Weekend In Chicago: Wrap Up

Wrap Up

As we drove down I-274 the developed suburban Chicago area was replaced by the less populated interior northeast Illinois area.

The last notable thing I saw while driving down the highway was this billboard with a familiar friend.  

d

The late start on our journey home guaranteed the majority of our drive would be in the dark. 

Although we wanted to get a some highway behind us, we stopped soon after leaving the city. We had not had any lunch, just the soft pretzel at the zoo, so we were famished. 

We stopped at a Cracker Barrel restaurant for some dinner. The meal was good and got us ready for the long ride home.

Fifty miles later we merged onto I-65. This is one of the great things about coming back from Chicago. Once you hit 65 it's a straight shot south to home. 

We made 2 or 3 stops to get something to drink and or a snack including once at an empty public rest stop. When we pulled into the parking lot there were no other cars. 

Having seen way too many movies and TV shows about serial killers I was a little creeped out. Especially when I came out of the rest room and saw another car in the parking lot but didn't see anyone come into the building. 

My apprehensions were appeased as we were walking back to the car from the vending machines. We saw a woman walking her dog on the grass and a man came out of the main building. 

One of the things I wanted Paula to see on our drive was the Fowler Ridge and Benton windmill farms in Benton county, Indiana. It's a group of about 450 wind turbines distributed over a 17,000 square acre area. They are about 90 miles northwest of Indianapolis. 

On our way to Chicago we drove through that area around 11 o'clock at night. The only thing we could see were the hundreds of red lights marking each of the of the windmills for air crafts. It was rather visually fascinating but not as interesting as the landscape in the daylight. 

On the way back the same thing happened. We went through the windmill field in the dark. So Paula never saw one of my favorite things about driving on that part of I-65. So here's a You Tube link to see video of what Paula did not get to see. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTunI0GoxAM

Maybe next trip we take to the Windy City we can see the wind turbines in the daytime for ourselves. 

Through the rest of Indiana there was nothing to do but keep the pedal to the metal and head on down the highway. Driving at night it's always more difficult to stay awake and focused than during the day. 

Paula watched shows on NetFlix through her I-Phone. To stay focused as I drove I moved the AM radio from station to station trying to listen to different baseball games. I listened to the Cincinnati Reds playing the Phillies, the Cubs playing the Brewers and the Yankees against the White Sox. I listened to that last game not on a station out of Chicago but one out of New York. 

Because radio waves travel farther at night I was able to pick up the clear channel signal of AM 880 WCBS out of New York. I didn't have the signal for very long but I did manage to hear an inning or so. 

Once we left Indiana, crossed over the bridge into Kentucky, and drove through Louisville we were on the final 100 miles. 

No matter how often I travel this stretch of the interstate on the way home, it always seems to take longer than any other part of the trip. On this trip, the fatigue from the pace of the last few days really increased this effect. 

Finally we saw the exit sign for Smiths Grove. As always I was very very happy to active my turn signal and get off on the exit ramp. 

We walked in the front door about 1:30 AM on Wednesday morning. Our dogs, Angel and Dory, were over joyed to see us again. We took some time to say "hello" to them and then unloaded the car. 

Totally worn out and happy to be, as my dad used to say,  "home again home again" we said "good night" in our own comfy bed about 2AM. Our weekend in Chicago was officially over. Luckily, Paula had the next day off from work and we had a day to rest and recover. 

Some Final Thoughts

Now I know that I have written a lot more about the details of our vacation than anyone would ever want to know. If you have read all of the other 9 posts in this series I thank you and would like to tell you that you have made it to the end.

But I do have some additional details, memories, and some final recommendations to share with you.

Let me start with a couple of details that I haven't mentioned in this series so far but were part of our vacation. 

Now I've already mentioned the price of parking in the downtown areas. An additional driving cost I didn't mention was tolls. There are a lot of toll booths on the expressways of Chicago. 

On our way into the city Friday night we went through at least 4 toll plazas and paid just about $10 in total toll charges. This was unexpected and really got me mad. I was outraged. But I quickly realized that this was going to be a part of being a tourist. I didn't keep track of the cost of tolls after that. 

Writing about tolls brings me to the subject of road construction. Now that may seem like a non sequitur but trust me there is a connection. 

Like any other big city, in Chicago we encountered a lot of road construction during our trip. It caused us to be delayed anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes at various times during our 4 day stay. 

What really caused a problem for us was when the combination of road construction and paying a toll intersected. 

The toll plazas in Chicago (as is true with most any toll road today) are divided up into two sections. The booths to the left of the plaza are designated for electronic toll payments.

Some vehicles have an electronic marker on them and are scanned as they pass through the booth. Charging their toll cost to an "IPass" account and is billed to them later. 

The booths on the right side of the plaza are designated as CASH ONLY lanes. If you don't have IPass those are the lanes you used.  

Three times, during our trip, while driving in construction zones near toll plazas I had problems. The traffic patterns were set up in such a way that it made it difficult to get to the right hand CASH ONLY lanes. So difficult that in all three situations we missed the cash lanes and drove through the IPass booths. 

We were worried about what to do because we were sure there was some kind of system set up to catch drivers that don't pay tolls. But we weren't sure what to do about it.  

At the last toll booth we went through, on our way out of the city, I asked the attendant what we needed to do. She gave us a piece of paper with the appropriate information. We found out that we had 7 days to pay our tolls before we received a citation. Each violation would be a find of $20 each.  

Once we were home I looked up the website. It was a bit frustrating at first because I had to choose from a list of all the toll plaza locations to report the specific plazas we missed. I had no idea what they were. I had to do some checking on the GPS and remember when they happened. 

Finally I managed to pay all 3 missed tolls; paying less than $15 total. Sure beats having to pay $60. 

Another unexpected expense was the price of bottled water. While we were in a lot of places that are considered "tourist traps", and it is expected that the cost of everything would be inflated. 

But having to pay between $2 and $4 for a 16oz bottle of just plain water is highway robbery. Still because we were often thirsty we had to pay the price. 

The best price I paid for a bottle of water during our trip was just $1 at the juice bar in the John Hancock Building. I was pleasantly surprised about that. 

In the last post I mentioned the store that was close to our hotel. This place was a combination gas station/store/Dunkin Donuts shop. It was really lived up to being a convenience store for us during our stay. 

We bought breakfast from the Dunkin Donuts 2 of the 4 days. It's where Paula got her morning coffee and I got my diet Dr. Pepper there before we headed out for the day.

Now for a couple of regrets. I was very happy about getting to see Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex at the Field Museum because of the connection she has to Walt Disney World. But I missed another more significant Disney connection in  Chicago. I found out about it a couple of years ago but it totally slipped my mind until after we got back home. 

Walt Disney was born in Chicago in 1901 at 2156 Tripp Avenue in the Hermosa section of the city. Our hotel was only 10 miles from it. 

The house is not a museum or has any kind of official special designation. It's just a house but it's the house designed and build by Walt Disney's parents. There's a church near by that has some Disney history attached to it as well. 

I guess it's a good thing that I didn't remember about Walt Disney's birthplace. I don't know where in our vacation I would have found the time to go there. 

My other regret is that this was my 3rd trip to Chicago and I have yet to see the inside of Wrigley Field. Going there was not in our plans but I would have liked to have at least shown Paula the area. The streets surrounding the ballpark comprise one of the most unique of all the many Chicago neighborhoods. 

While doing research for this post I found out that we could have gotten to Wrigley Field rather easily. All we would have had to do was follow West Irving Avenue, the road our hotel was on, for 12 miles turned left one block and we would have been there. 

So there are my two regrets about the trip. In addition there are other landmarks, museums, and tourist attractions that I'd like to visit as well. But there's always next time. 

The final detail I want to mention are the souvenirs. The pressed pennies and refrigerator magnets I bought to remind me of my trip. These two items are the best inexpensive souvenirs a tourist can buy. 

Here are pictures of the magnets and pennies I brought back from Chicago. 

My Trip Advice

Finally, I'm going to give you some tips based on what I learned during our time in Chicago. I know there's plenty of expert advice already available from travel books and websites; I used them myself. But this is what I would do if I was going to visit the Windy City again. 

Hotels: Do a lot of research before you decide on a place to stay. The closer to the downtown area you get the more you'll pay for a room. Remember it's a major US city. The room rates for a 2 star room on the average starts at $150 a night. 

But you also have to consider your plans in deciding on your hotel. Remember if you stay close to the places you want to visit you may save on the cost of parking. You have to decide if you want to pay the extra cost for a convenient hotel or pay for parking. 

Parking & Tolls: As I've mentioned more than once be prepared to spend a lot for parking and tolls. There are ways  to minimize the cost of each but you have to plan. If you don't mind riding on public transportation there's plenty of it available. You can get a discounted pass to use during your stay. If you like to walk, a lot and I do mean a lot, you can choose that as your means of getting around. But there will be places you have to drive or take public transit. 

Logistics and Navigation: Before you go get to know your way around a Chicago map. Have an idea of the locations of the places you want to visit or where you want to eat. But no preparation can be a substitute for being there. Once you get to city drive around a bit to get the lay of the land. The traffic is fast paced and congested, especially in the downtown and Magnificent Mile areas. There are lots of one way streets. 

Touring: As I've already mentioned there are a thousand things to do in Chicago. Again, do your research and specifically choose what you want to do and see. I would recommend not more than one or two major things in one day. (Did you read the posts about Day 1 and Day 3 in this series? Doing too many things in one day is exhausting) Take your time and enjoy. This is one case where less is more. For me this is totally Monday morning quarterbacking. But I'll know better on my next trip. 

Buy A Discount Pass: If you want to save some money on some of the major tourist attractions I recommend buying one of the Chicago discount passes available. There are several of them online. But make sure you're going to use all or the majority of the discounts it offers. Do the math. Compare the non discounted admission prices for the attractions you want to see against the total cost of the bundled discounted attractions included on the card, some of which you may not use. Then decide if it will save you money. 

Take a tour: Chicago offers guided tours that cover a wide variety of interests. They feature tours of movie locations, historical architecture, city landmarks, and gangster history to name a few. You can take tours by bus, boat, bike and even Segway. In addition there are dinner cruises on Lake Michigan. Do your homework and see what you'd like. We didn't do one but next time we will.   

Enjoy The City: Chicago is one of the most beautiful big cites I've ever been to. Their parks are wonderful. You could spend days just enjoying them. The variety of buildings and architecture right next to each other is amazing. To paraphrase Matthew Brodrick in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", your time in Chicago goes by too fast. If you don't take some time to look around you might miss something. 

At Last...The End

So after 10 posts (the longest series in the history of this blog) this Chicago trip report comes to an end. It's been a couple of weeks since those four busy and fun days next to Lake Michigan. Paula is still telling people that I wore her out. 

This makes her resolve to take our next vacation at the beach. Where she can sit in a chair by the water under an umbrella with sunglasses, a book, and a cold drink of her choice. My question to that is what are we going to do with the other 23 hours in the day?

I don't know if I'll ever get her to go back to Chicago but as I've already mentioned there are at least a couple of specific things I would like to do. 

I don't have a way to conclude this series that would put a nice "bow" on our vacation. But I do have a lot of wonderful memories. 

The best thing about being in Chicago was getting to spend time with the Love of My Life, Paula. She's my partner and my travel companion. 

Even though she may not initially be sure about going or doing the things I want to do but she goes along with me. That's what makes anywhere we go a lot of fun.  

I hope you enjoyed this series of posts. I know it's taken 4 times longer to write about it than it did to experience it but that's life. 

Thanks for the great 4-day weekend Chicago. I'm sure we'll be back someday. You're my kind of town.