March 29, 2024

Windy City vacation

Most of our traveling this summer is happening toward the beginning of the season. Our family vacation included a trip to Chicago to see all the Windy City has to offer.

We started the trip a night early and got a hotel room about half way to cut down on the drive. After a fun night of swimming, we got some rest before we headed east across the river to our destination.

I didn’t jam pack our trip with activities because I know running from one place to another isn’t a whole lot of fun. After getting to our hotel in downtown Chicago, we found out we had a couple of hours to wait until we could get into our room.

That time was filled with a walk to the Navy Pier and a visit to the Chicago Children’s Museum. The girls had a lot of fun climbing and coloring, playing and discovering at the museum. The walk back to the hotel was a little trying on their feet, but we made it in time to get a little rest before our next adventure.

After doing some research, I found the best way to get to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs play that evening was by the “L”. I have limited experience with trains of any kind but the directions were easy, the price cheap and the time spent traveling short.

The girls were kind of nervous to begin with but by the time we pulled up to our stop, they were old pros. We were excited to see Wrigley and got there just as the gates were opening for the game.

I was a little worried it might be a 1-0 pitching fight but the game did not disappoint. We saw home runs, lead changes, steals, strike outs and everything in between. My youngest really enjoyed the game, yelling for the players and cheering loudly. My oldest enjoyed herself, joined in on “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and “Go Cubs Go” but wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as her sister.

The Cubs got the W, and we were happy as we boarded the train back to the hotel to get some shut eye before our next day in the city. Being on vacation, we slept in a little later than normal before heading out to our first destination, the Shedd Aquarium.

I think the aquarium has about every type of fish possible, along with many other animals to see. The girls enjoyed the Beluga Whale and Dolphin show, along with the underwater viewing areas for the animals.

Next we headed over to the Field Museum, the place I was most excited to visit (except the Cubs game). Since I was a little kid, I have wanted to see dinosaur bones and besides a traveling exhibit at the science center, this was my first chance.

The museum was amazing and my husband and I could have spent the entire day there but the girls weren’t as interested in reading about everything like we were. We saw Sue, the most complete T-Rex ever found, along with a host of other dinosaurs. There was also a large exhibit featuring every kind of animal you could think of, stuffed, and on display. The girls were excited to go into the Egypt exhibit and see the mummies, until we actually did it and they were a little freaked out there were actually people wrapped up and on display.

After leaving the museum we trekked to Millennium Park to get a picture with “The Bean” before catching the train to our hotel again. That evening we enjoyed a Chicago deep dish pizza and a little roof top swimming.

Chicago was pretty good to us, the rain stayed away and we got to do and see a lot of new things. I’m also hoping to make a Cubs game an annual event for the family. Thanks for a great time Windy City and Go Cubs Go!

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at jpierson@newtondailynews.com