We arrived in Chicago on Saturday morning 24 hours after we planned on due to a mechanical problem in Fairbanks on Thursday evening. We stayed at the La Quinta near the airport since it wasn’t much more than the Uber/Lyft charge if we went home. It’s nice to know that they have a “local” discount. All weekend, I’ve been getting messages from public safety on the horrible roads in the Fairbanks area. Freezing rain, ice building up on the roads. It seems to be a good time to be out of town.
We spent Saturday wandering around West Chicago through several shopping areas. We had lunch at
Portillo’s for a Chicago style hot dog. Complete with bright green relish and small peppers. A nice treat. In the afternoon, we stopped at
Cantigny Park to take a short tour of the
Robert McCormick House, the beautiful grounds, and the 1st Division Museum. This is our grandson and his mom enjoying the sunshine in one of the many gardens. He was semi-patiently waiting to go climb on the many tanks on display such as the M41A3 pictured below.
The
1st Division Museum had quite a few exhibits highlighting some of their history and many battles. There was even an virtual reality display using Oculus Rift headsets of an urban warfare training exercise. Lots of memorabilia and personal stories were highlighted with some very well done large displays. Around the outside were over a dozen tanks from a tiny (this is relative to some of the other tanks) M1917 up to an M1 Abrams. They permitted people to climb up on them and the ground was well padded with what looked like recycled tire material. A great museum honoring many great individuals.
The weather in Chicago sounds much better than Fairbanks.
ReplyDeleteMy maternal Grandfather was from Chicago, but I've only ever been there once when I was in elementary school. I am looking forward to seeing more pictures.
No frozen roads though it is windy. Not sure if we are going to be doing much exploring before heading further east tomorrow. No reason to go into the city.
DeleteWow! You're practically in my backyard. Been living in St Charles for 18 years. Before that, Winfield. I enjoy your blog and writing on the RV / Ural work. Enjoy our warm weather - compared to Alaska anyway!
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting! We are about 5 miles east of St. Charles kind of near Fermi Lab.
DeleteGiven a choice, I tend to avoid big cities like Chicago...especially Chicago and its Crook County reputation....but the museum might change my mind if travel to Chicago ever comes up again.
ReplyDeleteWe are not in the city but some distance west. The last couple of times I’ve been here, we’ve ventured into the city. This is a really short trip and there was no reason to head in. The museum and the grounds were really nice. $5 parking but otherwise free admission.
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