Chicagoland

For your pleasure: vacation photos.

It's no wonder they call the Chicago metro area "Chicagoland." We waited in lines for tickets and for rides (elevators to observation decks, the boat up-and-down the Chicago River, the "El"). We walked and walked and walked. We ate. We shopped. We paid for admission time and time again (although 5 days' admissions cost us each around $100 including transportation, as opposed to $50/day at a theme park here). We rode elevated trains from place to place.

The area of town we stayed in had a very theme-park-esque quality about it. We were down the street from a Weber Grill restaurant, the Rainforest Cafe, the Hard Rock Cafe, and the House of Blues. The bar we went to played the music video of the Anastacia single from the Chicago film soundtrack, and within a half hour we saw a video for "All That Jazz" from the same film. Not dancable, but clearly there to please the visiting public. Navy Pier — just down the street — was the epitome of tourist-trap district, complete with free "antique" trolley providing service to the N Michigan Ave shopping district.

This tourist quality, however, also meant I wasn't completely escaping my work. The Disney Store was a few blocks away, and an ESPN Zone was on the same block as our own hotel! There used to be more, as became clear when we looked at our hotel room telephone:


(Yes, the room service was P.F. Chang's.)

If you didn't know, DisneyQuest was Disney's aborted attempt at virtual-reality theme parks nationwide. Three were planned (Orlando, Chicago, Philadelphia), two built (Orlando, Chicago), and only one remains (Orlando). Apparently my hotel had direct-line access for information. This, of course, meant a Mickey was staring back at me from the phone, every day. Ugh.

This trip made me wonder about discussions on the best place to raise a child. I have always heard of parents moving away from the city to raise their kids in a "better environment." Some people move to Orlando to get this, and their kids get field trips to theme parks (oh, so educational). But, we saw school groups of very young children (perhaps first grade?) being led on tours of The Art Institute. I can't fathom, having grown up in a smaller town, having access to that kind of cultural education. Sports (if that's your thing) readily available. Every resource you could likely need, sandwiched into a 5-square-mile area. There must be some way to have that, and not have your kid "fall prey" to the bad influence everyone says the city can be. Not that I'm contemplating kids, mind you. No thanks.