September 13, 2011 Daytripping via Train: Indianapolis to Chicago (Part 1)
The sun rose in the east just before 7:30am. Melissa and I had been up for over three hours and on this train for nearly two. Our destination was Chicago.
The plan was hatched several weeks ago after we began planning a birthday bash for the girls. Melissa and I created a guest list, menu; all the necessary planning for such an event. A party was coming along nicely until Melissa had that gleam in her eye. This clued me that something interesting was in store for us.
The plan was simple: board a train to Chicago in the morning, explore the windy city and then hop back on a train home that evening. At less than the cost of a birthday party, Melissa and I could give the girls a memorable “celebration” of turning 9 and 5 respectively. Plus, they will get to ride on a train (which is something that took us 31 years to accomplish).
The train ride to Chicago was fantastic. Roomy seats, a lounge car where we played cards and plenty of time to sit and talk. Much nicer than driving even if it takes a longer time.
We arrived at Union Station right at 10am and took the escalators up to Jackson Blvd and the Chicago River. Let the walking and picture-taking begin.
For such enthusiastic planners as we are, Melissa and I are growing pretty adept at throwing caution to the wind and just going with the flow. Melissa wanted to see the Buckingham Fountain and I wanted to see Cloud gate (aka The Bean). And thusly, we were off.
Our first stop was in front of Calder’s “Flamingo” sculpture. Here, we met a helpful local that pointed us in the direction of a few more Chicago landmarks. But first we stopped to get the kids some food and boost their energy.
We took in the Chicago Picasso next. Quite possibly the highlight of my day was seeing my two children take in a cubist masterpiece in the only way they know how – sliding down it over and over again. I’m going to have to learn to make some animated .gifs with the pictures that I took.
We strolled east and stopped to rest and check the map. Then we realized that we were in Millennium Park. Our “let’s just wing it” attitude was not completely ignorant of Chicago’s offerings. We found Cloud Gate and I got my picture on. Maddie and Izzy loved it. Absolutely loved it. Especially its propensity to attract pigeons.
I’m realizing now that this is going to be a two-parter. Since this is as good as any point to pause I’m going to hit “publish” and finish this up tomorrow.
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Tags: Birthday, Buckingham Fountain, Chicago, Cloud Gate, family, Isabelle, Madison, Melissa, Millennium Park, The Bean, Travel, Union Station
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