I needed to take a couple of electives to complete my
Elite Cruise Counsellor certification (which I already received last November, since it has taken me a while to update this blog...) and of all the cities that the training was being offered, Chicago worked best for my schedule. Not counting layovers at O'Hare airport, I've visited the Windy City twice before, once with friends a couple of years after graduating from college, and the other
attending the Society of Women Engineers Conference in 2011 when I was still employed in high-tech. This time, I would be going solo, not that I hadn't done it before: for example,
I'd attended a cruise conference in Vancouver,
a quick overnight in Nashville and
spent two nights in Singapore, the latter two for the sole purpose of collecting frequent flyer miles and airline elite status, which seemed crazy, but was worth it at the time. What was even crazier was that when I got back from Singapore, within 24 hours, I
flew right back for another four nights, but this time, Karen went with me and we had a blast.
The training classes were held at the
Embassy Suites O'Hare Rosemont, close enough to the airport to provide complimentary shuttle service. Unfortunately, the least expensive flight was on Southwest to the other Chicago-area airport, Midway. Since I was by myself and had plenty of time to kill, I decided to fly into Midway and take CTA rail to downtown Chicago, then transferring onto another train towards O'Hare, about two hours' journey. To get around easier, I packed everything into my
Tom Bihn Tri-Star, which I could carry on my back.
I did research other ways to get between Midway and O'Hare, such as by shuttle or taxi/Uber. Traffic could cause delays, and you'd have to wait for the shuttle or Uber to pick you up. Factoring in the extra time, it wasn't so much more effort to ride the train. Though if I had a large party with me and/or lots of luggage, I would have taken a shuttle.
The four hour non-stop flight to Midway left at 5:30am, a bit too early for my liking, but that's why it was cheap. I was able to get a window seat to cocoon myself and try to get some rest. Getting off the plane, I easily found signs pointing towards "Trains to City", purchased a single ride ticket from the station kiosk and boarded the Orange line to Clark. I then followed the signs towards the Blue line for the train to O'Hare. Getting off at Rosemont (one stop before O'Hare), I walked several blocks to the Embassy Suites. Easy peasy!
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| breakfast offering on Southwest |
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| signs at Midway for the CTA |
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| signs at Clark station for the Blue line |
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| Rosemont station to the pinkish hotel on the right |
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I arrived at the hotel several hours earlier than official check-in time, but the front desk agent was able to find a room for me. Embassy Suites accommodations are very spacious, with a living room, wet bar with microwave, and a separate bedroom. Other benefits include a complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast and evening reception, available to all guests.
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| double door entrance |
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| rest of the living room |
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| sink, fridge, microwave |
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| coffee/tea service |
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| short closet |
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| comfy king bed in the bedroom |
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| bedroom had a sink |
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| standard bath |
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| Giovanni toiletries |
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| convenient plugs and USB ports |
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I think I took a nap at this point since I was so tired. Later that evening, the complimentary cocktail reception started, so I went down to the dining area to see what was offered. I grabbed some snacks and headed back up.
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| I brought the dining card, but no one was checking |
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| Embassy Suites hotel atrium |
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| complimentary drinks (can upgrade with cash) |
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| popcorn and pretzels |
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| cheese and bread |
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| fresh veggies |
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| what I brought back |
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The elevators took forever to arrive and guests were complaining about it. I found the fire stairs and used them to get to my seventh floor room for the rest of my stay...good exercise!
Jet-lagged, I didn't feel like going out looking for dinner - I had brought a couple of
Nongshim instant noodle bowls just in case. The microwave in the room came in handy. This along with the snacks from the evening reception was enough to tide me over.
The next morning, I went down to the atrium for the breakfast buffet. I took the dining card with me again, but no one checked for it. There was plenty of variety in the offerings. I got an omelette cooked to order.
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| hot items like eggs, sausage, potatoes |
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| fruit and yogurt |
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| omelette station |
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| baked goods |
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| cereal station |
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| the most important meal of the day |
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After breakfast, I found the hotel conference room for the "Meetings at Sea" training class. I learned how to sell the benefits of hosting company meetings/conferences on a cruise...very cost-effective.
Once class was over at 1pm, I walked over to the nearby
Fashion Outlets of Chicago. A highly rated place on Yelp called
Maoz Vegetarian was located there, so I wanted to try it out for lunch.
Maoz first opened in Amsterdam; surprised we didn't run into one when Kaleb and I
were there last May. The food was so fresh and tasty, you'd forget that it was vegetarian. I wouldn't mind having a Maoz near home.
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| salad bowl with falafel and avocado |
I roamed around the mall the rest of the day, playing Pokemon Go (won my first raid!) and holding back from buying too much at the Lululemon outlet.
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| dangerous store to be in |
The next day, I had breakfast, followed by a Specialty and Boutique Cruises training, learning about niche cruises. Did you know that there are luxury cruises on the rivers of America? You don't need to leave the continental US to be pampered on a cruise. A representative from
Big Bus Chicago also came by and gave us information about the company as well as a free day pass on their hop-on-hop-off (HOHO) bus, a $36 value. Great! I wasn't expecting this, so now I had plans for the rest of the day before my flight home in the late evening.
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| today's breakfast |
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| there are cruises in the US |
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Once class was over around 1pm, I checked out of the hotel and walked back to Rosemont station to catch the train to downtown Chicago. According to the
map, the Big Bus picked up in front of the Chicago Theater near State station, so I got off there. Needing to locate a clean restroom, I bought a Chick-fil-A sandwich for lunch and the receipt contained a code to enter the facilities.
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| delicious |
Afterwards, I walked a few blocks to the bus stop and handed my free pass to the attendant there. He printed out a receipt that I would show the driver when I boarded.
The entire route would take 2 hours to complete. I got on around 2:30pm. Since 4pm was the last departure, I didn't want to risk getting off at any of the sights and then not being able to get back on the final bus. It was a good decision not to hop off, as hardly anyone exited at the stops, leaving behind many people who had wanted to hop back on.
It was a perfect day to sit on the open-air double deck, with entertaining commentary provided by Johnetta. I had a great time playing Pokemon Go since the bus would move slowly, just like when I took the
HOHO bus in Boston last year.
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| in front of the Chicago Theater |
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| off we go |
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| Hamilton! |
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| so many Pokestops and gyms |
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| pretty skyline |
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| we had to duck from low branches |
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I checked the bus map for the closest Orange line stop towards Midway airport:
Quincy station, near the Willis Tower. I stayed on board when the bus returned to Chicago Theater and rode the tour again until getting off at Willis Tower. I didn't have to leave just yet, so I played Pokemon Go until it was time to head to the airport. I climbed wooden stairs to get to the raised platform at Quincy. Built in 1897, the station seemed out of place, surrounded by tall concrete and glass skyscrapers.
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| Quincy station |
At Midway airport, I tried a Chicago-style hot dog for dinner. It was good, though I wouldn't go out of my way to get one.
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| always a line here |
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| nice to have veggies on the dog |
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And that was the end of my brief visit to Chicago...what's next on the agenda? Kaleb and I are spending the weekend with family at
Legoland California - stay tuned!
***
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Another disclaimer: The intention of this blog was to remind Future Me in full detail about where I went and what I did. I could have made it private, but I frequently get questions from family, friends and internet folks about how I planned things, got deals, etc., so instead of repeating the story over and over, I direct them here. If you are offended by anything I say or do, save yourself the discomfort and kindly click away from my blog. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!
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