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poltr1Several weeks ago, my friend Dawn said she had a ticket to see Depeche Mode at the United Center in Chicago. But her husband John couldn't get the day off from work. So she was looking for a driver and traveling companion. I said, "If I'm not working by then, then I'll go with you."
Fri 6/1: Dropped off My daughter at day care. Stopped at Boosalis Baking Co. for breakfast. Headed back home, packed, and left to pick up Dawn at her apartment in Cincinnati. We then left to pick up a rental car for the trip -- a silver Kia Rio. From there, we planned our route -- I-74 to Indianapolis, I-465 around Indianapolis, and I-65 to I-90 and Chicago.
Weatherwise, it was a great day for traveling. There were a few spots where there was construction.
The next decision to make was where to stop for lunch. I knew there was a great Jewish deli in downtown Indianapolis -- Shapiro's. But Dawn said that parking might be difficult to find, since it was in the downtown area (Meridian Ave. & McCarty St.). I remembered that they also had one in Carmel. But when I looked on Shapiro's website, I saw that the one in Carmel had closed, but there was one in Keystone Crossing -- an upscale shopping center on 82nd St. and Keystone Ave. in Castleton. And so that's where we dined. I had a pastrami sandwich on rye, and Dawn had a brisket slider and matzoh ball soup.
After lunch, we continued on to I-465, I-865, and I-65. I was expecting the trip along I-65 to be flat and boring. It wasn't. After passing Lafayette and reaching mile marker 180, we found a huge windmill farm. There must have been at least 200 windmills that we saw for the next 15 miles.
At the end of I-65, we picked up I-90 westbound. Unfortunately, it's a toll road in both Indiana and Illinois. I hit three toll plazas along the way; the third was the west side of the Chicago Skyway bridge. The Chicago Skyway bridge is $5.20 for cars. We followed I-90 to I-290, enduring the rush-hour traffic, to River Grove, where our hotel room was waiting. (We stayed at the Super 8, at the corner of Des Plaines River Rd. and Belmont Ave.) We checked in, dropped off our bags, and grabbed a quick bite to eat through the McDonald's drive-thru before taking Dawn to the United Center. I dropped her off as close as I could to the arena, since the roads closest to the arena were blocked. And the parking lots were charging as much as $25 for parking.
She didn't have a ticket for me, so I offered to go back to the hotel room. Instead of taking I-290 back, I ended up taking side streets -- Damen, Homan, and (I think) North Ave. After returning to the hotel room, I looked online for a better, more direct route, and found Grand Ave.
After taking a shower, and waiting for Dawn's text that the show was ending, I headed back to the United Center via Grand Ave. I was supposed to meet her at Gate 6, but the policemen around the arena wouldn't let me get close to the arena. I showed the hang tag, and said, "She's not able-bodied and can't walk this far out to meet me", but they wouldn't budge. I ended up going back to the lot where I dropped her off, where she was, sitting in a wheelchair, and waiting for me. We headed back to the hotel via Grand Ave.
Sat 6/2: We missed the complimentary continental breakfast. By the time I got there at 8:55, the clerk was cleaning the waffle machine and said "We close at 9". I thought 9:00 was when they started eating everything down, not the end of the cleanup period.
So we discussed where we would have lunch. There was a hot dog place down the street, and we had previously asked the check-in clerk for directions to the nearest Giordano's. This place is known for its deep-dish pizza, and there was on on Higgins Ave., in Rosemont. But they opened at 11. So we hung out in the room until around 10:45. Then headed north on Des Plaines River Rd. towards Rosemont. We passed a familiar hotel along the way: the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, where I went for Visions '95 and '96. We had a great lunch there. We both ended up taking boxes of leftover pizza home with us.
On the trip back, my GPS was set to "most direct route" and not "quickest time route", so after crossing the Chicago Skyway bridge again the GPS directed us to take Indianapolis Ave. (US 12). SO we took the long way home, though Hammond, Whiting, East Chicago, Highland, Schererville, Merrillville, and Crown Point, before picking up I-65 again. We also had to re-route to detour around a couple of street fairs that the GPS did not know about.
And so we continued south on I-65, through the windmill farm, to I-865, I-465, and I-74 before stopping for dinner at Wendy's on Post Rd. Then we headed back towards Cincinnati. We first went back to the rental car place on Galbraith Rd. to pick up Dawn's car. Then we headed (in separate cars) to the Avis return lot at the Cincinnati Airport to drop of the rental car. Then we headed back on I-275 to Dawn's place.
All in all, a great trip. I don't have a love for Chicago drivers, though. They're constantly in a hurry, and won't think twice about changing lanes and risk cutting you off.
Fri 6/1: Dropped off My daughter at day care. Stopped at Boosalis Baking Co. for breakfast. Headed back home, packed, and left to pick up Dawn at her apartment in Cincinnati. We then left to pick up a rental car for the trip -- a silver Kia Rio. From there, we planned our route -- I-74 to Indianapolis, I-465 around Indianapolis, and I-65 to I-90 and Chicago.
Weatherwise, it was a great day for traveling. There were a few spots where there was construction.
The next decision to make was where to stop for lunch. I knew there was a great Jewish deli in downtown Indianapolis -- Shapiro's. But Dawn said that parking might be difficult to find, since it was in the downtown area (Meridian Ave. & McCarty St.). I remembered that they also had one in Carmel. But when I looked on Shapiro's website, I saw that the one in Carmel had closed, but there was one in Keystone Crossing -- an upscale shopping center on 82nd St. and Keystone Ave. in Castleton. And so that's where we dined. I had a pastrami sandwich on rye, and Dawn had a brisket slider and matzoh ball soup.
After lunch, we continued on to I-465, I-865, and I-65. I was expecting the trip along I-65 to be flat and boring. It wasn't. After passing Lafayette and reaching mile marker 180, we found a huge windmill farm. There must have been at least 200 windmills that we saw for the next 15 miles.
At the end of I-65, we picked up I-90 westbound. Unfortunately, it's a toll road in both Indiana and Illinois. I hit three toll plazas along the way; the third was the west side of the Chicago Skyway bridge. The Chicago Skyway bridge is $5.20 for cars. We followed I-90 to I-290, enduring the rush-hour traffic, to River Grove, where our hotel room was waiting. (We stayed at the Super 8, at the corner of Des Plaines River Rd. and Belmont Ave.) We checked in, dropped off our bags, and grabbed a quick bite to eat through the McDonald's drive-thru before taking Dawn to the United Center. I dropped her off as close as I could to the arena, since the roads closest to the arena were blocked. And the parking lots were charging as much as $25 for parking.
She didn't have a ticket for me, so I offered to go back to the hotel room. Instead of taking I-290 back, I ended up taking side streets -- Damen, Homan, and (I think) North Ave. After returning to the hotel room, I looked online for a better, more direct route, and found Grand Ave.
After taking a shower, and waiting for Dawn's text that the show was ending, I headed back to the United Center via Grand Ave. I was supposed to meet her at Gate 6, but the policemen around the arena wouldn't let me get close to the arena. I showed the hang tag, and said, "She's not able-bodied and can't walk this far out to meet me", but they wouldn't budge. I ended up going back to the lot where I dropped her off, where she was, sitting in a wheelchair, and waiting for me. We headed back to the hotel via Grand Ave.
Sat 6/2: We missed the complimentary continental breakfast. By the time I got there at 8:55, the clerk was cleaning the waffle machine and said "We close at 9". I thought 9:00 was when they started eating everything down, not the end of the cleanup period.
So we discussed where we would have lunch. There was a hot dog place down the street, and we had previously asked the check-in clerk for directions to the nearest Giordano's. This place is known for its deep-dish pizza, and there was on on Higgins Ave., in Rosemont. But they opened at 11. So we hung out in the room until around 10:45. Then headed north on Des Plaines River Rd. towards Rosemont. We passed a familiar hotel along the way: the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, where I went for Visions '95 and '96. We had a great lunch there. We both ended up taking boxes of leftover pizza home with us.
On the trip back, my GPS was set to "most direct route" and not "quickest time route", so after crossing the Chicago Skyway bridge again the GPS directed us to take Indianapolis Ave. (US 12). SO we took the long way home, though Hammond, Whiting, East Chicago, Highland, Schererville, Merrillville, and Crown Point, before picking up I-65 again. We also had to re-route to detour around a couple of street fairs that the GPS did not know about.
And so we continued south on I-65, through the windmill farm, to I-865, I-465, and I-74 before stopping for dinner at Wendy's on Post Rd. Then we headed back towards Cincinnati. We first went back to the rental car place on Galbraith Rd. to pick up Dawn's car. Then we headed (in separate cars) to the Avis return lot at the Cincinnati Airport to drop of the rental car. Then we headed back on I-275 to Dawn's place.
All in all, a great trip. I don't have a love for Chicago drivers, though. They're constantly in a hurry, and won't think twice about changing lanes and risk cutting you off.
