Impromptu Day in Chicago

 

And we were off!

Until we weren't.

It was going to be a long day of travel, and it was.  We left our house at 7:30am to drive to SLC with a stop in Heber for food and time to park in the economy lot, take the shuttle and get to the airport by 11.  After that, we did the hang-out-at-the-airport thing until our flight left around 1.  

We were on our way to Manchester, New Hampshire, with a connection flight in Chicago.  During our flight there was a medical emergency which required a landing in Omaha, Nebraska to allow the passenger at the very back of the plane to get to a hospital.  I had never experienced that before.  When we landed, about 4 EMTs came aboard  and then the skinniest wheelchair I've ever seen was wheeled down the narrow aisle.  We were all asked to remain seated.  The next time I saw that wheelchair, the person in it was slumped and did not look well.  Moments later I saw the EMTs wheeling her off on a stretcher into the ambulance outside my window.  I said a little prayer for her and the workers.  The flight attendants assured us we would be on our way as soon as possible and though it was an inconvenience, they were taking the necessary measures to care for this person as if it were any one of our loved ones.  That struck me.  That slumped, unwell person could've been any of us because we never know when a medical emergency will happen.  I felt grateful for our good health to make this trip and for the decision of the flight crew to make the landing for one person's health.

So, we made it to Chicago, but it was too late to catch our connection.  The airline personnel were busy getting everyone scheduled on new flights.  Ours was booked for first thing in the morning and I was not interested in finding a hotel and then getting up before the sun rose to wait in an airport for a 5 hour flight that should be a 2 hr flight because of connections.  No more connections.  So I took my request to the desk and they said we could get on a direct flight, but we'd have to wait for the evening instead of the morning.  Sold.  We'd spend an impromptu day in Chicago exploring instead of at airports.  I found a hotel with a free airport shuttle and one that would hold our bags while we toured the city after check out.  The Hilton.  OOOO... it was a nice place.  And I submitted for a voucher from Southwest hopefully to cover the cost of the hotel and transportation.  That was reviewed and a few weeks later I received $200 flight voucher for each passenger to use on a later flight.  So, that's not exactly what I wanted, but it'll do.

We got to the hotel as it was getting dark and Lily mentioned feeling hungry.  That's when my brain alerted me DON'T FORGET IT'S HER BIRTHDAY!  GO OUT FOR DESSERT!  Though everyone else seemed exhausted, we all walked to the TGIFridays across the parking lot to celebrate Lily's birthday with some real food and dessert.  It's probably not anyone's ideal to spend their birthday traveling all day, but she was so sweet about it.  She knew there would be more fun in the days to come.  And may I just say it doesn't make sense in my mind that she can be 21 already. She is the finest 21 year old I know.  She is loving, kind, responsible, helpful, smart, and so grown up.  We love her immensely and are so privileged God sent her to our family!

My beautiful girl is 21!

Korean ribs and fries

Chicago

After our delicious continental breakfast, we decided to catch public transit to downtown and go see the "shiny kidney bean" my kids saw online at Millenium Park.

 

The bus system was tricky but we eventually got to a train station where a nice lady helped us figure out how to get to Millenium Park on the train.  That ride was actually half the adventure.  We loved touring the city on this rail that ran above ground and made stops here and there in a city full of high-rise buildings and apartments.  

Where we got off, there were loads of restaurants and tourist shops.  We took full advantage of being tourists and frequented the ones that caught our attention and also enjoyed the cool art sculptures at the park.  Lily and I even got a Chicago dog at a park stand.  Seemed like the right thing to do.  And it was GOOD.  It had everything- bright neon green relish, onion, mustard, tomato, dill pickle spear, and 2 pickled sport peppers.

If we had more time, we could've visited the free downtown zoo and tried a Chicago style pizza.  Maybe one day...  Yeah... actually let's plan to go back one day.  I'd like that.