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Back from Chicago.
Hi!
We got back from Chicago last night and I thought I'd give you a bit of an update since I have posted here about various aspects of this trip several times.
We ended up driving into Chicago instead of taking the train. We decided against staying downtown, and instead stayed in a hotel by my brother's place. So that, coupled with the fact that so many train stations were closed for maintenance, it seemed to make more sense to drive. I was nervous about driving into Chicago because we've never done it before, but it went fine. We had a GPS and very detailed directions from my brother, so it went just fine.
As I posted about on Friday, I had bought a summer-y dress to wear to the graduation ceremony, but was conflicted about what to do because it was goingto be cool. I stopped at four stores Friday night looking for tights to wear with the dress, but didn't find anything except opaque black tights, and I didn't think those would look to good with a black dress. So, I reluctantly scrapped the dress idea and wore pants. Ultimately, I'm glad that I settled on the pants because it was pretty chilly and we were outside for quite awhile.
On Sunday we went to my brother's graduation from law school (my little brother is all growed up!). And that night we went to a show at Improv Olympics (IO), which I'd recommend. It's the second show we've seen there, and they're pretty funny. Then yesterday, before leaving, we spent a few hours at the Chicago History Museum, which I would also recommend if you're a history nerd like myself.
Good trip! Thanks for your tips along the way!
Re: Back from Chicago.
Bummer about the tights/dress situation, but I'm glad pants worked out just as well. I'm sure you'll get a lot of mileage out of that dress anyway. It looks pretty versatile.
It sounds like your trip went well and thanks for the recap. When I saw you posting, I was going to ask how everything worked out! Do you mind sharing what you got your brother for a gift?
Oh, yeah, the gift is the other thing that I had posted about here. I knew there was something else besides transportation and apparel.
We ended up getting my brother a leather portfolio and pen.
Very nice. That sounds like an excellent gift for a law school grad. Is he in major bar prep mode now?
He signed up for a bar prep class which begins next week. So he has this week "off" and then next week he'll commence major bar prep mode.
We love it, too! Kate's rec is the reason we originally stopped, though. Yummy!
Sure! There are two train options:
Amtrak
This is most convenient if you don't mind the expense, and the schedule works for you. Tickets can be kind of pricey (IMO) though, and there is only one departure time and one return time per day, which doesn't often seem to work with my schedule. Its a relaxing way to get to Chicago though because there is no driving required, except driving to the train station in downtown GR. It ends in downtown Chicago. You can order tickets through the Amtrak web site.
Indiana Commuter Train
This commuter train goes from northern Indiana into Chicago multiple times every day. Its pretty cheap, and its pretty convenient because you have much more flexibility as far as train schedules since they run all day. To do this, you drive to one of the train stations in Indiana and catch the train (when looking at the schedule, remember that the time zone in Indiana is different than Michigan!). I have used the Michigan City (Carroll Street) station before. I know others on this board have used other stations. You can get off at a few different stops in Chicago, but the end of the line is Millenium Station which is downtown. You can buy tickets for this train either at the station, or once you're on the train.
Let me know if you have any other questions.