Well it’s Tuesday morning and I have some catching up to do.
Sunday was a busy day battening down the hatches at home, making our list and
checking it twice and of course packing. That went well into the night that
ended all too soon when the alarm went off to get ready to head out. It’s a
good thing I don’t need to fly the plane. Lorna’s folks were over at daybreak
and got us to the airport, THANKS!
Air travel was about as good as it gets with flights and baggage
all being where they needed to be right on time. During our Charlotte layover I
rediscovered Carolina Pit Barbecue good stuff! I found this place a few years
ago when a chain of cancelled and redirected flights put me and a coworker in
Charlotte at about 10PM with no dinner. The food was just as good without the acute hunger and fatigue.
We were on the ground in Chicago early in the afternoon and
headed over to get the rental car. We snagged a Jeep Liberty from the Emerald
Aisle. It’s big enough, better on fuel than the behemoth I was considering and
high enough see the sights. Maybe we can kick up some desert dunes?
With the GPS plastered to the windshield we naively headed
for the
hotel. It seemed that a number of desired highway ramps were closed for
repair or accidents. The GPS figured I was numb and wanted to go around the
block a few times. Did I mention that short night’s sleep? After breaking the
cycle a few times only to be thwarted by another closed ramp I drove out far enough
that it chose a different and more cooperative route to the hotel.
The streets of Chicago are surprisingly tree lined. Enough so that it's easy to miss a smallish hotel on the first pass. What's one more trip around the block. :) Dealing with an in-town hotel with no onsite parking was
something new to me. We pull into one of several spots up front and an attendant
helps unload the bags and a valet drives off with my vehicle. There’s something
about not having a vehicle at hand that leaves me feeling a little lost and
helpless. We checked in, collected the box of maps and tour guide books we sent
in advance to avoid baggage weight and headed up to our room to settle in.
Those maps would have been handy when playing ramp roulette. Note to self,
bring the local maps next time!
It was getting to be late in the afternoon and we knew we
wouldn’t be up for a big evening. We hiked down to Navy Pier on the shore of Lake Michigan. It
was relatively quiet being a Monday evening in May but there was plenty to see.
It was Lorna’s first time there. One surprise was an endless gallery of stained
glass windows. All framed, shielded and back-lit.
After a day of air travel it felt good to just do some walking and sightseeing. We had a light dinner at Harry Caray’s and headed back. We found a 7-Eleven near the hotel for a few refreshments and headed in for the night.
After a day of air travel it felt good to just do some walking and sightseeing. We had a light dinner at Harry Caray’s and headed back. We found a 7-Eleven near the hotel for a few refreshments and headed in for the night.
After writing a version of this post that got eaten by the “back”
button, dozing on some TV we crashed for the night. We’re on vacation!
No time to mess with pictures this morning but some will
follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment