So what have I been up to? I'm glad you asked. On Saturday, Andrea, Elena, dad, Denice, and I took the 8:30 AM train from East Lansing to Chicago. Elena enjoyed the train. The trip out, we sat in the seats at the end of the car and she had extra room to play. We also brought The Aristocats and that entertained her for quite a while. I'm not a firm believer in portal DVD players for children.
We arrived in Chicago on-time, and after a taxi driver attempted to take us to the wrong hotel, we arrived at the Residence Inn Chicago Downtown/River North and checked into our 4th-floor room. Then we were off, because it was lunchtime.
My first choice, Xoco, had a twenty-minute wait and limited seating. We moved on to Rosebud, just a block from our hotel. We had a nice lunch while watching the U.S. lose in the World Cup. I had a very large "hero" sandwich with fries for only $9, much less than I thought I would pay in Chicago. And Elena really liked the waiter Jason, even giving him a picture of Boots the monkey from her Dora coloring book.
We moved onto Navy Pier where we rode the Ferris Wheel, then Elena rode the Lighthouse twice. The Lighthouse is a little ride that bounces up and down, kind of like a tiny Tower of Terror. She loved it.
We also enjoyed some Haagen Dazs and walked to the end of the pier for a beer in the beer garden. It was a beautiful day, so we walked to the Ohio Street beach so Elena could splash around in Lake Michigan. Our busy day done, we headed back to the restaurant. Andrea went to Havana for take-out. I had the Pollo a la Caserola which was fantastic. And since I was still not very hungry after our ice cream at Navy Pier, I had leftovers for the train ride home! Thank goodness for kitchenettes.
Sunday began rainy, so we took the bus to Navy Pier again and went to the Children's Museum. This was our second visit, our first being when Elena was a year and a half. She really got into some of the exhibits, so we didn't get very far. First, she decided to be a Chicago firefighter, a noble profession:
Next, she climbed up a rope tunnel and over a rope bridge:
And for the piece de resistance, she splashed around in the water room. Impression 5 has one too, but Chicago's is, of course, much bigger.
Speaking of Impression 5, since we are members of that museum and the Chicago Children's Museum is affiliate museum, so four of the five of us got in free. That right there is worth the membership costs.
We ate lunch at Capi's, a half-sit-down, half-fast food Italian restaurant at Navy Pier. Andrea, Elena, and I had eaten there once before, but Elena loves pasta, so we were game to go again. Just like last time, the employees were fast and very friendly. I had the pepperoni pizza, which was very good and big enough to share… but just a piece.
Back on the bus and back to our hotel for Elena's nap. Andrea headed up to the fitness room to continue training for another triathlon, and I laid in bed and read, training for being lazy. We both succeeded in our goals.
Once Elena was up from her nap, we went to the 27th floor pool for a swim. Well, Elena swim and we held her up in the water. It was relatively quiet until a half-dozen other kids showed up and made the pool unpleasantly crowded and noisy. Maybe it was just me.
Dinner was at the Grand Lux Cafe, home of the chocolate soufflé that Andrea so loves. This was the first time that we didn't have to wait for a table, which was fantastic. In fact, the restaurant wasn't full at any time during our dinner. We arrived a little early, about 5:00, but it was still surprising to see empty tables.
The Grand Lux is very generous with their portions. Knowing this, and knowing the wonderful desserts following, we ate relatively light. We started with a fried pickle appetizer, which were quite good, enough so that I would eat them again. That was followed by potato spring rolls and crispy flautas, both of which were excellent. Andrea had her "oozing chocolate center" dessert and I had the cheesecake, which I enjoyed.
After an early bedtime for all of us, the next morning, we took the Red Line to Shedd Aquarium. We got there just after it opened to avoid the long lines which are typically out the down and down the stairs. After checking out the Caribbean Reef, my favorite exhibit, we watched Fantase, a cheesy, Disneyfied show (without the Disney quality) involved some sort of queer-looking fairies interacting with the animals. Hint to aquarium: Just show us the dolphins and whales and sea lions. We don't care about the other crap.
We did more fish watching before locating Andrea's moray eel lurking in it's tank. This eel was there for our first trip to Chicago, and Andrea wanted to pay it a visit again. Yep, still there.
For lunch, we walked to Grant Park for the Taste of Chicago. Lots of great food there. My favorite were the pierogies with sour cream. It wasn't a cheap meal, but it was diverse, and it was a beautiful day, as you can see from the picture.
While Elena splashed in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park, I returned to the hotel to finish packing and get us out of the hotel for our 2:00 PM late checkout. And then I relaxed in the hotel lobby, looking out over Dearborn Street and reading Forest Mage.
When everyone returned to the hotel, we returned to Union Station for our 4:30 train back to East Lansing. The boarding process was horribly organized, and everyone was confused about which gate to go through, when we could go through the gate, who was able to enter the "pre-boarding" area. Complete lack of communication. But we made it.
Elena had a good ride home, alternating between laying on Andrea and my laps and sitting with dad and Denice. Our train arrived after 9:00 and the car was covered with leaves and bugs - bad parking spot - but we got home safe and sound.