A Trip to Libertyville, Illinois, USA - 31st August 2004

It's a busy work trip to Motorola, at 1000 Technology Way in Libertyville, near Chicago, which only gives a couple of hours here-and-there to look around Libertyville itself - a rather quaint Midwest town in the state of Illinois, 40 miles north of the Windy City. It also gives the chance to fulfil a number of American clichés including a diner, a school bus and a fire engine. Eating out proves interesting because portion sizes are so off the chart that Nosher and Nick - both known as big eaters - can survive dinner by sharing just a few starters, and where a breakfast "short stack" is enough food for a week. But first, The BBs have a mini rehearsal in Nosher's spare bedroom, and there's a delegation from US company Qualcomm visiting the Cambridge office.

next album: Claire and Paul's Wedding and The BBs, Thrandeston and Brome, Suffolk - 4th September 2004
previous album: A Trip to Ickworth House, Horringer, Suffolk - 22nd August 2004

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Max twangs his bass

Max twangs his bass

Rob fiddles around on guitar

Max and Rob play stuff

Jo and Max

Marc Nijdam from Qualcomm is over at Matrix House

Tim Simpson chats to someone

John Scott and Marcello

In the Mellis Railway, Wavy racks up

The resevoirs of Heathrow

Flying over the UK somewhere at 20,000 feet

Chicago's O'Hare Airport

A state trooper scopes our hire car out

Nick tries out his laptop in his room

A vernacular church in nearby Mundelein

A Mundelein civic building

Classic American houses

Forest Park is an estate made up of mansions

Nick on the 'beach' of Lake Michigan

Forest Park, on the edge of Lake Michigan

In Mickey Finn's microbrewery and restaurant

Our dinner for the evening - three starters

The next day, Nosher has a short stack

A Libertyville onion-shaped water tower

The parking lot at 1000 Technology Way

Nick strides up to reception

Heading into 1000 Technology Way

Motorola's engineers live in actual Cube Farms

Nick and our contact, Joel

Motorola's canteen is the size of a small town

We explore a bit more of the offices

A lake with a fountain

Nick and Joel stride around the campus

Libertyville Main Street

The Ansel B. Cook house

Nick stands in front of Old Glory

The Libertyville 'village' hall

A fire engine rushes past

Another icon: an old-school cinema sign

Our regular haunt - Mickey Finn's

A yellow school bus

The donut line at Krispy Kreme in Gurnee

Thousands of donuts trundle past

Nick shows off his prize: a 12-box of donuts

The gates are full at Heathrow, so we get the bus

Paddington Station