Our plane landed in Chicago, Illinois around 9 am. We were to wait for Tyson’s sister for a ride north to Wisconsin, but she was not to get into Chicago until around 3 pm. I had prepared myself to sit in the airport for 6 hours, knowing I had a lot of computer work to do. It would be fine; we would find a nice coffee shop in the huge O’Hare airport and stay focused while sipping on a sweet latte.
Of course, as we were running short on time to the airport leaving Denver, we were some of the last people to board the plane. The ticket scanner informed me that they would have to check my carry-on bag and I would claim it in Chicago at baggage claim. I’m normally not too frustrated by this—only annoyed—but this changed our plan of sitting somewhere nice. Our options were limited once out near baggage claim.
There was literally nothing near baggage claim, except a makeshift Starbucks that literally had tables with chairs just feet from the baggage claim belts. I was annoyed and hungry, which are not two good combinations for me. Once we got something to eat and drink from Starbucks, I was feeling better and accepted the fact that we would be listening to the clanking and clacking of the baggage belt for the next 6 hours. I opened up my computer and got to work.
Justin, Tyson’s brother, showed up an hour or so later and he suggested we go downtown. That would definitely be more fun than typing away while sipping coffee. Within 10 minutes we were sitting on the train heading east into the city. We’d have a couple of hours to explore and I had always wanted to see The Bean. The train system was extremely easy to figure out, especially for a few of small town folks.
With all of our luggage in tow, after 45 minutes of a barreling train ride, we were getting off the train and walking up from the underground station into towering buildings and crowds of people. Without mountains, I have a hard time getting my bearings but we are lucky these days for the incredible technology we have at our fingertips. We headed east to The Bean.
People starred as I gawked at the towering structures and rolled my suitcase through cracked sidewalks and across traffic filled streets. We got off at the Washington stop and made the short and quick few-block walk to Millennium Park where, among other things, The Bean was.
At first glance of the shining and shimmering Bean, I was surprised! It was not nearly as big as I thought it was, although still very intriguing. We took some photos and admired the site. Tyson googled about the Bean, as he was instantly curious of it’s background and build.
After admiring the crazy structure for a while, we decided we wanted to head down towards the water. We walked through the park and watched as kids played in one of the coolest parks any of us had ever seen. The water was a beautiful teal-blue and lapped the water’s edge quietly as geese swam curiously towards us.
We walked back towards our train stop, and looked for something to eat along the way. We would’ve loved to have some true Chicago hot dogs, but we were running out of time so stopped at the first pizza place we ran into. We shared a Chicago style deep dish pizza and admired the memorabilia strewn through the restaurant.
As we were crunched for time, we hurried back to the Blue Line stop on Monroe to ride back to the airport where we would meet Tyson’s sister, Rachael. We only waited a few minutes underground at the station and were back on the train towards the airport. We people watched and listened to stranger’s stories of city life and strife.
