Remember when we took a train to Lafayette for Grandma’s 70th birthday last summer? Well, during that trip, Riley mentioned that he wanted to take a train out to California to see his cousins. He especially wanted to sleep on a train.
Going to Cali by train would have taken way too long, but Grandma made Riley’s wish to sleep on a train come true. We left on a train to Chicago last Wednesday afternoon, spent three days exploring Chi-Town, and took a plane home on Sunday.
Our train departed New Orleans at 1:45pm on August 2. We were booked in four compartments on a sleeping car, which was located just behind the engine. So we got to walk all the way to the front and even took the time to take some pics. Our adventure had begun!
We boarded, found our {teeny tiny} bedrooms, dropped our stuff, and then headed to the observation car for the rest of the afternoon. The boys played with Legos and trucks while the adults watched the scenery. We passed through some marshland, over small lakes, and through lots of small towns.
We ate dinner in the dining car, and it was actually pretty good. Riley had seafood jambalaya and Rory ate chicken. But the rich chocolate brownies and huge salted caramel cookies for dessert were the best part!
We settled back into the observation car just as a gorgeous sunset was taking place.
A bit more play time and then it was time to head to bed. Kenny and Riley were in one room while Rory and I were in another. The boys slept on the bottom bunks while Kenny and I took the top. The kids slept just fine but if I never sleep on a train again, I’d be fine. It was a loooong night.
We pulled into Union Station in Chicago a few minutes early, just before 9am. We got ourselves and all of our stuff off the train, walked around Union Station trying to figure out where to go, and finally found the rental car counters. We secured one of our cars (the other wasn’t ready until later in the day), shoved our stuff in it, and then headed out to explore the city.
We walked across one of the city’s many bridges and slowly made our way to Millenium Park to see the {spitting} Crown Fountain and Cloud Gate (a.k.a. the Bean). Rory unfortunately slipped and fell hard at the fountain, knocking his head and soaking his back and booty. Once he calmed down and stopped crying, they splashed a bit more before we went to see the Bean. I loved showing Riley this!
After seeing all of Millenium Park, we all decided we needed a lunch break. So we went to nearby restaurant Pizano and refueled for an hour or so. I had my first taste of authentic Chicago deep dish pizza, and it was so good.
Next, on the recommendation of our waitress Kelsey, we caught the El train down south. We weren’t able to see any of Grant Park or the Buckingham Fountain on account of Lollapalooza happening in the city. Can’t believe that coincided with our dates; it made the city super crowded. There was also lots of construction happening all over, and Rory LOVED seeing all of the tower cranes.
Our ultimate destination was the Shedd Aquarium. I’m pretty sure I applied for an internship there in college, so it was really cool to be able to go. The building itself is really impressive. And massive.
There were LOTS of exhibits, and we saw tons of animals, including Beluga whales (Bailey!), dolphins, otters, fish (Dory, Marlin, and Nemo!), stingrays, and an octopus (Hank!). We found out the aquarium houses more than 32,000 species. That’s a lot of mouths to feed.
We finally arrived at our townhouse, had a very late dinner, and all collapsed into bed. Second half recap coming up next!
1 comments:
VERY cool trip.
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