28.-29.8.2015 Chicago Departure

On Friday evening we met with some friends of Sandra’s for dinner in Oak Park

for an very enjoyable last evening in Chicago. After a good dinner and some beer

and wine we said good-bye and retired for a good nights sleep.

Saturday started very dull and rainy so that it was not very hard to say good-bye to

the windy city

We both enjoyed a bit a bigger breakfast then usual because of the journeys ahead of us:

Sandra to the east, I to the west.

Again good-byes with the promise not to wait another 4 years for a visit.

A cab whizzed me to downtown Chicago to Union Station where ( thank God ! ) I could

already check-in my bags for my 2:15 pm departure to Whitefish/Montana. The Amtrak

steward, as it turned out, was from Whitefish and gave me some very useful tips and

suggested his favourite steak joint. Let’s see.

First I have an interesting train ride in front of me. 

Scheduled arrival time of train "7/27 The Empire Builder” is on Sunday at 8:56 pm Mountain time.

 

 

28.8.2015 Exploring Chicago

The forecast promised very warm weather for today but it turned out a bit dull and overcast at times.

Fortunately it was still very warm so that our usual outdoor breakfast was on the agenda before

heading into town. 

Today the area north of the Chicago River was on the agenda but with a little detour via the downtown

Rockery building, one of the many marvels of Chicago architecture where Frank Lloyd Wright was at one

point in time involved.

After we ticked this item of on our “To-Do” list we walked leisurely up Michigan Avenue across the river

to reach the famous ( infamous ? ) Chicago shopping mile: “The Magnificent Mile”.

Passing by the old Chicago Tribune building we marvelled the various stone inserts from buildings all over

the world which the various Tribune correspondents had to bring back from their missions and which had been

incorporated into the outside walls of the building.

Finally we reached the Water Tower Plaza with the John Hancock Tower. No, we didn’t climb the 1632 stairs

to the 94th floor observation deck. The view was fantastic !

27.8.2015 Exploring Chicago

Weather forecast: sunny with temperatures in the upper 70th F.

Ideal to make the trip into downtown Chicago.

After a hearty breakfast in a nice place around the corner from our motel we headed to the train station to

catch a train into Chicago. We had already decided the previous day to get tickets for a narrated boat trip

on the Chicago river, offered by the Architectural Foundation. Lucky as we are we got two spaces and

after a short wait it started. For the next 1 ½ hours we leisurely passed alongside the old and modern

buildings developed by famous architects like for example Mies van der Rohe and others. Converted

icehouses from the mid 20th, skyscrapers resembling greek temples to super modern structures. Everything

is available and makes this cities interesting.

Being on-shore again me strolled towards Millennium Park to enjoy the various art structures and the 

millennium fountains with their imaginative displays. Highlight was the “Bean” ( thats the nickname given by the people of

Chicago ) by the British Designer Amish Kapoor. A gigantic polished steel bean mirroring the surrounding buildings.

Fantastic.

Using the elevated train system we travelled around the “Loop” to do sightseeing on the “first floor” before catchng

a train back to Oak Park. We wanted to be back in time for this evenings street festival.

After a fun game of croquet in Mills Park we strolled into Oak Park to enjoy a nice dinner, a jazz music and later on Reggea.

Tables and chairs on the main Oak Park Street, lots of people in all ages: FUN !

26.8.2015 Oak Park ( suburb of Chicago )

After a refreshing shower and a nice ( home-made ) breakfast ( our motel room has a fridge and

a microwave ) we left the motel.

On the agenda today: visiting the cemetery where Sandra’s grand-parents are buried and the place

where they lived and her grand-pa was a minister.

After an about 50 min long drive we reached the Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie. A very helpful

lade in the cemeteries reception could tell us where precisely the graves can be found. Sandra wanted

to see them because she was here a long time ago.

Thanks again to our GPS system we also found the old house of her grand-parents on Le Moyne Parkway

and the old church where her grand-pa was once a minister.

Having ticked all the boxes on her wish-list we headed back to Oak Park to explore the Frank Lloyd Wright

House and Studio.

He was ( and still is ) one of the great American Architects and had his very own style: the prairie house style

with clear lines and warm colours. A guide showed us around the house which shown many of his style

features. 

Near the house are many buildings once developed by him and make a walk through this beautiful part of

Oak Park even more interesting.

Walking back to our motel we decided to watch a movie in the local cinema and bought the tickets straightaway.

Whats shown on the big screen tonight ? “Mr. Holmes"

I shall report more.

25.8.2015 Driving to Chicago

Weather ideal for travelling: not to hot ( temperature in the mid 70 F ) but a bit overcast.

Having done all our chores in Birmingham we hit the road at around 11:30 am.  Leaving

the Detroit traffic behind us we reached I-94 West some time later.

From here on it was a smooth ride in a western direction only interrupted by a pit stop

close to the Michigan / Indiana border to fill up gas and have a coffee with a cherry cake.

Traffic started to to thicken when we reached the vicinity of Chicago but thanks to Sandra's

GPS system ( on loan from very good friends of hers ) we managed to drive through the Chicago

traffic without any problem and didn’t even miss any of the turns we had to take.

At around 4:30 pm we reached Oak Park and our motel. 

Unpacking was the first on the agenda before we started a walk through downtown Oak Park to

stretch our legs and indulge a great ice-cream at “Coldstone Creamerie”: French Vanilla mixed with

roasted hazelnuts.

Delightfull !

I will definitely have another one whilst we are here.

24.8.2015 Last Day with my Cousin in Birmingham

Good times fly !

Today is my last day in Birmingham, MI and we decided that it should be a quite day.

Sandra dropped me in downtown Birmingham, a very walkable city, as she had to pop

into work a some time. I roamed around, took some pictures before walking leasurely

back home ( home ? o.k it was for the last couple of days ) to relax in Sandra’s garden

posting today’s blog post.

Later the laundry of the last few days needs to be done ( including mine ! ) so that we can

drive off tomorrow morning to Chicago. An 5 ½ hours long drive which we fortunately can

share.

PS: In case you have forgotten: you can track my tour in much more detail by pointing your

browser to: http://trackmytour.com/lCFvw

 

My cousins house

22.8.-23.8.2015 Birmingham, MI

Two great days full of events  with my cousin.

Saturday: Friends of Sandra ( Vivianne and Dalen ) popped in later in the morning and together we

drove through the tunnel over to Windsor ( Canada ). It’s right next to Maidstone in Essex. Yes you

are reading this correctly. My British friends will be confused but in this part of the world Maidstone is

in Essex.

South of Windsor in Amhurstburg we roamed around the old British Fort Malden which was once build

to protect Canada from the US, an event which never happened. Amhurstburg is a lovely town with

beautiful little picturesque buildings where we also had lunch before returning to Windsor. The Queen

Elizabeth Gardens have been worth a visit before driving back into the US. 

A short detour brought us to the Belle Isle, an island in the Detroit River which connects Lake St.Clair

with Lake Erie. Belle Isle is a 982 acre state park with lots of recreational possibilities for the citizens of

Detroit.

Sunday: Wake up early as after an 45 minutes drive Sandra and I attended the early morning church

service at St.John’s Episcopal Church. In the columbarium of the church both my uncle and aunt are

burried. Being right around the corner from St.John’s we explored the gigantic Detroit Tigers Stadium

and the nearby Fox Theatre, a huge 1920 cinema and theatre building with a fantastic Art Deco facade.

Having headed back to Birmingham to have lunch in a lovely place called appropriately “Toast” for breakfast

or rather Brunch.

Full with new energy the “Henry Ford Museum” was next on the list. This huge in- and outdoor museum

exhibits not only all the airplanes, cars and lorries used or still is producing. IN an outdoor part original historical

buildings like for example Abe Lincoln courthouse, a Cotswold Cottage and other are open to be explored.

As Ford was a close friend of Thomas Edison his Menlo Park engineering sheds and the first power station

are open to be visited. For me it was a bit like walking on memory Lane on this was the first US museum I

visited together with my uncle way back in 1976 during my first visit of the US.

Dark clouds started appearing on the sky so we walked quickly back to our car and reached home just in time.

The rest of day was spent relaxing on the porch with a refreshing drink on hand.