Monday 9th May 2022 We arrived at Chicago Station, which like so many we have seen, is grand, gorgeous and very clean. It was designed by Daniel Burnham and opened in May 1925. Once again we were able to use the Metropolitan Lounge and so could leave our luggage and spend a few hours acquainting ourselves with Chicago. We were not sure what to expect and used GPSmyCity to find a short route we could accomplish in the time we had available. We went into the Willis Tower, previously known as the Sears Tower, and down to the basemen to ask about tickets to the observation deck. It did not seem as though there would be any difficulty in simply turning up as a walk-in when we returned. The elevated railways seem so familiar from films and TV shows. Lasalle Street is home to iconic Art Deco office buildings. But our route took us to the Rookery Building at one end, the oldest standing high rise in Chicago. We will walk down the rest of the street on our return. On one side of DuSable Bridge we passed a bust of Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable who was born in Haiti and […]
Daily Archives: 10/05/2022
Sunday 8th May 2022 Having travelled on the Amtrak Acela train from New York to Boston, today we started our coast to coast trans-American train journey. Over the next three days we will be taking two trains to travel the 2,911 miles from the east to the west coast of the USA. The journey starts at Boston’s South Station. As a sleeper passenger, prior to your journey you may use the facilities in the Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge inside the station – a glorious spacious room with splendid ceilings. There are complimentary snacks including crisps, chocolate and soft drinks. Robert’s planning meant we had arrived early at the station so we left our luggage at the Metropolitan Lounge and went for a final walk around Boston. On our first day in Boston Matilda was surprised when she pressed the walk button at a road crossing and it told her sternly to ‘wait’. Matilda felt now was the time, perhaps childishly, to get her own back [put sound on]. We had heard about the nine bronze duck statues and made our way to see them. They are apparently based on a popular American children’s book by Robert McCloskey, Make Way for Ducklings about a […]