Trip Report April 12-19

Our family of 5 (3 boys - 11, 13, 15) had a great trip to Chicago!! It helped so much reading this forum over the past several months. Thank you!! We ordered CTA 7 day passes in advance and had them mailed to our house. We also bought a family pass at our local natural history museum for $55 - which got us in to the Science Museum, Field Musuem, Adler Planetarium, and Children%26#39;s Museum.

We stayed at the Residence Inn Downtown/Magnificent Mile. We loved the location just a block off of Michigan Avenue and close to a bus stop. We got a travelzoo rate of $99/night. The rooms are very large. We had a suite with a king in one bedroom and a pull out sofa and rollaway in the other room. It had a kitchen and also served breakfast daily. On Monday night they had corn dogs and on Wednesday night they had sloppy joes. I would stay there again (but get a room away from the elevator shaft).

Sunday - We got the blue line train to the Chicago stop and took the #66 bus to within a few blocks of the hotel. We had 3 suitcases and 2 backpacks and it was no problem at all for us. We checked in and headed to the Hancock Observatory. There was no line at all and we went right up. The view was great and we were glad that we went to the observation deck, which included the tour with the headphones. After that we started walking to look for a place for dinner and ended up at Gino%26#39;s East Pizza. We loved the pizza. After dinner we just walked around a bit on Michigan Ave.

Monday - We had an appointment with a Chicago Greeter but he called us the night before and suggested that we switch to Tuesday since it was supposed to rain on Monday. Good decision! So, we spent the entire day at the Museum of Science and Industry. We got there before it opened and stayed until it closed. We all really liked it. Then we went to Water Tower Place and the Apple Store. I made the boys walk through the American Girl Place just to see what it was like - they may have daughters some day.

Tuesday - It was quite cold this day, but not raining. We met our Chicago Greeter at the Chicago Cultural Center. He was great!! We went to Millenium Park and walked the Loop. He told us all about the buildings and history. He showed the kids where Batman scenes were filmed. Then we took a train to Wrigley Field and had lunch at Wrigleyville Dogs. Everyone loved what they got - hot dogs, hamburgers and Italian beef. Then we took the train to Chinatown. We looked around there and then said good bye to our greeter back in the Loop. This is a fantastic service that I would recommend to anyone. We then went on a tour at the visitors center of the Federal Reserve Bank. It is free and you can take a bag of shredded money and get your picture taken with $1 million. My kids loved it! Then we went to Garrett%26#39;s for some popcorn. It IS as good as everyone says. We tried the mix and loved it. After dinner we went for a walk. We went in to the Rock N Roll McDonalds and the Rain Forest Cafe to have a look around.

Wednesday - Got to the Field Museum before it opened and went straight to the Pirate exhibit. We had to pay extra for this. This was my favorite part of the museum. Before we left home I downloaded an audio tour from the museum website and had it on my iPod. We listened to some of it as we walked around. We had seen all that we wanted to by about 2:00 so we went to the Adler Planetarium. We all really liked the planetarium. (Our family loves science and space so we enjoyed the science museum and the planetarium more than the field museum). After dinner we took a bus back to the planetarium so that we could see the skyline at night. It is a beautiful spot to view the city.

Thursday - We got to the Sears Tower Skydeck shortly after it opened and did not wait in line at all. Although we liked the view from the Hancock a bit more, the view from the Sears Tower was great too and by this time we had seen a little more of the city. Then we went to the small visitors center in the Chicago Board of Trade and watched a live video feed of the exchange floor. Then we walked to Buckingham Fountain. It is so beautiful. After that we went back to Millenium Park to see the Crown Fountain and to see Cloud Gate again. We loved hanging around here. The weather was beautiful. We caught a bus and went to Navy Pier. We didn%26#39;t do much there - just walked down the pier and back. We went into the Children%26#39;s Museum for about an hour only because we had the reciprocal pass. My kids played in the waterway exhibit the whole time. We took the bus to the Art Institute. It was the free evening. There was a long line to enter at 5:00 pm but it went very fast once it openend. Spending a couple of hours was pefect. We walked through the french impressionists section first and then wandered around through the rest of the museum.

Friday - Beautiful Day! We rented at car at 7:00 am and drove to Springfield. It was a 3 hour drive. First, we went to the Lincoln home visitors center and picked up timed tickets for a tour of the home. We watched a movie while we waited for our tour. Then we went to the Lincoln Museum. I loved this museum!!! The exhibits were great and the movies were unbelievable. I read Team of Rivals before we went so everything meant more to me after learning more about him. Last, we went to the Oak Ridge Cemetery to see Lincoln%26#39;s tomb. We were so glad that we did this even though it was a lot of driving. Everything was only opened from 9-5 so we had to keep moving to fit it all in. We didn%26#39;t have any traffic delays either way.

Saturday - Beatiful Day! We got to the Shedd Aquarium shortly after it opened. Even though the Oceanarium was still closed we still really liked it and were really glad that we went. The exhibits were great. When we left the there was a really long line to get in. We took the bus to the Michigan Avenue bridge and walked along the Mag Mile going in and out of stores and watching street performers. Since it was such a beautiful day there were a lot of people out. After putting bags in our hotel we took the bus to Lincoln Park. The zoo had just closed but we walked around, watched a soccer game, took pictures on a bridge (great view of the skyline) and then walked along Lake Shore Drive back to our hotel. Some jugglers put the boys in the middle of them and threw bowling pins back and forth. That was a great video. We stopped on Oak Street Beach and the kids played in the sand for about an hour while. It was such a beautiful evening that we decided to go back to Crown Fountain. It was fun to sit and watch the faces and the kids played in the water.

Sunday - Rainy! We slept in, hung out all morning, and took one last walk along Michigan Avenue until we took the bus and blue line back to the airport.

We took the bus everywhere. We only took the L to and from the airport and with the Greeter. It was so easy to get around and we loved being able to look out the window of the bus. We had a great trip. Loved the city. Hope we get back some day. Thanks again!!

Trip Report April 12-19

Nice report! While your masterful planning skills were obviously at work, my favorite part is the walking and exploring that rounded out your visit...so many visitors are dead set on overscheduling. Glad you had such a good time.

Trip Report April 12-19

Oh! Your trip sounded perfect! I%26#39;m so glad you got to see everything and that the weather cooperated. Thanks for the report back