Stephen Yeargin

For those who know Samantha and I, the word “vacation” is barely in our vocabulary, other than a simple way of describing the reason we are not showing up for work on a particular day. Big trips to exotic locales are just not the way we like to blow spend our money. So when the topic of how to spend our third anniversary came up, a trip to Chicago was a bit of a stretch from the norm. In fact, I received a couple of messages after posting pictures that went along the lines of “You and your wife actually took a trip!?!”

Then again, for a couple who did not get the chance to have a honeymoon, it made a lot of sense. Chicago appealed to our more young-urban-professional sentiments. It is a bustling metropolis alongside Lake Michigan, with more to do than can possibly fit in even a week’s stay, let alone a day and a half. But the beauty of our relationship is that we had only booked the flights and the hotel room. The rest of the trip would be completely ad-libbed.

We left Nashville on the 7:15 a.m. flight to Chicago’s ‘Midway International Airport. It was my first time flying, so that in and of itself made the trip one that I will never forget. The flight was a little less than half full. I also embarrassed Samantha a bit when I eagerly used one of the drink tickets our friend and travel advisor Brian Davis had mailed us. Something about having a Rum and Coke before 8 a.m. just did not go over well, but I enjoyed it. The Southwest Airlines crew was a humorous bunch, asking us to make sure that our electronic devices were off, not in “airplane mode, game mode, a la mode, or Depeche Mode.” There were quite a few other gags along the way, including the customary “Welcome to Orlando” shortly before touch down.

We did not have any checked bags, so the next stop was the CTA rail terminal. Again, I had never ridden a commuter train before. The ride was only moderately crowded with folks trying to get to work or their meetings. I was impressed by how automated the rail system is, with voice instructions and very short windows of time to get on and off the train before it whizzes away to the next stop. I pondered for a bit how often I would inevitably miss my stop, and what implications that would have on that day’s schedule.

At one of the stops we stepped off the train and walked over to Grant Park. Being that we watched election night returns from a bar in Nashville, it was really cool to be in a spot where history was made a little under a year ago. We winded our way through until we were at the steps of the Shedd Aquarium. It seemed to us to be as good a place as any to walk around. We read up on the City Pass program and decided that the $69 per person price tag still made the most sense. It turned out to be a fairly solid investment. The aquarium and the “4-D” movie was a lot of fun, albeit painful on the lower back. We watched the BBC’s “Planet Earth” movie, and at times during the previews and throughout the movie a post would poke the viewer in the back for added emphasis, the seat directly in front would spray a mist of water and large fans would simulate gale-force winds. We also saw penguins. (There is a back-story to why that matters.)

We then walked over to the Adler Planetarium and watched yet another 3D show, this time without the back pain. It was a tour through the cosmos set to the music of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. We took a hidden escalator behind the screen up to our next show in the actual domed planetarium. The presentation was about how to examine the stars and constellations in the night sky. It was similar to one we had watched at Nashville’s Adventure Science Center earlier this year. A Alpha Kappa Psi fraternity member walked up to me and asked if I was in an honor society or if the letters on my hoodie was for a fraternity. I told him the latter, and we briefly talked about where we went to school before he headed on his way.

The one thing that really stood out in the venues we visited while in Chicago was their sheer size. Nashville’s exhibition spaces could fit numerous times within some of these places. The Field Museum was no exception. After touring an African village, walking through a pharaoh’s tomb and exploring the microscopic world of dirt, we were already tired and hungry. But trying to get out of the museum winded us through South America’s history and a large collection of animals both large and small. Toward the end of our visit to the museum, we looked again at the map. It was then that we came to the realization that we had seen less than half of the exhibits. It was time for lunch.

We checked our bags into our hotel, the Palmer House Hilton a few blocks off of Michigan Avenue. It was a mesmerizing place, with a lot of attention to detail in the paintings on the ceiling and right down to the emblems on the crown molding. After dropping our bags off, charging our iPhones and resting our weary feet, we set back out for lunch. One of my followers on Twitter suggested Uno’s Grille for an authentic deep dish pizza, but my poor sense of direction prompted Samantha to call a cab and go to the Cheesecake Factory. While there, a young man walked over to me and shook my hand. He noticed that I was wearing a fraternity hoodie for Sigma Phi Epsilon, and wanted to come say hello. He was a member at the California Beta chapter at USC and was curious which chapter I was from. Samantha was amazed that such an encounter had happened twice in the same day. We took another cab ride to the nearby Old Navy for a few wardrobe enhancements and then walked back to the hotel for the night.

Thursday morning was one for relaxing at the hotel. We both took guesses as to how many miles we had walked the day prior, neither knowing for sure. We checked out of the hotel and went in search of a bag to carry our stuff in a bit better. As with most trips, it seems that you end up carrying more home than you did to get there. We bought a bag at Sears and then ate lunch at nearby McDonald’s. We used the last of the City Pass tickets for a ride to The Skydeck Chicago atop Willis (Sears) Tower. It was quite an experience to be that far above the skyline, but then again I think that Google Maps has ruined the novelty of seeing the tops of buildings. We walked over “The Edge” exhibit so that I could stand 103 stories above Chicago and see straight down to the city below. It was an awesome view from up there.

From there we walked back to Michigan Avenue to the The Art Institute of Chicago, a place that I had only heard about by watching “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off“. Again, the place was huge and there was no way that we would be able to see all of it in a single trip. The rain and wind had begun to move into the area by that afternoon, so we started to walk back through Millennium Park to Grant Park and ultimately to the train station. We got out of the rain for a bit at a Potbelly Sandwich Works store. I also tried in vain to get my iPhone charged enough for the return flight home. We boarded a very crowded commuter train right at rush hour and made our way back to the airport.

The return flight was also an adventure, booking 136 of the 137 seats on the plane. The rain had also started to mix with lightning, so our ascent was action packed. A little over two-thirds of the way into the flight we finally made it to clear skies and a awesome view of the city lights as we passed over Kentucky and parts of Tennessee. We landed at a much quieter Nashville International Airport than when we left it the day before. Both of us were scheduled to be at work the next morning.

Chicago 2016

We left Chicago the day before the International Olympic Committee was to select the host city for the 2016 Olympic games. It was all over the news, and you could see on every street corner proof that a good portion of the city supported Chicago’s Olympic bid. After spending a day and a half there, I agreed with them. The city that I saw was one that was ready to welcome the world.

But it was not meant to be. Sixteen hours after we left, a crowd of residents were stunned when their city was knocked off the list in the first round of balloting. An effort that had cost millions of dollars would not bring the Olympic games to the city, and there was little chance of putting together a new bid for the 2020 games.

So what is a world-class city to do when it misses out on opening its doors to the world? I suppose it continues to grow and prosper. There was certainly a segment of the city that did not want the games, but both sides agreed that it was time to invest into improving the infrastructure and revitalizing the neighborhoods that would have gained the most from hosting the games.

Chicago certainly grabbed our attention. I hope to go back there at some point. I have posted a rather large set of photos to Flickr.