Chicago Vacation 2009

[Erika Smith]

If it is true that when you die your life flashes past, I want to stop at this fantastic vacation I had with 3 of my sons and relive it over in my mind as long as possible!

As our children grow up, it gets harder and harder to be able to spend any length of time with them because they are so busy with their adult lives. But for 5 days I got to spend time with Levi, Jonus, and Ivan (my sons). It was great. No husbands, wives, or fathers to contend with... just us like it used to be when they were growing up.

I had not been on an Amtrak for 23 years. We left Kalamazoo for Chicago. It was a relaxing train ride. I had a seat by myself with Levi and Ivan 2 seats back, and Jonus in a different coach. After arriving at Chicago, we walked to our first destination... Essex Inn (where we had reservations since November). We occupied 2 rooms on the 11th floor. The Inn has a pool and sauna, which we would get use out of while we were there.

We decided to find somewhere to eat. We found Weather Mark Tavern. I have never been in a restaurant that had it's front windows open to the fresh air. That seems to be quite common there. Also lots of revolving doors in Chicago.

Our hotel was across the street from Grant Park, so that was pretty much a nightly jaunt out sightseeing in the parks. I love Buckingham Fountain! It is so majestic and beautiful. We walked through Millenium Park also and saw the "Cloud Gate", which the locals call The Bean. We did a lot of walking our first few days there.

In the morning, we ate at Dunkin' Donuts, which are everywhere in Chicago. They are pretty scarce around here. Jonus bought a "Go Chicago" card for me for Mother's Day, which we got a lot of use out of on this trip. We went up to the Observation Deck on the Hancock Building. That was kind of creepy. With the building's support being an exo-skeleton, there was a lot of space on that floor without the framework running through the center of the building.

We had our dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in the bottom floor of the Hancock. I love to try new foods whenever I get the opportunity. Today was one of those days. I ordered artichoke hearts, which I found out I love, and a favorite of mine... stuffed mushrooms.

I was more comfortable with our next stop, which was the Sears Tower Skydeck. It was breathtaking up there.

Jonus and I took a horse and carriage tour of the lakeshore, and the residential district. It was really cool. We saw areas we wouldn't have otherwise. The driver's name was Bruno and the horse was LaSalle. I've never had a carriage ride either. I thought it would be fun to have a carriage ride after getting married, but it never happened either time I got married.

Being tired after all the walking, we took a ride in a Scion Taxi. The cab drivers there are insane. They zoom through town and lay on the horn at the traffic lights. But we enjoyed every second of it, with it being such a different lifestyle than here at home.

We walked to Lincoln Park Zoo the next day (what a long walk that was). My favorite animal there was the gorilla. I hadn't seen a gorilla since I went to the Berlin Zoo with my parents when I was in high school.

We went to the super huge Macys they have there and the 900 shops. There had been a shooting across the street in the intersection from there. A lady had used a stolen credit card at one of the stores there, and came back to use it again, when they alerted the police. While escaping, she took one of the guns away from the officer while another officer shot her in the abdomen. The intersection was blocked off with crime scene tape.

Jonus and I ate a snack at the Hershey's Shop. We had butter cream brownies. They were delicious. We also got to see the singing baker. Boy, did he attract a large crowd in front of him.

For supper, we ate at Ginos East. It served the best pizza I have ever had in my life.

On our last full day there, we walked over to Shedd's Aquarium. I hadn't been there since Ivan was in elementary school. He's been graduated now for 3 years. It was really interesting. We saw some fish with wicked looking teeth that I would hate to meet while out swimming. I sound like a tourist, don't I? I am.

We took a water taxi from that area over to Navy Pier, which has lots of great shops. I wish I had thousands of dollars to spend! From there, we took the Riverfront Architectural Cruise.

And you know what? There was still more things I wanted to do, but time waits for no one. I wish we could stay there forever.

It was the type of vacation I love. Lots of action in a fast-paced environment. The city is almost as active at night as it is in the daytime! I am going to remember it all my life and treasure it with all my heart! Good things never last...