Chicago Illinois

Journey to the Land of Water Wind and Fire

Part A: The Journey There IIa

The first stop on our Journey to Oregon was Chicago. Now, you may ask, "Why stop in Chicago on your way out?" As with most good questions people ask, allow me to provide several answers:

1. Chicago is a neat city with a lot of things to see and do. No 2 trips to Chicago need be the same. Plus, we have found that stopping for just a day then, and a day now, allows us to see Chicago over a more extended period of time and gives us an added dimension that we would not receive if we decided to "Spend a week and DO Chicago." Thus, just about anytime our Amtrak travels have taken us through Chicago, we have scheduled a day either going or coming and taken advantage of the break to see a bit more of the "Second City."

2. We are at the age when it is probably a wise decision not to attempt to spend 3 straight nights on a train. We did it earlier in our lives, but now, we had already spent 1 night in a Roomette on the Capitol Limited (see my last posting) and we knew we were going to spend 2 nights in a Bedroom on The Empire Builder. And so, as a break, we decided to spend a night in a hotel room away from the noise and movement of a train environment. Kind of like the family on a camping trip that decides after 4 nights of Tenting, to go and spend a night in a Hotel and "get a good hot shower."

3. Given the present state of our passenger rail system complete with an administration that is "reluctant" to press the nation's freight railroads to honor their commitment made in 1971 to continue to allow access to the rails for passenger equipment, and the recent surge in freight traffic as more businesses start realizing the great ecological and economic benefits of shipping by rail, Amtrak trains will, most of the time, be late. Thus, anytime I plan a trip, I normally do not schedule a "train change" unless I have a comfortable "window of opportunity." For most long distance trains, this "window" is 6 hours. As it was, on the day in question, I could have made my connection, The Capitol Limited arrived in plenty of time for me to make The Empire Builder. But by scheduling a stop in Chicago, I didn't sweat the slowdowns that CSX and NS threw at the Capitol Limited. Instead, I said "I'm going to see Chicago."



As I indicated above, we have both been to and through Chicago many times in our travels. On our last journey through Chicago, ABR's retirement cruise of the Great Lakes, we de-boarded our boat at the Navy Pier in Chicago. That got me to thinking: "As many times as we have been to Chicago we have never been to the Navy Pier." Now, I did not expect to find much at the pier that would appeal to me (and I was right to an extent), but still, I hadn't been there. And so I decided "This was the time."



The pier itself has had a long history. Read about it for yourself. Suffice it to say that in its current incarnation it is a cross between a Mall for Tourists, complete with trinket shops, museums and "attractions," shops for the locals, food and other related activities, including the occasional boat docking (it is a Pier after all). In short, it is a busy place.



We found out there was a free trolley to the Navy Pier that stopped only a block from our hotel. And so, after checking in and dropping off our luggage, we walked to the stop and went "to the pier."



With the exception of a period of time when we would take a boat tour (more on that in my next post), we spent most of the afternoon there. No, we didn't ride the Ferris Wheel, it didn't even appear to be operating on the day we were there (a Monday). But we did walk the length of the pier, from the "Head house" (first picture) out to the end "Warehouse" (now used as a Ball Room and for large meetings). We looked at the lakeside scenery, took pictures and just walked out and enjoyed the breeze. It was a beautiful day, not too hot and not too windy.



And yes, we did visit the one museum they have there, The Smith Museum of Stained Glass. We had seen stained Glass exhibits before, including a magnificant collection of Louis Tiffany Stained Glass at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York a couple of years ago. But we had never been to a museum dedicated just to this one art form. Given the beauty of the day, and at that time the lateness of the hour, we only spent about 45 minutes in the place. But we did enjoy what we saw. We saw some Tiffany works, we also saw a Frank Lloyd Wright piece (pictured), but with a beautiful day out there we left. If it had been rainy we would have stayed longer.



We had some time the next day, and the weather remained beautiful, but there was a whole city out there, and I knew that we would not return to Navy Pier on this trip. Not with that beautiful skyline beckoning.