Chicago Trip - Hotel, Train, Downtown

David and I have a love for big cities and we were anxious to make a city trip together. Most of you know he goes to school at Trinity in Deerfield - just north of Chicago. Because the commuter apartments he usually rents are being remodeled, David has to stay in a hotel every week. Thank goodness for priceline! He waits until later in the evening to put in his bid and gets a very awesome price - just about the same he was paying for on campus housing! He never knows which hotel he'll get, of course, but that's part of the fun.So... we figured two can stay as cheap as one! Mom Fry kept the kids and I hopped in the car with David when he headed up to Deefield for school.

The suite reminded us of our honeymoon suite.
They served a fantastic continental breakfast in the atrium. (We're not talking stale donuts. We're talking fresh mangoes, gourmet granola, a personal pot of coffee. I just love 3-star living at a 1-star price.

A little Starbucks, a little reading, a little alone time. Ahhhh.....

(Some of you girlfriends would have cracked up laughing at me trying to get a picture of my alone time. I subtly propped the camera up and pushed the timer -- attempting to be discreet enough that the fine oriental executive gentleman working on his laptop across the atrium would not think I was totally bonkers! Then again, if you had been there I wouldn't have had to go through such shenanigans to get a picture, now would I? But then it wouldn't have been alone time. It would have been girlfriend time....... This random rambling has convinced me to finish these Chicago posts tomorrow!)

David, my brilliant hero, left the morning paper on the top of his car as he buzzed off to class. Hours later, he was gathering the scattered pages from the hotel grounds. I just love it when he's absent minded. (Both times)

Heading into the train station to get Metra tickets for traveling into the City.

Train Station


We can't wait to take our kids on this smooth double decker train. There are so many things to watch!

Union Station - An experience all its own. I want to go into detail but I'll refrain.

We love stepping out of a train station or subway onto the streets of a city. What some view as smoggy congestion is, to us, beautiful. There is so much to see and experience and enjoy. Diverse culture, architecture galore, invigorating commerce, patches of serendipity, pictures of history. It's thrilling. Chicago is obviously on our list of favorite cities: San Francisco, NYC, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Miami, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Washington D.C., Boston (Sarah only), San Antonio (David only)...Those are our favorites. (Detroit is a very interesting experience - but a very, very sad city!)

So put on your downtown shoes and walk the streets with us....Crane your neck to look straight up a skyscraper. Drink in some culture. Walk past the nooks and crannies that make a city's downtown unique......

Chicago - My Kind of Town!