Little City Mice in the Big City

I took those little city mice, errr children, of mine to the big city (Chicago)for Mother's Day weekend. While there, they got a taste of the city in some very controlled situations. For example instead of putting them on CTA, we took taxis to and from the museums/train station. Instead of driving into downtown, we took Metra in from the suburbs so they also got to see how the various neighborhoods change. I swear I must have taken a hundred pictures of them staring (mostly upward) with mouth agape. OK, well maybe not a hundred but many for sure. And by using the transportation methods we did, I had the chance to watch my children experience things they'd never seen before - at least not up close and personal. It was incredible to watch their wonderment and fascination with the world around them.

Because I'm cheap, errr frugal, I used Priceline to book a room in Schaumburg, IL - a good 20 miles or so from Chicago: far enough to not deal with all of the crazy Chicago driving but close enough to be within a 45 minute train ride of downtown. We lucked out and ended up staying at the Marriott. Frankly, I don't know if any of us would have known how to react if the hotel was any higher class than it was. Boychild got a bit miffed when he had purposely taken the time to make his bed before we left for our sight seeing on Saturday only to discover that maid service had remade the bed in the hotel standard. I tried to tell him he didn't have to make his bed, but I'm pleased that he took the time to be responsible and do it anyway. Girlchild and I shared a luxurious king sized memory foam bed. Ahhhhhh. Now if we could just do something about her migratory pattern at night.

Everyone enjoyed the pool and the hotel restaurant, which while it seemed a bit pricey for what I'm accustomed to paying locally, was really not out of line when I noticed the advertised prices of other establishments we passed on the way to the train station and such. I was a bit surprised, however, when it was assumed I would want coffee for breakfast and the wine or a drink with dinner. Now, either I look like an extremely worn out and frazzled person who needs stimulants and alcohol to survive, or it's a sad commentary that it's become so routine to offer alcohol to parents traveling with children. Personally, even if I still drank alcoholic beverages, I would want my wits about me as I supervise, by myself, my children in a strange city especially since my kids have no "big city skills".

Anyway, we boarded Metra and headed into Chicago. All the while the kids were full of questions. When will we get there? How far is it to the museum? Are we going to take a bus? How will we find a cab? You really did this every day when you lived here? How do you know which side of the tracks to be on?... Their list of questions was endless. In fact, they had each brought along a book for the 45 minute train ride and neither had the opportunity to crack it open for all of the looking and watching and questioning. It was really cool to share some of my history with them through this experience.

Once downtown, we took a cab over to the Shedd Aquarium. They were pretty interested in things at first, but after seeing tank after tank of fish, they decided they'd seen enough fish. However, they did enjoy the sharks and the reef exhibits. They actually did enjoy themselves at the Shedd, they just didn't feel the need to stop and explore each tank for different species.

Outside the aquarium, they got to view the lakefront. Unfortunately for us it was a very windy day (the city is appropriately nicknamed in the opinion of the kids) so it was not pleasant to be standing there watching the water and the boats and birds, etc.

After a walk across museum campus, we entered the Field Museum of Natural History. This is there the kids really came alive and got interested in the different exhibits. I would have sworn it would be the other way around. In fact, they got so interested and took so much time reading and sharing and commenting that we got to see only about 1/3 of the museum holdings before they cried "Uncle" and declared they just couldn't walk any more. Luckily we saw everything that was not part of the basic admission so when we go back in June on the free day we won't have to pay again for those exhibits. Instead we'll be able to focus on the exhibits we didn't get to see. The Pirates exhibit was highly over rated and crowded. You couldn't really stop and get to read or listen to the narratives because of people pushing and crowding as well as museum staff urging people along. There were some really cool things to look at and learn about, but the atmosphere was a dampener. The Underground exhibit was actually fun. It demonstrated life under the surface of the soil - like things we take for granted just an inch or two below the surface even. We probably could have spent more time in this exhibit except that we had tickets for Pirates and had to be on our way. We also explored the Ancient Egypt exhibit, complete with a tomb exploration, a bunch of mummies (and deadies) and a small education on how mummification happens. In addition to the burial information there were also things like games and commerce, household items and cultural information. Definitely much more than a mummies exhibit. Crazy at is seems, those 3 exhibits took us almost 4 hours to view. Oh we also did see some elephants and had a chance to view Sue - one of the most complete T-Rex in the world.

After a small sit down and refresh period, the kids decided that they could, indeed, still walk so we grabbed a cab and headed back into the loop for a Sear's Tower visit. Here they actually had to go through a security check point ("That was weird, Mom.") before we took the elevator to the 99th floor for a 360 degree view of the city around us. ("Look how close the museums look from up here, Mom.") I do wish there were more of those telescopic viewers available because the kids soon got bored with waiting a turn, but they did enjoy the view they had.

A glance at a watch told us we either needed to head immediately to the train station (as in the train leaves in about 20 minutes and the train station is 2 blocks away) or we needed to find a place to rest our tired dogs because the next train was an hour and 20 minutes from departure. The kids soon learned that Chicago has two paces: I'm in a hurry or I'm in no hurry. And that many times, those two paces are happening simultaneously in front of you to the point you may have to swerve to avoid being run over or avoid running someone over. They also learned that you can't always follow the person in front of you because people do stupid things - like walk against the green light and nearly get plowed over by traffic.

Anyway, we made the train - even had time to grab a beverage from the quick store in the train station - and headed back to our luxury abode for the evening. Everyone slept well that night and no one felt like using the pool. The next morning we headed off to church. Granted it was a long drive to church, but we made it.

The kids had a great time. Mom had a great time. It was exactly the sort of thing I needed - literally I had not been out of the area for anything other than business meetings in over a year. I was stir crazy for sure. Additionally we had planned on going to Chicago in June and this helped me better plan for that trip as well - what the kids would like, how much they could tolerate, how much I could tolerate... We now have a very good and manageable plan for our return trip. And now that they've had a taste of the city, we may even try some additional experiences, like CTA or more hoofing it downtown. We definitely know that deals like Go Chicago Card or City Pass are indeed a good deal IF you plan on doing multiple things each day of your visit. I think we ended up breaking even on City Pass this time around. But break even is good, right? Much better than wasted money.

I am looking forward to our return and have many more things to share with them from my carefree college graduate days. I've been waiting for them to be old enough to appreciate and tolerate the experience. Finally...

So what summer vacation plans do you have with your family?