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Published: August 6th 2007
This time I was in Chicago visiting my friends M&A. I took a plane in on Saturday and stayed at a hotel out near O'Hare... which, by the way, is much less expensive than in the city... though it is a 45 min. CTA ride (@ $2/trip) to the Loop; extended stay hotels (e.g. Staybridge Suites) are relatively inexpensive out by the airport, though I stayed at the Doubletree with my hotel points).
Sunday morning I took the CTA to the Roosevelt stop just south of the Loop. It was then a short walk to the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium (both next to each other and on the south side of Grant Park). The plan was to meet M&A around noon and go to to Shedd Aquarium. However, since this was Memorial Weekend, the line to Shedd Aquarium was very long (hundreds of people waiting) and, at one point, I think they stopped admitting people all together because it was so full.
M&A were running a little late, so I spent a lot of time walking around the park area surrounding the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium. This area has some wonderful shoreline walks with great views of
the city. It was also a sunny, blue-sky day.
Because the Shedd Aquarium was so full, I met up with M&A near the CTA Roosevelt stop and we then took the CTA (which is also called the 'L' for "elevated", even though it has sections of subway in addition to the many elevated tracks) to the State stop, which is on the Loop. From there we walked north across the Chicago River to find a place to eat.
We first checked the restaurant at the House of Blues, but it was closed for a private party event. So, we took a short cab ride to the Hard Rock Cafe. Lunch was great, though our waiter was more than a bit eccentric... but it made it all the more interesting.
After lunch, we took either the 65 or 29 on Illinois street out to the Navy Pier. We spent some time walking around and stopped for awhile to watch a performance (a guy doing flexibility stuff... like fitting himself into a small box). We also visited the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows; Chicago is apparently known for its stained glass windows (and beautiful architecture, among other things).
We then walked around a bit more and caught a taxi to Ogilvie Metra Station.
As usual, Chicago is such a great city to visit and I especially enjoyed hanging out with M&A... such a beautiful day in a beautiful city.
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The next morning I headed to Union Station (via CTA and some walking) to catch an Amtrak train back to Missouri. We departed around 9 AM and I arrived in Jefferson City, MO around 8:00 PM (which was about an hour late). The trip was my first on Amtrak and I very much enjoyed it. The seats were very comfortable, especially in business class (Chicago to St. Louis). Coach was also comfortable, though not as roomy (St. Louis to Jefferson City). The seats in both business class and coach had AC power outlets. There was also a snack car with table seating. Great way to travel except for the time-in-transit. Much more comfortable than traveling by air and it left me wishing that the U.S. would add more high-speed trains like the one's in Europe. But that might not be economically feasible. At any rate, it was a great experience and I will be
sure to check both Amtrak and the airlines in future domestic travel adventures.
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Augusta
non-member comment
Chicago
Nice pictures, as usual. When we were there seeing Matt graduate in April, we were quite surprised to see how beautiful Chicago is (having never been there before). It is especially pretty down by the Aquarium/downtown. I think you captured the sights well.