Vacation, Day 1... err Day 2

**updated to include photos**

Day 1 of vacation wasn't really that exciting. We made the 120 mile trek to Schaumburg, stopping along the way for dinner at Steak & Shake (which the kids feel should be a new tradition - stopping at Steak & Shake when we travel). We checked into the hotel, hit the pool and then got a good night sleep before beginning our Chicago adventure. Well, we tried to get a good night sleep, but everyone was a bit excited about the things to come.

Day 2 is where the fun began. After eating a quick breakfast in our hotel room. Thank goodness for the mini-frig that allowed us to do things like have cereal and juice at the ready instead of paying restaurant prices and helped us save time while each person needed to use the bathroom for getting ready. We took the Metra train into Union Station and then began the mile plus hike toward Michigan Avenue and a different Metra train station to make our way South toward the Museum of Science and Industry. After another walk, this one just a couple of blocks, we arrived at our destination.


Before we even got our tickets, boychild was hooked upon seeing a car that was part of the Harry Potter movie. We did, however, opt to not spend the additional monies required to see the Harry Potter Exhibit since one child is decidedly not interested in Harry Potter at all and one child is almost obsessed. The compromise was we'll save the money for other treats throughout the week that we all want.


We started with a history of sailing from the earliest of times to the big steamer ships we're more familiar with for transatlantic crossings. Surprisingly absent was any representation of Titanic. Shipping took us right into a small history of racing automobiles. The solar powered car was certainly pretty strange looking but also made us wonder if there isn't some sort of combination technology - say solar and electric - that could make our country less oil dependent. Of course our week of walking also helped us appreciate that if we were just less lazy as a nation we could also reduce our oil dependency.

We popped into the Imax for a really cool film about oceans and how so many cultures - human, marine and fowl - are interdependent on the survival of each other. While the movie was very interesting, I have to say that the constant movement made this motion sensitive momma a wee bit queasy. The beautiful views were entirely worth it, however.


We got a quick NASA history lesson, including some information about the tragic Apollo 1 mission and a view of an authentic command module.


Then we got down to business with the U-505, an authentic U-boat captured during World War II.


Boychild was most looking forward to this and had even done some additional research about U boats before our Chicago visit (with the help of his dad). Both kids agree it was one of the highlights of our MSI visit.


They had a chance to check out an actual bunk from the boat, see the damage to the hull from the 6 minutes of being fired upon prior to its capture, have the opportunity to work together to raise and lower a submarine (sub simulator), and tour the boat itself.


We all agree that we're too claustrophobic to ever live or work on a submarine. In addition to information about the U-505 we also learned a bit more about the naval history of WWII.


Of course, there is more to naval exploration than war and we were all captivated with sonar and underwater sounds. It's amazing how tiny sounds can seem so big underwater!

Girlchild also got to see the incredible fairy castle, although she felt a bit rushed by her brother who was obviously not interested in fairy castles at all.

We also got to explore more about trains and planes (we already saw the automobiles, lol). We saw a really cool scale model of downtown Chicago.


We learned more about farming, raising pigs, and milking cows. We saw the sweetest baby chicks and watched some baby chicks trying to make progress on getting out of their shells. We even learned a little bit about DNA and cloning.


And how could we forget our experience with Disney Radio... or Radio Disney... something like that. Girlchild was game to play along with the broadcast for a little bit. She even participated in a group activity where about 50 people holding hands had to pass themselves through a hula hoop, twice, in less than 3 minutes. They did it and it was mildly exciting. Unfortunately, the music that was playing was so loud it quickly became intolerable - which actually was a good thing since Radio Disney was the first thing we encountered in the museum and we didn't need to spend all of our time listening to the radio!

After we had seen all we could possibly see (or all our feet could tolerate), we opted to walk back to the train station and head North again. We knew that we couldn't make the connecting train from Union Station and the next train didn't leave for an hour, so we decided to talk our time and walk back to Union Station. Yes, we walked. Again. Because it was getting late in the evening (our train wasn't leaving Union Station until about 6:30) we decided to get dinner to take with us on the train rather than making the 45 minute train ride and then trying to get dinner. The kids were very happy to have pizza while Momma elected to have a Robinson's Ribs pulled pork BBQ sandwich. However, after they got a taste of the sandwich to which they had originally turned up their nose, they wished they had what momma had. Mmmmmmm it was good!

Once we got back to the car, we had a quick stop to make at the local grocery store to pick up some things for Sunday meals so that we could minimize any purchases on the sabbath and we picked up ice cream to go with the brownies we had brought from home. The Disney Channel became our friend that night as we rested our tired tootsies and filled our bellies with empty calories and lots of sugar. It truly was the perfect end to a near perfect day.