Getting off the train in Chicago was exciting – we had a day to spend doing whatever we wanted!
It was really cold and early Sunday morning. So we had booked a zipcar and thought we’d just drive around Chicago. We see ‘city’ every day so we relished at the chance to see some suburbia!
First place? We drove up to the North Shore to gorgeous Winnetka to visit a house.
Not just ANY house.
You know, Kevin, you’re what the French call les incompétents – HOME ALONE!
If you are interested in the house itself, it is for sale!
Even better? Directly across the street is the real Mitch Murphy house!
It was great just driving around and looking at the houses and obviously with the snow it was like being in the movie itself!
As it was Sunday we decided to go to Mass at St John Cantius for a beautiful Tridentine Mass. I have wanted to visit there after seeing an amazing documentary about the restoration of the church. If you click on that link, you can watch the documentary too. It is awesome. Mass itself was beautiful and I think Latin gets easier to follow as you get used to it more. They had a book so you could follow what they were saying in English but, I wish I learnt Latin at school!
We managed to get a photo of the altar before Mass started but the whole church is just gorgeous – it was well worth the visit!
By the time Mass was over we were starving. So we had another little drive around before we had to return the car. Next stop? Deep dish pizza. This was a positively life changing experience. Giordano’s Pizza is ohmygosh amazing.
Inside it had the All-American-Italian-Restaurant feel – I loved it!
And this could just about be one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten –
I cannot describe how good the base was – almost flaky pastry like. It looks like it could be totally over the top right? Well that is the thing, it isn’t at all – it is really nice to eat and while it is filling you don’t get that sickly feeling you normally can get after eating pizza with that much cheese.
We ended up hanging out in Giordano’s for a while as it was warm. I was truly struggling to stay awake and even after ordering a coke I was still falling asleep. We had planned to check out the Willis Tower but instead decided to head back to the station. We were both just truly beat.
Here we are walking around in the freezing cold.
We then did a bit of a walk around gorgeous Union Station. The last time I was here was in 2002 and it has changed a lot. They are going to start renovating soon.
When we got to the Metropolitan Lounge we hung out there until relaxed until about 8.30 when we got the call to board. The lounge felt very 80s but it was comfy and quiet!
I also thought it looked like a TAB –
Ready to hit the rails!
This is the route we would be travelling –
When we got to our room, it already felt different to the previous train. We had chocolates in our room, soap and water all laid out.As soon as we there, our attendant Tom introduced himself. He told us to head down to the dining car for wine and cheese and he would set up our bedroom while we were there.
The Lake Shore Limited Dining Car –
Sleeping car passengers get this before departure as it is too late for a dinner sitting –
We were super tired and guess what? When we got back, our beds were made.. perfectly!
Now, when I was on the other train, I was chatting to mum on the phone. She mentioned that when they would get the train to northern New South Wales when she was young, there would be a blue night light in the room and the attendants would wake them up with tea and coffee in the morning. Well get this.. here is the blue nightlight we had too.
Just to note, the Lake Shore Limited is a Viewliner train – these are the only ones that can travel into New York City because of the tunnels. These are configured differently with lots of storage space near the ceiling. The higher ceilings mean this carriage felt a lot less claustrophobic than the Superliner fleet that we took to Chicago. The Upper Bunk has an upper window and in this you can see just how much room there is –
It was awesome! Not only was the ride smoother but I felt a lot more comfortable laying on the top bunk!
You can see they even have a little storage bag up there to keep things in. Cute!
We slept and slept and slept. I couldn’t believe it when I woke up and realized I had had a great eight hour sleep and was so refreshed! We again got to watch the sunrise over Pennsylvania (we were in between Cleveland and Buffalo) and it was just as beautiful –
Our attendant from heaven, Tom knocked on our door at 7.30 with you guessed it! Coffee, juice and the newspaper!
Now THIS was what we envisaged our train travel to be like. Tom was amazing and takes such pride in his job and looking after the passengers – we were truly lucky to get him as our attendant. When I got back, I googled him to find out he is one of the best Amtrak attendants riding the rails. He really made our trip fantastic.
We went down to the dining car for breakfast –
And here we are walking down the different corridors of the Lake Shore Limited –
When we went back to our room, our beds were all made, towels changed and the room tidied. Tom was an angel! I laid down and had a two hour nap thinking to myself about how great it would be if I could get Amtrak from New York to Melbourne!
We then got called for lunch – and I forgot to take photos. We were seated with a totally grumpy couple from Europe who thought they were entitled to sit on their own as it was more ‘romantic’. Uh-huh – on Amtrak. They were all fussy about their wines and beer. It was annoying to be stuck with them but we just ordered, ate and left! I ordered meatloaf, Bill ordered a burger and again, the meals were great.
We saw this old train just near the Utica station –
And lots of natural Winter beauty along the way –
After another 19 hours of train travel, it was time to get ready to sadly disembark –
In comparison to the airport, it was an amazing experience. We got off the train at 6.25, got in a cab at 6.30 and we were walking in the door at 6.45!
This cab marked the end of our adventure –
BUT the minute we got home we were back, checking out Amtrak guides. We really want to do NY – LA next and even do the trip we originally wanted to do, the Crescent back down south. Either way, even though both trips were so opposite of each other we understand that that is the nature of train travel. You either get really good or totally hopeless. We can only wish that more attendants become more like Tom – as he made our trip what it was. We are also more confident and we know what to expect next time. Basically, WE LOVE AMTRAK!
I hope you have enjoyed seeing what long distance train travel is like in America and also the little bit of New Orleans and Chicago you got to see. We squished so much in and time went so fast. Now.. the countdown is on until Europe beckons in April! We cannot wait!