At the end of Auguat we went to Chicago on a short, but very nice (at least very nice for us) vacation. We traveled by Amtrak train from Kansas City after having dinner with our parents and leaving LiLu with Richard and Betty then staying over night with Nathan and Rebekah.
The train trip was about 7 hours long and was much better than driving since we could get up and move around a bit. Every hour or so, we would spend a while in the observation car. This would provide a nice change of scenery and give the kids a chance to move around a bit. The kids spent more time on the floor at our feet than they did in seats, but since there was ample legroom that worked out well. Overall we enjoyed the train ride, especially since it was a new experience, but we did have a few complaints. First, the ride was far rougher than I expected. This was exaggerated by the fact we were on the second floor of the coach car, so when it rocked, it REALLY rocked. When the train crossed a grade crossing or track change it would sway hard and if you happened to be up on your feet it would throw you to the ground or onto the lap of the nearest person if you couldn’t catch yourself. Second, they have a snack car with a snack bar, but you can’t eat food you brought with you there, so instead you have to do that at your seat or in the observation car. Not a big deal, but that can get messy with children. Third, getting on and off in large cities usually requires a long walk between loud trains spewing diesel fumes into a mostly enclosed space. That is enough to make people who aren’t used to it feel sick. But it was cheaper than any other way to get to Chicago and really was very easy to do.
When we got off the train we wandered around a bit until we ended up confused on the street. We were able to easily get a cab and headed for our hotel. Once at the Swissotel we checked in and the kids were given a packed of coloring pages and a small toy. We then made our way to our room on the 25th floor. As we got off the elevator there was a great view of the lake and Navy Pier. From our room we had a good view of the Wrigley building, the river, and the reflection of Navy Pier. We could also see into the offices next door and watch the bellmen and valets far below moving cars and luggage around. After resting up a bit we headed out on foot down the Magnificent Mile and to the John Hancock building observatory. There we had to do our best to keep up with a very busy Annie, but the view was amazing. Eventually we came down out of the clouds and headed back down the Magnificent Mile (stopping at a Walgreen’s for groceries) and past the Chicago Tribune and CBS buildings to our hotel on the south side of the river. It wasn’t until the next day that we figured out how to get where we wanted to be without carrying strollers down stairs since the roads were stacked three levels deep. That walk made for a great introduction to the city and showed us that we could get almost anywhere on foot fairly efficiently.
Thursday, 8/31
For our first full day in Chicago, we decided to take off on foot to see the sights on the way to the museum campus. It was about 2.5 miles from the hotel to the campus, but it was a beautiful morning and the walk took us through Millennium Park and Grant Park. We got to see the amphitheater with its huge stage and massive overhead grid of supports and speakers. Bryan was very impressed at both the scale and the stylishness. Along with all the modern architecture was a collection of security guards riding Segues. It looked like a scene out of Back To The Future II when they are in 2015. Right next to that was the rather unusual pedestrian bridge and an interesting garden. Down the road in Grant Park we strolled around Buckingham fountain and gazed at the skyline.
Eventually we made it to the Museums and discovered that the Museum of Science and Industry isn’t located with the aquarium and Field Museum. Oh well, the kids didn’t want to see that anyway. So we wandered our way over to Shedd Aquarium and posed for pictures with the giant lizard running up the front steps. Inside we all had a great time. The coral reef exhibit was really well done and it was fun to watch the dolphins in the Ocenarium. Unfortunately the beluga whales were off exhibit because they had a calf born a month before. Also, we got in trouble because Isaiah had adopted a balloon when we first walked into the aquarium and the staff got very excited when he carried right down to the open dolphin tank. Of course, the kids’ favorite part of the whole thing was the bubble machine outside the theater where they were showing a SpongeBob movie (which we didn’t watch). Simple joys. Eventually the kids fell asleep and we weren’t supposed to take strollers into the lizard area, so we didn’t get to see that. Fortunately, they stayed asleep while we worked our way through the older part of the aquarium where they have dozens of tanks showing water ecosystems from around the world. That was neat, but not very exciting.
Next we caught a free shuttle back to the north and got off across the street from the Art Institute. We had not planned on going there, but there were signs in front saying that it would be free that evening, so we adjusted our schedule so we could see at least part of it. We had some time to kill, we walked back into Millennium Park. As we did we came to the Crown Fountain. This turned out to be one of the unexpected highlights of our trip. The kids had a blast playing in the water and with other kids. Even Annie made a friend. We then went to see the famous “bean” sculpture, Cloud Gate, and took the obligatory photo of our distorted reflection.
We then headed back to the Art Institute where the line down the sidewalk made it clear we wouldn’t be seeing much of it with two tired restless children. We made it inside and had enough patience to see the creative children’s hands on art area and children’s art library. We then quickly skimmed the touchable gallery, where you are encouraged to use the sense of touch to better appreciate sculpture, and the miniature room gallery that was just plain amazing. Melissa would have enjoyed spending much more time there, but we were doing our best to keep the kids from climbing the walls so we headed back toward the park for Chicago style hot dogs and a Chica-go-go dance party.
The dance party was actually a back-to-school party with a local public access program that could be compared to American Band Stand for kids. We can now honestly say that we “performed” on the stage at Millennium Park. In addition to dancing they had an amazing beat box performer that really had us jamming. Eventually two tired kids and their hungry parents with sore feet headed back to the hotel for a swim on the 42nd floor. What a day!
Friday, 9/1
Addition from Melissa: When he says the train rocked, he means it. After a long walk on solid ground, we stopped for dinner in our hotel room. Halfway through the meal, I experienced some ground-shaking vertigo. It felt like the entire hotel was on the train, rocking and bumping up and down! It was quite unpleasant, and lasted for a couple of hours. While I didn’t feel ill, I sure didn’t appreciate having to revisit the train while laying in bed in my comfy hotel room.
Today, we enjoyed a bus ride to the Lincoln Park zoo, which was our first experience in Chicago Public Transportation (not counting the cab). We’re not sure exactly how far it was, but the maps showed it to be about 3.5 to 4 miles. It was an interesting experience. The zoo was okay. We’ve been to some exceptional zoos, but this was nowhere near some that we’ve seen. Hardly memorable. The most memorable part came later, as we walked through the zoo and about a half-mile down the road to the North Avenue Beach, the kid’s first beach experience. Since they both love playing in the sand, it was probably their favorite part of the trip. They treated it like one huge sandbox, and we could barely get them to leave. Needless to say, we left a little later than intended, and ended up delayed for dinner. As we looked at the skyline, we noticed that it didn’t seem too far to the Hancock building, which we had walked to on Wednesday and knew to be only a mile from our hotel. So we ended up walking the 2-3 more miles to our hotel where we cleaned up and prepared for our late dinner. Then came the adventure of finding the restaurant we wanted to eat at. Gino’s East is supposed to have some of the best authentic Chicago-style pizza, and we can’t argue. It was amazing. It was further than we realized, and ended up walking a mile and a half there, and waiting about an hour for our pizza, but it was well-worth the walk and the wait. And it was almost as good the next day when we had the cold leftovers for lunch!
Saturday 9/2
Saturday found us checking out Navy Pier. It was a great end to our trip, as we could look back over the city and see all that we had visited before. Unfortunately, we traumatized our son in the Amazing Funhouse Maze there, as he was quite frightened of the dark paths and strange bursts of air. But we thought it was great fun. With one hour remaining, the returning train ride has been somewhat uneventful, though we did enjoy our overpriced dinner in the dining car. As usual, we vowed once again to never dine in public while we still have small children, and the motion of the train only made them more rambunctious. Why we keep attempting to dine in public, I don’t know, but one of these days, Annie will begin to develop the social graces to actually eat in a restaurant, instead of screaming and throwing knives!
All in all, a wonderful, relaxing, exciting vacation of firsts and fun! We already have a full list of all of the things we missed that we will see the next time we come to Chicago, and we are certain we will want to visit again somewhat soon! IT was a great place to experience our first family vacation!
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