I returned from my trip to Chicago for Acen last night. I had a great time and met a lot of awesome people, spent some time with my girlfriend, and spent way too much money on things I don't need.
The "bus stop" train station in Royal Oak, MI
Travel wise, the trip started better than it ended. I took an Amtrak train from Royal Oak, MI to Chicago, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised in how comfortable the ride was. It took about 6 hours to get to Chicago, and along the way I had an awesome chat with a grad student from the University of Michigan, and someone who was also going to the convention that I was. Overall a very pleasant experience; I'll definitely take the train again next time I go to Chicago!
The coach seats were very spacious compared to an airplane
When I arrived in Chicago, the girl I met on the train who was going to the same place as me had a friend who she was supposed to meet up with her. He and his brother lead us to the metro about a mile from Union Station. It was a little bit of a walk while dragging my bag behind me, especially with the sidewalk construction we had to trudge through. It was awesome to see so many big buildings all around me, though.
A pretty scene over the river
The L's Red Line entrance
I didn't get to spend a ton of time in downtown, since I hopped on the Blue Line right away and headed out to O'Hare, which was right by my hotel.
We stayed in the Aloft, which was a pretty schmancy hotel. It was chosen, though, for it's close proximity to the convention center.
The convention itself was pretty awesome, but I won't bore you with the details of that here. If you want pictures and talk about the con, check out my girlfriend's post about it at kohimemoe.blogspot.com.
The way back was the more stressful leg of the trip. Upon trying to check my girlfriend in to her flight on Sunday afternoon, we learned that her flight had been cancelled and the next available one was the following morning. Because of this, we had to stay an extra night in Chicago, which I was secretly happy about. More time out of town coupled with more time with my girlfriend (who lives 700 miles away, for the record); I saw no downside here. Ok, maybe the $12 it took to reschedule my train, but in my eyes it was totally worth it.
After seeing my girlfriend up to security at the airport, I hopped on the Blue Line and headed back downtown to Union Station to head home. The train ride between O'Hare and the Jackson Street stop is about 35 minutes long. Not bad, and its a really cool and cheap way to get from place to place. Note: I live in the suburbs of Detroit. The only thing I've ever really seen like this is the People Mover, which can't even really compare.
Entrance to the Blue Line from O'Hare Airport
The train ride home was fine, but we were a bit behind schedule since the storms that cancelled my girlfriend's flight had apparently knocked out one of the signaling wires for the train. This meant that between Jackson, MI and Dearborn, MI, we had to travel around 25 MPH. Needless to say, I was pretty tired when I got home. It was a positive experience though, and I definitely plan on going back to see the city when I don't have some big event taking up all of my time.
To see more pictures, check out my Chicago Picasa album here.
2 comments:
Glad to hear you had a good time in Chicago. It was great getting to finally meet you, too :]
Aw thanks Kim, it was awesome finally getting to meet you too!
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