Chicago: Day 2 (June 10, 2015)

Day two in Chicago started out much the same as day one. We got on the hotel shuttle headed toward Midway Airport and the train station. Today, however, we waited on breakfast, determined to make it to Lou Mitchell's for brunch. We had done so much walking the day before, that we were not looking forward to long walks today, but rather utilize the day pass and ride not only the train, but the city bus as much as we could. Once we got downtown, we saw that Lou Mitchell's about 4.5 blocks from the train stop. We decided that wasn't too bad, and walked down past the Willis Tower (which I am sure will have a new name soon), and Union Station and right in the door at Lou Mitchell's.

I had heard that the breakfast crowd can be pretty big, but getting there at about 10:30, we found no one in line and we were seated as soon as we got there, but not before we were each given a fresh donut hole!

Once at the table, we were given our little box of Milk Duds, and our drink orders were taken. Tony and Mom decided to give the "World's Best Coffee" a try and they were not disappointed! They both said that it was really, really good!

Jon, however, had to give their milkshakes a test. He was also not disappointed. We split our orders over breakfast and lunch items, with Mom and Tony ordering breakfast and Jon and I ordering lunch. Jon again got a burger (I'm telling you, he thinks a burger a day is a MUST). After finishing, Jon proclaimed that now Lou Mitchell's has the title of the Best Hamburger and The Berghoff now settles in with a strong second place. We sat there for a little while after we finished brunch, and we noticed the group seated right beside us were taking selfies and they were dressed very nice. A man dressed in a suit, dropped a key out of his pocket, and Tony picked it up and gave it back to him. That is when we learned that this man had just been sworn in as a United States Citizen! We congratulated him and told him how proud we were of him and got on up to head back out to sightsee some more.

We were only about a half a block from Union Station, and Tony wanted to go check it out. He remembered that the movie The Untouchables had been filmed partially in that building, so for sure we had to check it out. Once we found where we had to go to enter (actually across the street from this building), we headed in, down an escalator, and basically under the street and back up into the building. We came to the doors leading into the old building, but found it blocked by a temporary wall. Peeking in, we saw it had been set up for a dinner party of some sort, but we got to see some of the architecture of the ceiling. 

After that little let down, we decided to go get on a city bus and make our way to the Adler Planetarium. Since we had bought memberships to the Huntsville Space Museum in Alabama, the Adler gave us free admission, so why not? We headed to the nearest bus stop to catch a bus to take us to another stop where we could catch a bus to the planetarium. We got to the stop for the second bus and the heat and humidity was starting to catch up with us. There really was no air moving, and the sun was beating down with very little options to get into the shade. We had hoped that the bus wasn't too far away, because I had looked up the schedule, but once at the stop, we realized, by texting the number on the bus stop, that the bus was running about 15-20 minute late. By the time the bus had gotten there, we totally appreciated the air conditioning on it! 

Once at the planetarium, we were greeted by a lady on the steps asking if we were just arriving and if so, would we like to take their tickets to the show, because they were on their way out. We did, and we thanked them for the offer. We went on in and got our passes for the museum and walked around seeing the various exhibits. Jim Lovell, Astronaut from Apollo 13, is from Chicago, so there were lots of interactive exhibits featuring him. Jon enjoyed the hands on aspect of the museum, and we liked the historical exhibits.

After we had seen just about everything, we decided it was time to take Jon to the little beach next to the planetarium. He had asked the day before if he could put his feet in the water of Lake Michigan, but we hadn't been close to an area that he could. So since it was still pretty hot and humid out, we granted his wish and walked over to the beach. He and Tony waded in a little bit, but said the water was really cold.

 After that, we decided to grab some cold drinks and an ice cream at the little stand by the planetarium and start heading back to the bus and make our way back to the hotel for the night. Once we got to the train platform, rush hour was upon us, we had to let one train go on, since it was completely packed, but got on the second with no problem. We made it back to the hotel in time to make a decision on where we wanted to have dinner. Since we were in Chicago, we couldn't miss having a Chicago Style Pizza, so we went over to Giordano's. Dinner was great, but we had to have a little dessert, so we headed off to try to find someplace to get a sweet treat. We ended up at Andy's Frozen Custard and it was really good! After that, we headed back to the hotel to start making plans of what to see the next day on our short drive to Joliet, IL.

Chicago, IL: Starting point of Route 66. (June 9, 2015)

Today started the real journey. Today we explored Chicago, the first of two entire days in the city. We have 9 days, including today, before we start the drive back home. 9 days and just over 300 miles of Route 66 in Illinois and another 80 or so in Missouri. 

We had a really great hotel, with a shuttle that took you back and forth to Midway Airport, which gave us access to the train into downtown. It was cool having this option, since we had spent so much time in the car the day before and we really didn't want to have to worry about driving around downtown Chicago or looking for parking. We were able to grab a pass for the train, and ride on into downtown and get off the train just a block from the sign on Adams St. After a quick bathroom break, we walked down to the sign to take some photos. While there, we met and chatted with a couple from Germany getting ready to drive the length of Route 66, all the way to LA. We chatted a little after we took our selfie and I even took a photo of them in front of the sign for them. We wished them a safe trip, and they headed their way and we headed ours.

Our next destination was Buckingham Fountain. This was high on Tony's to-see list, and another reason we postponed this trip until summer, since the fountain wouldn't have been on in March because of temperatures. We walked along the lake for a little bit before we headed up to the fountain. Many may recognize it from the Opening Credits of Married With Children. I made sure to sing a few lines of the Sinatra song, Love and Marriage, as we walked up to it. 

We grabbed a few cold drinks from the little food stand and sat and enjoyed the fountain for a little while. Surprisingly, since Chicago is known as the windy city, it wasn't very windy at all, in fact we barely felt a mist from the fountain while standing at the fence around it. It was pretty humid out, and the temperature wasn't too far from what it was at home in Tennessee. This made our time walking around town a little uncomfortable, since the humidity was so high. I jumped on my phone and looked up the Millennium Park, because I remembered it had an area to play in the water, and Jon was really complaining at this point. We headed on over, and believe me when I say, it looks a LOT closer on the map on my phone than it felt to walk it. Down near the lake, the blocks are actually about twice the size of the blocks by the train. We were all ready for a break by the time we made it to the Crown Fountain. 

 Jon was so happy to get a chance to cool off, and we were happy to rest our feet for a little bit and feel the mist from these structures. We stayed for quite a while, until Jon had had his fill and was ready to move on. We were all getting hungry for lunch, but decided since we were right here at "The Bean", that we better go see that before we head on towards the train to find something to eat, and find a pharmacy for mom since she was getting a little bit of a headache from the heat. 

We did our little touristy thing, along with about a million Japanese tour groups. We got our photos, checked out the underside, and Jon even got a little touch in before we headed on to grab something to eat. 

We ended up right back by the train stop we had gotten off at, because I knew I had seen some restaurants there. Jon was begging to go in the McDonald's that he had taken his bathroom break in earlier, but we convinced him that there would be something better than that close, we were sure. I took out my phone again, checking the map and my Road Trip 66 app, and realized we were really close to the Berghoff, so we walked over there, first to just check out the menu and snap a few photos, but we decided that German food sounded really good, and we were fading fast. 

The Berghoff was a pretty good choice for lunch. Mom and Tony each got a brat, Jon got a burger and I got a Reuben. Mom didn't care too much for her Brat, but Tony loved his. The Reuben was awesome, but WAY too big, so I split it with Mom. Jon said that his burger was THE BEST burger he had ever had. That says a lot, because Jon would live on burgers if he could. Once we finished up lunch, we decided that we were done for the day. We had walked poor Mom and Jon enough for one day. We decided to jump back on the train and head back to the hotel. Jon wanted to swim, so this was a good time to get that in and while Mom and Tony rested, I took Jon down to the pool.

Going Back to the Beginning...(June 8, 2015)

Last year, when we started out on our three week road trip vacation, we picked up Route 66 in St. Louis. We knew then, that we would never have the time to start at the beginning and make it to the end and back home in three weeks, so we had to make the decision to pick up Route 66 as close to home as possible. Starting in St. Louis was an excellent choice for last year, but we also knew that the trip would not be complete until we were able to drive the 300 miles of Route 66 in Illinois. So, we considered our journey incomplete until we had done that. The hardest part was waiting until the best time for us, and the route, to get back on and finish up. At first we thought about a Spring Break trip, we started to think seriously about that, and I got started on the research. Well, I quickly realized that our Spring Break was considerably early this year. Jon's birthday is April 1st, and usually Spring Break falls somewhere around then, either before or after, but this year, it was March 16-20th. That really put a kink in things, I knew weather in Illinois in March can be unpredictable. It could be moderate as far as temperature, or it could be snowing and blowing. The real kicker, however, was when I realized we would be in Chicago on the weekend of St. Patrick's Day. Now that would normally be pretty cool, but when traveling with a young son and my mother, the appeal was lost. Not to mention, it would be a lot more crowded and harder to maneuver around town to see the sites we wanted to see, and the price of hotel rooms skyrocketed! So, we had to think again. We decided to stay in the south for spring break (we ended up going to Dallas, TX to see family), and plan our Route 66 completion for early summer. Best. Decision. Ever!

So we started out on our trip on Monday, June 8th, driving to Chicago. It was a long day of driving, being as it is just under 500 miles from our place to Chicago. We got loaded up and got out on the road by about 9:30am, not as early as we had hoped, but not too far behind our plan. We decided to go a different route up, since we have driven the stretch of I-65 from Nashville to Chicago many times on our frequent trips to Michigan to visit family. We decided, instead, to drive up I-24 through Paducah, KY and take I-57 up to Chicago. We made a stop in Metropolis, IL to stretch our legs and check out the Home of Superman!

After checking out the Superman town, we got back on the road to continue on. We drove for a while before we stopped for lunch in Salem, IL. After lunch, I checked my trusty Roadside Attractions App and found a quirky little place right on the other side of town. So we headed over to check it out. The place is the home of Richard Pollack, and he has very unique "art" in his yard!

After that little stop, we got back on the road, destined to reach Chicago as soon as possible. It was still another 4 hours before we would get there, since we really had only made it half way at this point. So, with only one stop in Arcola, IL, for gas and an ice cream cone, we made a beeline to Chicago and our hotel near Midway Airport. We were just a few miles from our exit, when we were SLAMMED with High Winds and Heavy Rain, nearly trying to blow us off the road, but we made it through and made it to the hotel before dark. Dinner that night was at the hotel restaurant, because we were all so tired and didn't feel like eating much or even getting in the car.It was on to bed pretty quick, too. Big day ahead the next day!

Columbia, MO to Home (Day 22)

The last day. Wow, How could that be? It seems like this trip should last forever, but alas, here it is, the very last day of driving, the last destination is back home. While it is bittersweet, and with all the lead up and planning, it just doesn't seem possible that it could be complete, but I guess the staying in a different hotel, sleeping in a different bed almost every night makes you crave your own. I guess if travelling were like being in your own home, we would stay on the road all of our lives. There really are so many wonderful things to be seen, touched, experienced, that a trip like this only makes you dream of the next.

We took our time this morning getting up and getting out the door. It was that sort of fear that the sooner we left, the sooner it was over, I guess. Mom and Tony, who are always the first to start moving, were still the first moving. Jon and I were awakened a little later, thank goodness. Those guys get up so early that our days of leaving the hotels at 7, were "late" to them. Jon and I, we like to sleep in a little when we can! Once we rolled out of bed, Jon headed off to make him one last breakfast in a hotel. He has really gotten good at that, and when I went to check on him, I found him standing there with the Waffle Maker waiting patiently!

Amazingly, his waffle was as close to perfection as it could have been! I am so proud!

Once we got our plates fixed, they came in to start closing down the breakfast bar, so we had great timing! We asked Jon if he wanted to get one more swim in before we checked out, but he was ready to get on the road. So with that, we posed for a few last minute photos at the hotel and packed up the car and off we went. Next stop, home! It would take nearly 7 hours to get there even without our stops, so we got on with it.

We made a few stops along the way, but decided to push back lunch and make it more of an early dinner once we crossed in to Kentucky. We knew we were in the south then as we stopped to have our meal at a Cracker Barrel in Paducah, KY.

It wasn't long then until we crossed into Tennessee, and Jon let out a welcomed cheer! The familiar sight of trees lining the interstate welcomed us into our home state! What a sight they were! When you drive across the country, you really see the vast differences from state to state. One will be flat and barren and another will be covered in mountains stretching to the heavens. Still others will be dry and hot with sand and rocky cliffs popping up from the desert with flat tops or vast canyons carved through layers of different colored rock. This country is beautiful, truly beautiful. When we were on the Pike's Peak Cog Railway, our conductor told us when we reached a certain point that we were seeing Inspiration Point, the place where Katherine Lee Bates got the inspiration for the song America the Beautiful, well, she may have gotten the inspiration there, but I bet if she had seen the wonders that I saw on this trip, the song may have been slightly different. 

Getting this opportunity to travel as we did came from a lot of hard work and planning. Tony put in countless hours at work and I put in countless hours online planning. Being able to take our son and my Mom with us made it a priceless family vacation with enough memories to last a lifetime. We would also not have been able to do it without my sister and my nephew Felix helping us out. They took care of our dogs and watered the plants and even mowed the grass! As we pulled into the driveway and made our way to drop Mom off, it was surreal. Nothing had changed at home, but we had sure been changed by the experience. Now the planning can begin for other vacations, because now we have the "bug". 

Colorado Springs, CO to Dodge City, KS (Day 20)

Driving from Colorado Springs, CO to Dodge City, KS doesn't take too long, a little over 5 hours, so we were able to make it to the hotel and still have plenty of time to enjoy the town. Honestly, Dodge City was bigger than I had imagined. When I think of Kansas, only a few cities even come to mind (Topeka, Kansas City, Wichita), to be honest, I didn't know anything about Dodge City, but Mom and Tony did, and it was a dot on the map that was close enough to Colorado Springs to make a stop and cut down the mileage for the last stop in Columbia, MO. Tony was the one who mentioned stopping there, and since he and Mom had watched Gunsmoke, they at least had some clue as to what the town was all about. Me, Gunsmoke was just one of those many Western shows Dad watched and the opening sequence and music was my cue to head on outside to play.

We were met at the end of town by this awesome sign. I should have stopped on the way in to take a photo, but I was making a beeline to the hotel. This actually was one of the first times that Tony had handed over the driver's seat, since the passenger's seat puts him right to sleep, and let's face it, I am a much better navigator than him.

 Once we got checked in at the hotel, which had a jail cell right in the lobby, we were told to go check out the Visitor Center for info on the Dodge City Days that were being held that day. Jon had to get a couple photos in the jail cell first, though.

We got back in the car and headed over to find the visitors center, and we also found the Boot Hill Museum. Of course Tony wasn't a great navigator, and it is hard for the driver to read the signs on the road and watch for traffic as we cross the street, so we passed it the first time. Then we turned around and went to the Boot Hill Museum instead of the visitors center, but we figured it out, but not until we had to pose with the train.

Once at the visitors center, we found that the night's festivities at the Dodge City Days for the evening consisted of a carnival with rides and such. Well, knowing that the Williamson County Fair would be going on when we got back home, we decided to skip that. The lady at the visitors center did tell us about the Boot Hill and that they have a dinner, gunfight and show every night. We grabbed some info on it and decided to check that out. Jon in the meantime, managed to tick the lady off when he pulled a pin out of the map on the wall. She wasn't too nice, even though I apologized. She said what good is it to have a sign to not pull them out? I said, he is 10, excited to be here, and he just didn't read it. Jon scrambled to put the pin back somewhere as she handed me another pin. Really, is it THAT big of a deal? I decided to grab a few of the freebies in the place (a deck of cards) and gave Jon one of the chalk sticks to go write on the sidewalk with to "leave his mark". With that, he grabbed a few postcards and we were out the door. He did have to try his hand at roping a cow, though.

We headed over to the Boot Hill to check on the dinner and show and Mom bought us all tickets to go. We decided, since we had a couple hours, that we would go on back to the hotel and let Jon get some swimming in. He has really loved the fact that most of the hotels have had pools for him to swim in and he has taken full advantage of it. We headed back to the Boot Hill to check out the museum before dinner, but found that we should have gone back earlier, because it was much bigger than we had anticipated. We did get to see most of it, although Tony would have loved to have had more time to check out the massive gun collection! Jon also found another jail, so he had to get Tony to take a photo with him.

The museum was interesting, but with the limited time before dinner, Jon and I flew through it snapping photos along the way. We waited patiently at the end for Mom and Tony to make their way though, before we ran over to the dinner hall.

We had BBQ Brisket, corn, slaw, potatoes and rolls for dinner with apple crisps for dessert. It was a great meal, even though Jon didn't care for most of it, of course he had eaten his leftover Subway sub right before he went swimming, so he wasn't too hungry. After dinner, we went out into the yard to grab our seats for the gunfight. I will be the first to tell you, those things never get old. I don't care how many I have seen in my life, not to mention this was the second one for the trip, they are still really enjoyable. This one was top-notch! The acting was good and I jumped every time a gun went off! The guy playing the town drunk got a lot of laughs as well!

After that was over, they sold photos and autographed them. They also posed for those who wanted to take photos with them. Jon was first in line for the autographs and the photo op.

Then we went into the Long Branch Saloon to watch Mrs. Kitty's show. It was really good, funny as well. We drank a sarsaparilla while we watched, that was my first sarsaparilla, not too bad!

By the time all that was over, it was nearly 9 and the place was closing down, so we headed back to the hotel for the night. The drive to Columbia, MO and then home will be two LONG days driving. Nearly 7 hours for both days!