Days 71-72 Saturday & Sunday June 30 – July 1, 2007 – Chicago, Illinois
The “EL” train system in Chicago, while very elaborate (although not NY elaborate) is very SLOW! My guess is that since most of it is above ground, for noise reasons the trains simply don’t reach high speeds. It took us almost an hour to make the twenty mile trip into the city on the “EL”. A similar trip in Montreal took about twenty minutes on the metro, while a 30 mile trip in Washington DC took about twenty-five minutes. I have to give the “EL” a big BOO for not being very fast. On the other hand, the traffic is so bad, that making the same trip in a car probably would take two hours.
The “EL” is honestly the only complaint I have about Chicago. It is another amazing American city. Saturday morning, after getting off of the train, we walked through Grants Park down the shores of Lake Michigan to the complex housing the Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium and Field History Museum. All three of these places are considered among the best of their kinds in the United States. We were hoping to get some more “culture” by getting another City Pass, which includes admission to all of them.
Our planetarium ticket included admission to the museum and one show. The show we chose to watch was about Black Holes and was just ok. For most of the show, the center projector was out, leaving, ironically, a black empty hole at the top of the planetarium’s domed ceiling. It was very distracting, as much of the show was not visible when it passed through this part of the screen. While I know you are thinking that maybe this was part of the show, I assure you, that it wasn’t.
After leaving the planetarium we headed over to the Shedd Aquarium. This is by FAR the best aquarium I have visited. We saw fish and sea creatures
At 5:30pm we left the aquarium and headed back to Grants Park. The Taste of Chicago is the largest annual food festival in North America and is held every year during the last week of June and the first week of July. With great enthusiasm we headed from the aquarium to the festival, bought our tickets and made our way through the almost endless food stalls. Unfortunately, since the food festival is so large and famous, the crowds tend to be very large as well. While we enjoyed it, in the end there was just way to many people. We got sick of trying to move around in the massive sea of people, so we used our tickets (CHICAGO HOT DOGS RULE!) and then decided to take a two mile stroll up Michigan Ave. to the John Hancock Building.
Just as we started to walk down the stairs to the subway station, someone set off a firecracker at the bottom. We quickly ran for cover to be safe, before realizing what it was. Shawn Reece was petrified and almost in tears. I really can’t understand why someone would do such a thing, especially with all that has gone on in London lately. The rest of our trip back was not as eventful. We were asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.
Sunday morning, we checked out of the hotel and made the drive to the Museum of Science & Industry. (This time we actually made it there.) Since
After the museum, we drove up to Waukegan, IL. Waukegan sits in Northern Illinois, near the WI border. Tomorrow, we are going to Six Flags Great America during the day, before driving to Green Bay, WI in the evening. Tuesday morning I will finally be visiting Lambeau Field! Oh how long I have waited for that! We are three happy and excited Packers fans!
The Coomer Family
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CHICAGO LOOKS LIKE A REALLY NICE CITY!! SHAWN REECE MAKES A GREAT LITTLE ASTRONAUT BETTER THEN MOST!! HA HA. GEE IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU GOT ALOT DONE IN A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME. LOVE THOSE DOLPHINS!! THAT’S MY KIND OF THING. ONCE AGAIN BEAUTIFUL PICTUERS AND VERY INFORMATIVE WRITING. THANKS FOR KEEPING ALL OF US WITH YOU ON YOUR TRIP. BE WELL AND SAFE. LOVE YOU GUYS AND WILL ALWAYS MISS YOU MORE THEN YOU WILL EVER KNOW. LOVE MOM AND MIKE OR GRANDMA AND GRANDPA MIKE XOXOXOXOXO
Hello to a very happy family. Enjoying your adventures immensly. When will you be back in LV. I leave tomorrow 23, for Seattle, will I beable to hook up with you on my return on the 28. Be well, be safe happy travels. Phyllis
hi guys it looks like Shedd Aquarium. was a lot of fun as well of Chicago look like you had lot of fun from jerry