I’m back! Actually I’ve been back since about 10pm Tuesday night but have been recovering slowly since then. There was so much traffic on the freeways that it took my hubby and I over an hour to get home from the airport so I got to bed quite late and had to be up for work the next day. It was a fantastic trip but I’m exhausted! lol
We started our trip on the Amtrak which was a 4 day trek that passed through 9 states. There was magnificent scenery and fun times were had by all. Sleeping on the train is never my favorite part of the trip and as I said in comments – never underestimate the glory of a shower. :0)
We left Wednesday the 7th at 10:15am and got into Chicago at about 4:00pm on Saturday the 10th. We bought our 3 day CTA passes (that got us on buses, subways and the L) and made our way to our hotel. My sister took a train from Kansas City and met us in Chicago that night. We ordered pizza and relaxed.
Sunday we headed off to St. James Cathedral and went to church. We moseyed after that and made our way to The Fourth Street Presbyterian Church. My mom attended both St. James and Fourth St. when she went to Moody Bible Institute over 50 years ago. After that we went to see the Water Tower. Built in 1869 it was the only public building to survive the horrific Great Chicago Fire in 1871. I actually forgot my camera on Sunday (duh) so the few pictures I got were taken with my cell phone. We then shopped and took the L red line all the way to the end and then took a bus on the Lake Shore Drive (Outer Drive) that was just beautiful. The kids were really troopers considering how far we walked. The weather the entire time we were in Chicago was really great. Yes it was warm and somewhat humid but there always seemed to be a nice breeze coming off of Lake Michigan.
On Monday we started our day at Ann Sather’s Restaurant on Belmont. If you are ever in the Chicago area and want a fabulous breakfast go there! Seriously good food. They are famous for their cinnamon rolls – which are to die for wonderful. And one order is 2 cinnamon rolls. No this is not diet food! lol Our waiter was so nice and ended up bringing an order of cinnamon rolls for our whole table on the house (yes, that totals 14 rolls), just so we could try them. My oldest stated that she was going to move to an apartment across the street from the restaurant so she could eat the cinnamon rolls every day. Too funny. I had a special called Ann’s Darling. It was hot oatmeal with rice porridge and granola topped with dried apricots, raisins, cranberries and pecans. It came in a bowl as big as my head and was so darned good I had to take half of it with me to eat later. I wonder if they ship food? We waddled out of the restaurant and headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Lincoln Park is just lovely and the zoo, which is free to enter, was so clean and well kept. We made our way to the Farm-in-the-Zoo after that which is sponsored by John Deere and the kids loved seeing the goats, pigs and cattle. By that time we were quite warm and headed across the park, and the Outer Drive to Lake Michigan where we took off our shoes and waded in the nice cool water. Let me tell you my kids did not want to leave it felt so good. That night we went over to Grant Park which was quite near our hotel to see Buckingham Fountain. I took a million pictures of that fountain and not one of them came out! Apparently when you put my camera on “night scene” which is the only way that it would show up on my camera it makes everything blurry. What good is that? Anyway, take my word for it, it was beautiful as well.
On Tuesday morning we breakfasted and then headed to the Willis Tower, previously known as the Sears Tower. The building is the second tallest in the world and we headed to the 103rd floor to what is called their Skydeck. It has tons of info on historical and current Chicago and incredible views of the city. My kids also walked out onto the Skyledge which gave me serious heart palpitations. I did step forward enough take a picture through the floor but that was it – there was no way I was walking out into that thing!
My kids, niece, sister and parents headed off to the station soon after that to catch their train to Kansas City where they will stay with my sister and then head back home on the 18th. (They’ll make it back to LA on the 20th.) I was then on my own for a few hours since their train left at 3:15pm and my flight home didn’t leave until 7:40pm. I ate some lunch and then went to the public library that was across the street. Damn confusing 10 floor library, but incredibly gorgeous. I read for a couple of hours and then made my way to O’Hare airport.
That’s my vaca in a nutshell. We walked our asses off – which was good since we ate our way through Chicago! My kids are gone until the 20th so the hubby and I are enjoying the quiet in the house. It’s hotter than hell right now (110 F yesterday) so I’m trying to stay indoors as much as possible. That just means more reading for me, right?
Hope you all are well.
Here are some of the photos I took while on the trip – enjoy! (In case you’re wondering my oldest was photo shy for most of this trip so she’s not in many pictures!)
Glad to hear you had nice weather! Summer in Chicago can be ungodly. Sort of like it is right now here in So. Cal. just with so much humidity that it feels like you're trying to breathe soup – LOL.
SO sorry we missed meeting up! It's been insane here, and now I've taken on a time-consuming p/t job that I love, but gives me no time. Glad you had a great time while you were here though!
Today the humidity is like a wool blanket. You came at the perfect time 🙂
Oh I just looked at the pics – you got some great shots! I'm supposed to be working at the Sears Tower within the next year.
Sounds like you had a great trip Tracy!
Welcome back. I would love to visit Chicago some day. Speaking of humidity, we are breathing soup here too right now.
Glad you and your family had fun, thanks for the pics. *g*
I love Chicago! You really saw a lot for how long you were there. And the eyeball! You saw the eyeball! Did you see the bean?
Wendy – I was expecting the weather to be much hotter and more humid than it was – we did luck out.
And OMG could it GET any hotter here?
Stacy – I know! I wish we could have gotten together but with the tight schedule we kept it would have been really hard. Sorry that p/t job is taking all your time!
Apparently I visited at the right time, huh? 🙂 Sorry to hear it's humid again.
I don't know if I could work in a high rise like the Sears Tower. Maybe if there were railings in front of the windows. lol
Lea – Thanks – we did have fun, even though it was tiring.
Breathing soup? You poor soul. Is it usually humid there?
Chris – Yes. we. did. lol We were all over that city. Good thing they have such a great transit system!
The Eye was near our hotel by a couple of blocks so we had to pass it to get to the subway. I couldn't resist take a picture. Nope, no bean was seen. lol
So glad you enjoyed your vacation, Tracy! Those are gorgeous pictures of Chicago. I don't know if I would have gone on that ledge either. 🙂
Stay cool… our heatwave just broke and it's about to begin again, starring the three H's — hot, humid, hazy. Ugh!
Sounds like you had a great time, Tracy 😀 and it's awesome that you could spend it with your family 😀
Hmm, Chicago is a city I'd like to visit one day 🙂
Awe, great pictures and sounds like you had a great time!
You're making me homesick. LOL I haven't been back since '93 – I grew up in the burbs. So I'm long overdue.
Sounds and looks like you had a great trip. I love Chicago although it's been years since I've been there. Welcome back!
Hilcia – Thanks! Yeah, that ledge was scary. As I said, I know thousands of people go on it daily and I'm sure it's safe, but it still scared the pee outta me! lol
Nath – I think I'd like to go back someday and take a more leisurely trip of the city.
Leslie – You ARE long overdue. It's hard to be away from a place you love for so long. Pack your bags chickie! lol
Lily – Thanks it was fun but it's nice to be home too. 🙂
Great pics! Glad you guys had a wonderful time 🙂
I adore Chicago. Can't wait to go back. *sigh* Someday…
Tracy!!! It's been too long since I've popped over here. I'm so sorry.. please forgive me. *puppy dog eyes*
I'm so glad to hear– and SEE–that you had such a lovely vacation. I LOVE that you guys took the train to Chicago. I bet that part of the trip alone was awesome! Great photos! 🙂
xo
I'm behind in responding, sorry!
Lori – Thanks it really was great fun.
Christine – No worries. I haven't blog hopped in like what seems forever. I really need to get my life organized again so that I can do it AT LEAST once a week. 🙂
The train really was fun. The scenery was gorgeous and some of it I hadn't seen before which was nice. It was just all around fun. 🙂