When we moved to St. Louis last August to take a rotational position at the Phillips 66 Wood River refinery (kind of Nate's outside-of-R&D experience for a few years), we ended up buying a house on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. It was weird to think we now lived in the same state as Chicago. Our part of Illinois is somewhat rural, fairly conservative, pretty safe, and definitely NOT how we envisioned Chicago. Even though we are less than five hours away, Nate especially never really had a strong desire to visit there.
However, last weekend the kids had Friday and Monday off from school and Nate had some leftover comp days from the turnaround that he had to take before March. While trying to figure out what to do, someone at work told him about the Amtrak train to Chicago. We had never been on a train and obviously had never been to Chicago, so we decided to go on a (perhaps) crazy adventure.
People have asked if we liked the trip, if we would do it again and if we think their family would like it. So here's our thumbs up/ thumbs down analysis of the trip.
*Riding the train from Alton to Chicago (and back again): Thumbs up - It took only slightly longer than driving, cost only a little more than gas money, had WiFi, we could walk around and easily get stuff from our bags. It was very comfortable and convenient. It also saved us from having to pay $$ to park our car and from trying to drive around the busy city.
*Getting a family of seven (consisting of mostly small children) with all our bags onto the bus and to the hotel: Thumbs down - no explanation necessary (and the bus drivers weren't overly helpful).*Traveling around town on the public transit system: Thumbs up - we took buses, subways, the "L", and walked a lot. This was sometimes tough to navigate with all our little people but once we figured out how to use the transit cards to pay and how to get the stroller through the turnstiles, it ended up being a favorite part of the trip. We never felt unsafe and with trains running often we didn't have to be too uptight about timing (buses were trickier). We loved walking through downtown discovering cool buildings and sculptures, etc. With a little bit of cash and some know-how we had a lot of fun getting around.*the Willis tower: Thumbs (mostly) down - We love our friends, the Willises, but we don't have quite the same feeling for the Willis tower. This was the biggest tourist trap we went to. Long lines, boring movie, more long lines, being uncomfortably crammed into the elevator and crowds at the top. (And did we forget to mention the exorbitant price?) The view was indeed pretty cool and the glass step-out boxes were pretty neat but not an experience we care about enough to repeat.*the Hotel (Hampton Inn and Suites Chicago - Downtown): Thumbs up - we got a suite with a little kitchen and a bedroom for Margaret and us parents, and the kids slept on the pull-out couch in the living room. The staff was super friendly with the kids, breakfast was good, it was just a block and a half from a subway station. We would recommend it. 
*Getting a late Christmas card two days before the trip, being reminded that your old friends from Provo are now living in Chicago and meeting up for church and Sunday dinner: Thumbs WAY up - We had so much fun seeing our friends again after a few years. We loved getting reacquainted with their adorable family and letting our kids spread out a little to play with toys and eat real home-cooked food. Thank you again Kourtne and Travis! (And what an awesome view from the 29th floor!)*Having our very own tour-guide-Ken-doll (a.k.a., Nate): Thumbs definitely up - Nate was wonderful (as usual). He booked our travel and hotel, kept track of all the train routes telling us where we needed to go, found all kinds of great deals, and ran to get food at grocery stores (there was a store just around the corner from the hotel) and restaurants.
Pictures from our trip:
An interesting sculpture garden
Walking from the subway to the Field Museum
Who looks more ferocious? Sue, the T-Rex, or Peter, the little boy?
Emma wasn't impressed enough by the elephants to smile
Leslie and her favorite dinosaur, the parasaurolophus
Waiting for the "L"
Riding the "L"
A view from the Skydeck of the Willis Tower
This is what Margaret thought of waiting in line for so long (Nate is putting on a good face for the picture, but you can see some teeth-gritting if you closely)
Leslie did a much better job of staying positive. She always looks beautiful, especially standing in a glass box sticking out the side of the 103rd floor!
All bundled up and ready to leave the hotel for some cold, windy weather
Look at these cute girls!
As you can see, it was a theme for us to get close-up pictures of Peter's squinting, teeth-baring smiles. He must have been inspired by his hat. Here the boys are standing underneath the "Bean" (officially called Cloud Gate) in Millenium Park
Enjoying a brief moment in the sun at Millenium Park before continuing our walk between the towering buildings along the Magnificent Mile
Another picture by the "Bean" (a polished stainless steel monument that looks like a giant bean)
The Michigan Avenue bridge over the Chicago River (which, we learned, used to flow into Lake Michigan, but was engineered in 1900 to reverse the flow; cool!)
Our hands-down favorite part of the trip was getting to see our friends from Provo
An interesting horse sculpture we discovered on our way to the Shedd Aquarium
And another close-up of Peter :)
Morgan liked looking at the ice rings that had formed on the rocks a couple inches above the lake level
Pretty in pink
Our methods of transportation got a little creative by the end (the stroller was originally meant for Margaret, but she is a lot easier to carry than little boys who get tired by the end of a long day of walking)
Margaret, taking it all in and keeping her cool
Eating at Gino's East right before leaving for Union Station to catch the Amtrak train back home (Nate volunteered to run the seven blocks back to the hotel to get everyone's backpacks and bags while we were waiting for the pizza; he got quite a few looks while walking back to the restaurant with a mountain of bags on the umbrella stroller)
All-in-all, we enjoyed our trip and are excited to make it back again sometime. Hopefully we can get friends and family to come with us! It was an adventure worth repeating.
