Friday, January 02, 2015

NW Planning: to Chicago

I'm trying to be good. And organized. And practical. You know, all those qualities that are at the opposite end of the personality spectrum from me.

So, I'm trying to plan the trip one day at a time, starting with day one and progressing in a logical, sane, chronological order. Not skipping around like a squirrel to the days I'm most looking forward to. (Because then I won't get to the other days, and I'll have to rework the days i got done if something has to change, etc, etc. Efficiency. I'm all about efficiency. It's like my middle name. Not.)

Days One and Two:

We are leaving Cincy (on a Wednesday) and driving up to Chicago. It's only a 4.5 hour drive, so we'll probably do it all in one go. If we leave at like 7 we can be in Chicago just before lunch. That worked well on our trip to California (we were in St. Louis and WEST of the Mississippi River by 10:30 or 11. It was CRAZY.)

Deep dish Chicago pizza for lunch, obviously! Maybe Lou Malnati's.
or
Brunch at m.henry (open from 7 to 2:30)

Side note: We've already done a lot of research and have a word document full of ideas and links for the various regions we'll be traveling through. For some strange region, Chicago is empty save for one thing. Yet we scheduled a day and a half there.


The Museum of Science and Industry was the one thing we have on the list. Open 9:30-4.

Facebook friends have given us a list of some other great places to see and to eat!

Fermilab guided tours. Oh yeah, baby! (Oh no, baby! Tours are at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday. We'd have to leave Cincy by oh-six-hundred hours and HOPE that we don't hit any traffic or other snags. Any time that begins with OH....can only end in OH NO! when I'm involved.)

Field Museum of Natural History museum passport member. open every day (except Christmas) from 9-5.
Shedd Aquarium (largest indoor aquarium in the world) Cool but at $40 a person, a bit out of our price range.

Yoy Lee's Noodle Kitchen

 M. Henry's Breakfast and Brunch

Improv Olympic This one is very possible. They have shows every evening of the week, some of them are free and others are just $5 or $10 a ticket. One show had a 'not suitable for children' caution, but others didn't, so I'm hoping they will stay PG-13. Might be a fun and entertaining way to spend Wednesday evening, since the museums and such will be closed.

Neo-FauturiumThey do thirty plays in 60 minutes. A roll of a six-sided die (plus $5) is what you pay to get in. The show begins at midnight on Friday and Saturday nights." I double checked the times of shows. Not going to be available while we're in Chicago.

Trip Planning

Our next big family vacation is being planned. We are in the process of making a tentative schedule and itinerary.

Here is the Beta version of the vacation. Numbers in parenthesis are driving hours between destinations.

  1. Wednesday: to Chicago (4.5)
  2. Thursday: in Chicago
  3. Friday: to Minneapolis (6.5)
  4. Saturday: to Dickinson, ND (7.5)
  5. Sunday: to Bozeman, MT (6.5)
  6. Monday: to Glacier (5)
  7. Tuesday: in Glacier
  8. Wed: to Spokane (6)
  9. Thurs: to Seattle (4)
  10. Fri: in Olympic National PK
  11. Sat: in Seattle
  12. Sun: to/in Portland (3)
  13. Mon: to Boise (6.5)
  14. Tues: to Yellowstone
  15. Wed: in Yellowstone
  16. Thurs: in Yellowstone
  17. Fri: in Grand Teton
  18. Sat: to Cody, via Red Lodge (4.5)
  19. Sun: to Rapid City, SD (6)
  20. Mon: in Rushmore
  21. Tues: to Sioux City, IA (6)
  22. Wed: to Peoria, IL (7)
  23. Fri: to home (5)