Trip to Chicago

Last week, we all went to Chicago to visit David's brother Bryan and his wife Anne and also to see Alison's cousin Erin, her husband Tim, and their baby Dorothy. On Wednesday, we took Sarah out of school a little early and drove to the New Carrollton train station, took the MARC train to BWI, and then flew to Chicago. Bryan met us at the airport, and we took the bus to their place, and then collapsed from all the travel.

On Thursday, we took the bus to the Lincoln Park Zoo and met Erin and Dorothy (Tim was in rehearsals for his new show). We saw lions and giraffes and had plenty of fun at the sea otters. Nicholas really liked playing with his second cousin. On the way back to Bryan and Anne's, we went out of our way to stop at Dat Donuts. We purchased three extra large donuts (two glazed, one chocolate frosted) to go, had Chicago deep-dish pizza delivered, and then watched the SNL Election special with some friends of Anne and Bryan.

On Friday, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. They had a "green" Smart Home built on site which we toured. We also checked out the train exhibit (David's favorite), the kids play area (Sarah and Nicholas's favorite), and the baby chicks being born (awww). After the museum, we walked to Lake Michigan and watched Sarah climb up and down the rocks. On the way back, we got off the bus a stop or two early and walked by Barack Obama's house. He lives just a few blocks from Bryan and Anne, and was their state senator before he became a U.S. senator. There are barricades on all the sidewalks near his house, and Chicago police and Secret Service on all the corners. That night, we played Guitar Hero and Sarah helped Anne make a delicious dinner of pasta and beer bread, with cookies for dessert.

On Saturday, we took the subway to Chinatown for dim sum for brunch. Erin and Dorothy tried to meet us, but we hadn't realized it was China National Day and the streets were blocked off for a parade, and thus there was no parking for them. We were sad we didn't get to see them again, but still stuffed ourselves at the restaurant. We packed for home, and then saw some cool public art sculptures in downtown on the way to the train station.

The Amtrak train bound for D.C. was supposed to leave about 7PM, but we were delayed about an hour waiting for another train's passengers to arrive from Wisconsin. We finally left, and then ate a late dinner in the dining car. The family bedroom in the sleeper car had two bunk beds, and Sarah and Ali slept on the top level, and David kept Nicholas from falling out one of the lower beds. The kids didn't want to go to sleep, and Ali didn't sleep all that well, but it still felt much more pleasant than flying. By morning, we were into central PA, and had breakfast in the dining car. There was some nice fall color in the hills, and David especially enjoyed seeing some of his favorite trainspotting locations from the train (such as Harpers Ferry and Point of Rocks). The train arrived in D.C. only a half-hour late, and then we took Metro back to our car to drive home.