On my way to the South Side...

In order to get to the south side of Chicago, one can either take the El Train (Red/Blue/Orange/Green lines) or drive by car. If driving, you'll probably take Lake Shore Drive, which runs along the lakefront. Above is a passenger side view of Lake Shore Drive at about 5pm.

On the lake itself, you'll see many marinas filled with yachts and boats as you exit the city.

You'll also pass the Field Museum and the planetarium.

Many sports teams play a variety of sports in Chicago -- The Bears play American football, the Bulls play basketball, the Blackhawks play ice hockey, the Fire play soccer, and Chicago has two baseball teams -- the North Side Cubs and the South Side White Sox. Soldier Field (above) houses many White Sox games. The Sox won the World Series in 2005.

More Lake Shore Drive -- notice how the streets are nicely paved and everything looks sleek. Chicago's quality of life differs in many areas.

About fifteen minutes later, we're officially in the South Side of Chicago. Notice how the buildings are under construction -- a lot of the poorer areas of the South Side are being renovated.

More Lake Shore Drive.

The lake.

Compared to the sleek black condos of Chicago's Gold Coast (also along Lake Shore Drive North), these white older condos are not as expensive and not as glamorous.

To get into the city driving, one must drive on a highway that goes from his/her house into the city. Highways and tollways require tolls -- in IL this road toll is anywhere from 80 cents to a dollar. Freeways are free.

90/94 is the highway I would take to get from Chicago to Highway 294 and then to Highway 88 which runs close to my house. I live Southwest of Chicago, about an hour away.

The farther south we travel, the buildings get older and the high-rises are less common.

There are of course still modern areas to the city's south side.

We exit off the Highway at the 53rd St. Exit.

Onto the next part of our journey -- University of Chicago and the surrounding areas!