there are a lot of gardens. And uh, uh, you never think of the waterfront of Chicago.

Marco: It's so beautiful.

Amanda: But there is a gorgeous waterfront there, of course, on Lake, I believe Michigan.

Marco: Here's one I never heard. Great, um, Commercial tree.

Amanda: Okay. I feel like we're moving in a new direction with that.

Marco: Great. Commercial tree comes from the lyrics of the state anthem of Illinois. And I'm going to quote here, till upon the inland sea stands thy great commercial tree.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: Mud City. Have you heard that one?

Amanda: No. I guess because there was mud.

Marco: Possibly the oldest nickname for the city, referring to the fact that the terrain of the city used to be a mud flat.

Amanda: Okay, okay.

Marco: This one I've heard before. City by the lake.

Amanda: Yeah, I've heard that as well. And it certainly is. And it's. If you haven't been there, you might be impressed by the turquoiseness of the water there because you think of the lakes as sort of murky and so on. Um, but the water is really a beautiful color of blue.

Marco: Gorgeous.

Amanda: Or it can be anyway, certain days.

Marco: You've already sort of alluded and mentioned this. The city that works. It was a slogan from Richard J. Daley's tenure as mayor describing Chicago as a blue collar, hard working city, which ran relatively smoothly.

Amanda: I almost would think that maybe Chicago is the city that coined the term blue collar. And the reason I say that is because one of the first unions, in fact, were the porters on the trains. So not only did the people who make the railroad become unionized, but the people who worked on those trains, the conductors and the porters especially, um, they became one of the first unions and they were blue uniforms.

Marco: Wow.

Amanda: Blue collar. Yeah.

Marco: That's fascinating. Thank you for sharing that, Amanda. Heart of America. Uh, Chicago is one of the largest transportation cities in America and its location was once near the center of the United States. Part of America, the great American city.

Amanda: Okay, you say that about a lot of cities.

Marco: I think this was taken from Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Norman Mailer. Do you say Pulitzer or, uh, Pulitzer? What do you say?

Amanda: Paul, I don't say Pulitzer.

Marco: Pulitzer. That's what I say. It comes from Norman Mailer. Do you know who that is?

Amanda: Heard of him?

Marco: Okay. Uh, their book, Miami and the Siege of Chicago from 1968. Chicago is a great American city, perhaps the last of the great American cities. The notion that Chicago is arguably the most quintessential American city was central to Robert J. Simpson's landmark research on communities, criminology and urban sociology. I guess that's from the book Great American Chicago and Enduring Neighborhood Effect. I didn't stop the quote there. So it went from the quote to the next part. So I apologize for that.

Amanda: All good. I mean, I think it is, uh, a quintessentially American city.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: The cuisine of Chicago is very quintessentially American. I mean, I don't think there is a city that does beer and burgers better than Chicago, honestly. They're known for their meat.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: The barbecue, certainly. Um, you know, the ribs, all of that. Anything in the meat department.

Marco: They know what they're doing.

Amanda: If you're not a meat eater, they will make things taste like meat. Um, and yeah, they're breweries. Their beer. Yeah. It's a working person city in the best possible way. Um, and there's a lot of really beautiful architecture that we discovered as well.

Marco: So beautiful. I appreciate that. I went to dinner with yourself and a friend of ours, M. And she said, oh, when I tell you the temperature of which I want the meat, I know I'm going to get it correct. In other words, medium. Medium rare.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: It wasn't going to oscillate to the wrong temperature. And I believe you said you had the best burger you've ever had there.

Amanda: I had the best burger I've ever had there. And that's. I mean, I haven't had. I started eating burgers, proper burgers, not veggie burgers or anything else pretty late in life. Um, relatively speaking. I know it's something kids eat. I did not eat them as kids, but I. Every now and then I dabble as an adult. And, uh, this one was pretty fantastic.

Marco: Uh, the city beautiful.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: It's referenced, uh, by the eponymous reform movement. Is that how you say eponymous?

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: Sparked by the world.

Amanda: Doesn't that just mean that it's no longer around?

Marco: I guess it was sparked by the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, so probably not around.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: And it was used by Hawk Harrelson. What a cool first name. The person's name is Hawk. When the Chicago White Sox opened A game at the U.S. cellular Field.

Amanda: They love their baseball in Chicago. They do, they love their sports, but I think particularly baseball.

Marco: Well, basketball too. The Bulls, the Bears. Like all of them. Even the Bruins, right? Yeah, no, that's Boston. Pardon me?

Amanda: Um, yeah, the Bruins are. The Cubs. The Bears, Blackhawks, Right? Yes.

Marco: Okay. The three one, two.

Amanda: Yeah. Well, every city is known by its area code. If I gave you area codes, would you know the city?

Marco: Possibly.

Amanda: I can. There's ours. The 416.

Marco: Yes.

Amanda: Um, 202. Do you know that one?

Marco: Vermont?

Amanda: No.

Marco: Oh, no, it's.

Marco: It's.

Marco: Hang on. It is 212. 212 is New York.

Amanda: Uh, no, 212 is New York. Yes, 202 is.

Marco: Someone from 202 called me recently. Hawaii.

Amanda: D.C. oh, D.C. i was going to say D.C. oops. Um, Boston is, uh. Gosh, I forget now. See, we didn't. I. We didn't have to do area codes back, right? 61-612-613.

Marco: Sure should look that up.

Amanda: Well, 613 is Ottawa. Right?

Marco: Yeah, 613.

Amanda: Uh, I'm gonna look up Boston.

Marco: I thought I knew postal, uh, not postal codes. I thought I knew area codes better. The last one that I have on my list of nicknames for Chicago. Amanda, you ready?

Amanda: 617 is Boston. I knew it was a six one something.

Marco: Um, is Paris on the Prairie.

Amanda: We did hear that while we were there. I mean, Paris, I guess, because it has a river running through it.

Marco: That's a name from Daniel Burham's quote plan for Chicago. So I'm taking it that's a book that this person wrote.

Amanda: Uh, or.

Marco: No, he was an architect and urban designer, so it's probably from his book.

Amanda: I have to say, I don't personally enjoy when people put another city's characteristics and say it's this of the.

Marco: This. Sure.

Amanda: So Paris of the Prairie. Why can't it just be Chicago of the Prairie? The one that now is readily said, but it was a marketing ploy about 20 years ago is the Mayan Riviera. Now everyone just says, oh, I was on the Mayan riviera, but that 30 years ago, that wasn't a thing. And then tourism board started saying, oh, it's the Riviera, but it's the Mayan Riviera in Mexico, of course, the Yucatan Peninsula. And, um, now it's become that. We hear that a lot.

Marco: I invite you to put, um, Riviera next to your local body of water.

Amanda: Right.

Marco: So pick a body of water.

Amanda: The Ontario Riviera Lake Ontario.

Marco: I'm trying to think of Huron.

Amanda: I don't even know. Um, I'm trying to think of other cities that they do that.

Marco: Mississippi, Riviera, the Mississippi River.

Amanda: Um, I'm trying to think of other cities where they say, in the backyard, we get. In Toronto, we get Hollywood North. People say a lot, like, for some reason, I guess, because Hollywood is considered and is the mecca of where all filming for TV and film happens, for sure.

Marco: That's why there's Bollywood for movies that are.

Amanda: And we get Hollywood north and Nollywood.

Marco: Have you heard of Nollywood?

Amanda: What's Nollywood?

Marco: Nollywood are films that come out of night. Nigeria.

Amanda: I've never heard of those.

Marco: Or Nigeria is referred to as Nollywood.

Amanda: I didn't know that. I'd like to go to Nollywood.

Marco: Oh, wouldn't. Wouldn't you? Wouldn't I. And Bollywood, the last nickname I. I want to personally give Chicago.

Amanda: And you'll probably understand, you're on Chicago. Whereas I'm like, let's talk about things people call cities.

Marco: Well, because I just figured this would be a Chicago episode. So I'm trying not to deviate from.

Amanda: Well, I apologize.

Marco: I've gone.

Amanda: I'm trying to think of other ones now.

Marco: Um, Chicago, My kind of town. From the song.

Amanda: Okay. Whose song is that?

Marco: I think Frank Sinatra sings it or was well known.

Amanda: Oh, really? Yeah.

Marco: Have you never heard that?

Amanda: Maybe. I mean, I know he did New York, New York. So I feel like. Was that a call and response? Everyone in Chicago got upset about New York, New York, so.

Marco: No, I mean, it's a song, Amanda. Like. Like, I think it was just.

Amanda: I believe you that it's a song.

Marco: There's a song, popular, uh, composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics from Sam Khan, and it was for Frank Sinatra.

Amanda: Okay, well, Chicago. Mike, what is your favorite nickname of Chicago? What do you think sums it all up?

Marco: Uh, I do like my kind of town. That's why I said it. But I really like, um. What's the shoulders one?

Amanda: Big Shoulders. Uh, Land of the Broad Shoulders.

Marco: No, I can't remember. City of Big Shoulders.

Amanda: Uh-huh.

Marco: I mean, that's a pretty neat name. What about you? Are you more of a mud city? I, uh, know you're not Paris of the Prairie.

Amanda: No, I don't like Paris of the Prairie. I think I've made my case pretty clear on that one.

Marco: I want to call Paris Chicago of the Europe.

Amanda: I mean, I do think it is a windy city. I mean, uh, Chicago is windy. No, Toronto's windy, too.

Marco: But I always heard that Windy City referenced the politicians that they could blow either way in Chicago.

Amanda: Oh, interesting. I actually think the Second City is a fun nickname, too. And I love this idea that when it got rebuilt, they called it the Second City. There's something really fun about rising from the ashes and that whole imagery. Although it's not, you know, in Phoenix, it's a cow. In this case, Mrs. Oleary's cow.

Marco: How great would it be?

Amanda: Everybody was mad at this cow, apparently

Marco: to have wings on a cow that burst from the flames. So it's a phoenix cow.

Amanda: Beautiful image for people to go to sleep, too.

Marco: Yeah, sure.

Amanda: A phoenix cow. A phoenix cow rising from the acid, uh, ash.

Marco: Uh, even better. So it doesn't rise from. It doesn't rise from ashes.

Amanda: From the mud.

Marco: From acid.

Amanda: From acid. Yeah. Um, yeah, uh, I really did enjoy our time there. We got to go to Harry Cary's, which is one of those Chicago landmarks that we've never been to. And, uh, it's a restaurant and obviously owned. And in, uh, tribute to the late, now late Harry Carey, um, who was a sports announcer, among other things, and a personality certainly known in Chicago, most definitely. Um, and yeah, we, uh, learned a lot about the architecture. I think an architecture tour is a great way to see a city, um, because every city is a story. The buildings tell the story, right? And sometimes we look at cities and we think, you know, what's there to see, what's there to do? And oftentimes the answer is right in front of you. You know, why was art nouveau interesting? Art deco? When did that happen and where did it happen and why, you know, the brutalist movement, the modern buildings are modernists, and where did they put them and why? And, um, which architects used which, you know, employed which designs and what was of which time, and, uh, and who are the people that financed these buildings and what are their stories? So I do think, looking at the buildings and the homes, I mean, Chicago is interesting too, because it's such a brick city. Right. They made brick. Brick, Chicago brick. Well known. And Toronto is a very much a sister city in that way to Chicago, because we are also a very brick forward city. And of course, if you have a city that had, uh, a. A cow that starts a fire, you're not going to want anything made of wood. So I do get that.

Marco: Yeah, that Phoenix cow can do a lot of damage.

Amanda: Hm.

Marco: One of the buildings that really struck me, Amanda, was the St. Regis, Chicago, the St. Regis Hotel, which Was built in, uh, it started construction in 2016 and was completed in 2020.

Amanda: Mhm.

Marco: Uh, and it was designed by a Chicagoan designer, Jeanne Gang.

Amanda: Mhm.

Marco: And it is this wavy, fascinating green, tall glass building. And I'm not one for glass buildings. That's not my aesthetic, shall we say. I like art deco buildings. But this building with what you mentioned earlier in the show, the blow through or the wind through floor or whatever they call it, um, just, just was just like an emerald on the water.

Amanda: Yeah, yeah. Beautiful, really beautiful building. And does kind of stand out in a way. So getting to know that history, you know, the tour took us along the river and right out into the mouth of Lake Michigan. And there's a Ferris wheel there, there's Navy Pier there. We didn't spend any real time at Navy Pier on this round, but certainly I've gone and it's sort of that quintessential almost Bob's Burgers kind of boardwalk with the Ferris wheel and the seagulls and cotton candy and a few, you know, amusement park kind of games and that type of thing. Um, and Chicago also is a great

Marco: city to walk, most definitely.

Amanda: Yeah, we walked a fair bit.

Marco: The Miracle Mile.

Amanda: Mhm. Which is where we were staying. We didn't go to Old Town this time around.

Marco: No, we didn't.

Amanda: But I did, like I said, I, I had spent a lot of time there, um, about 10 years ago when I was putting up a show there. And uh, Old Town, where I stayed in Old Town, since we're focusing on Chicago.

Marco: Love it.

Amanda: There is a tiny, tiny, tiny little bar called the Twin Anchors Pub and there's not much to it. You go in, there's a few seats. But it is known particularly because they filmed the Dark Knight Rises in there. So there's lots of photos and uh, filming there. And this pub is known for its ribs. And again, it's not a very big pub and it's also known for all its local beer. So uh, because it was our neighbor, it was right next door. It was your local local, quite literally next door. Yeah, we would go there after every show.

Marco: One of the, one of the things I love in Chicago, um, is the Bean. The Chicago Bean?

Amanda: Yes, the Chicago Bean. If you want to explain that.

Marco: It was actually called Cloud Gate.

Amanda: Oh, I didn't know that.

Marco: It's a public sculpture by Indian born British artist Anish Kapoor. And it's in Millennial Park. And what it looks like is a bean, a silver bean that's very reflective. And uh, you know, it's made of stainless steel and it's highly polished, so you can see your reflection in it. There's no visible seams either, so it seems extremely smooth. And it is smooth, right? It would be. And it's just a really pretty sculpture. It was inspired by liquid mercury.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: And as I said, it reflects and, uh, distorts the city. And it's just a really neat thing to see.

Amanda: So the bean last time, uh, 10 years ago, I gifted my sister. I went to Tiffany's or Tiffany. Tiffany or Tiffany's.

Marco: The blue box jewelry store.

Amanda: Yes. And bought her a bean necklace. Because I was in Chicago and I thought it was a good 40th birthday gift. Which is hilarious to think about it now though. It was my sister turning 40. We all thought we were so old, as always, as with every birthday. But, um, that bean, which is now what I picture when I picture the large millennial park version in Chicago, was originally designed by Elsa Peretti.

Marco: Yeah, that's what I was looking up.

Amanda: Tiffany. And um, if you've watched, for example, the um, Netflix show, uh, the Ryan, um.

Marco: Halston.

Amanda: Halston. Who's that guy's name? Ryan.

Marco: Ewan, ah, McGregor.

Amanda: He is playing Halston Ryan Murphy. Ryan Murphy, Yeah. Who's known for so many different series.

Marco: I'm just gonna mention famous people and

Amanda: see if they see. Yeah, Ryan Murphy. Anyway, he, um, did that eight part sort of miniseries. Uh, Ewan McGregor's phenomenal in it playing Halston the designer.

Marco: I love the actor who played Elsa Peretti. She's so good.

Amanda: Oh, she's so good.

Marco: She's fantastic.

Amanda: And she's not as well documented, maybe as Halston, although people in the design world certainly know her and her designs. But she designed the Halston perfume bottle and went on to have quite a career with Tiffany's and designed that iconic bean necklace that is widely worn. And it again just looks like a little silver gold or ah, rose gold if you want bean.

Marco: I love Elsa Peretti's design. We m discovered it because of that show you were talking about.

Amanda: Mhm.

Marco: And you had bought me a shoehorn that was designed by her. And just for the record, Amanda, it is Tiffany and company. There's no s there.

Amanda: Good.

Marco: Now I know Tiffany and company.

Amanda: So many companies you don't know if you should put the apostrophe. Do they own the company Nordstrom's or is it just Nordstrom? Ross's or just Ross?

Marco: Yeah.

Amanda: Some people are gonna be like, what stores are you talking about? They're very, very usual regional stores.

Marco: Is There a regional store that you love in Chicago?

Amanda: Oh, um, trying to think.

Marco: While you're thinking. The reason I mentioned the bean as well is I was looking for a ornament for Christmas from Chicago to put on our tree.

Amanda: Mhm.

Marco: And we didn't. We weren't. We weren't in a place that was selling Christmas ornaments in April.

Amanda: Mhm.

Marco: But I found a bean replica with a string on it. It's just a. Just a little.

Amanda: Oh, yeah, I forgot you.

Marco: And that's going to be our ornament. I love it for Christmas.

Amanda: I forgot that you got that. That's wonderful.

Marco: And there you go.

Amanda: Yeah. I don't remember what I was supposed to be thinking about.

Marco: Regional store. You know what? Don't worry about it.

Amanda: You know what? Chicago has all of the. The great American chain, Macy's and Filenes, et cetera.

Marco: Yeah, Filenes.

Amanda: I think that went under. Does it go under?

Marco: I think it went under.

Amanda: You know what? It has Sears, but not anymore.

Marco: No, it also went under.

Amanda: But the Sears Tower. I didn't realize the Sears Tower was called such because it was actually owned by Sears, the company. I didn't know that.

Marco: Yeah, it's no longer, um. Sears is obviously no longer part of that tower, but everyone still refers to it as the Sears Tower.

Amanda: Sears has gone the way of Gimbel's. If you've watched Miracle on 34th street, the big competitor of Macy's is Gimbel's. And Gimbels was a store, but isn't any anymore.

Marco: Well, Amanda, that's our episode of the City of Big Shoulders.

Amanda: Yeah. The windiest of the windy cities. The second city, if you will.

Marco: Uh, the, um, city.

Amanda: Garden. City within a garden. Yeah, garden within a city. I don't know.

Marco: Uh, I want to say how much I love Chicago and Illinois for that matter. So I just want to. I know I say it every time we talk about a place, but.

Amanda: And next time you're in Chicago, we absolutely recommend go, uh, to the Siena Tavern. We didn't actually go this time, but it's one of our favorite places. The Twin Anchors Pub, Harry Carries, and of course, the architecture tour, which is taken by boat. It's a great way to see the city.

Marco: Yeah.

Amanda: Ah, gorgeous.

Marco: Until next time. We hope you're able to listen and sleep.