Getting there ...
We had a red-eye flight on 9/8 night from San Francisco and arrived in Baltimore
on 9/9 morning. The main purpose of this trip was to help Iris move from
Baltimore to Chicago after she
moved to
Baltimore a year ago. It was a 2-day 700-mile mini road trip
from Baltimore to Chicago and we spent extra days in Baltimore and Chicago to
have some more fun than just moving and driving.
- Baltimore Inner Harbor
Iris came to the Baltimore Airport to pick us
up in the morning and drove us to the Baltimore Inner Harbor to have
breakfast together. We came to the Inner Harbor because
Maryland Fleet week and Flyover happened to be on this weekend, and Woanyu planned to meet her friends (3 high school classmates) from the DC
and Delaware areas. After the breakfast, Iris went back to her
apartment to continue her packing and Woanyu went to meet her friends (they
planned to visit the Guinness Brewery). One of Woanyu's friend's
husband came to join me at the Federal Hill Park to wait for the airshow.
It turned out to be the worst airshow I have ever seen (2 H-60's, 1
Coastguard helicopter, 1 Police helicopter, 2 F-18's flyby). Although
there were not too many airplanes, we had a good chat for a few hours in the
afternoon.
- Oriole Park at Camden Yards
I booked a hotel (Hilton) just right
beside the Oriole Park. We had a
suite which we can see the baseball
game (Orioles vs. Red Sox) right from our balcony.
9/10 ...
- Sunrise from the hotel room
- Ready to go
Iris came to pick us up at 9AM and drove us to Baltimore
Airport to get our rental minivan. We were back to Iris's
apartment at about 10AM to start the moving and loading process (both cars
were full of boxes and luggage...). After a couple of hours, we were
ready to go and started our 2-day 700-mile journey to Chicago.
9/11 ...
- We stayed in Macedonia, Ohio for a night. It is very close to
Cuyahoga Valley National Park,
but we could not find time to visit this time. It started to rain in
the morning and continued to rain all the way to Chicago for most of the
day.
- Chicago
We finally arrived in Chicago at about 2:30PM. After
unloading the boxes from the minivan, Woanyu and I returned the minivan at
the Midway Airport and took Uber back to Chicago downtown to check in our
hotel.
9/12 ...
- Starbucks Reserve Roastery
We walked to Iris and Henry's apartment
(~10 min walk) in the morning and went to the Starbucks Reserve together for
breakfast. Opened in November 2019 on the city's Magnificent Mile,
Chicago Reserve Roastery is the world's largest Starbucks with five stories
at 35,000 square feet. Inside the building are eight
56-foot-tall (17 m) copper tubes that transport coffee beans from floor to
floor. Each floor has a theme and variety of delicacies: we had fresh
pastries and Reserve coffee/cappuccino from the 2nd floor, and
Guatemalan
cold brew from the 3rd floor.
- Museum of Science and Industry
The Museum of Science and
Industry (MSI) is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the
1893 World's Columbian Exposition. The museum has over 2,000 exhibits,
displayed in 75 major halls, including German submarine U-505 captured
during World War II, a 3,500-square-foot model railroad, the
command module of Apollo 8, and the first diesel-powered streamlined
stainless-steel passenger train (Pioneer Zephyr), etc. We had a lot of
fun to see and play in the science museum, and we spent more than 5 hours
there till it was about to close at 4PM.
After a short break back in the hotel, we had a
nice
dinner with Peking Duck at a Chinese-American restaurant "Duck Duck Goat".
9/13 ...
- Indiana Dunes National Park
Indiana Dunes
National Park hugs 15 miles of the southern shore of Lake Michigan.
It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes National
Lakeshore and was redesignated as the nation's 61st national park on
February 15, 2019. There are multiple ecosystems packed into the
park: Sand dunes, wetlands, prairie, river, and forest. The Indiana
sand dunes are a treasure trove of nature featuring more than 1,100
flowering plant species and ferns as well as more than 350 species of birds.
- Dune Ridge Trail and Kemil Beach
Iris dropped us at the Dune Ridge
Trail parking lot and went back to the visitor center so she could get
better cell phone signal to communicate with her friends for a concert
ticket purchasing. After 10AM, she went back to join us to walk to the
Kemil Beach together.
- 1933 Century Progress of Homes
Originally built for the 1933 Chicago
World's Fair to demonstrate modern architectural design, experimental
materials, and new technologies, five historic Century of Progress Homes
were moved by barge and truck to Beverly Shores on the Indiana shore of Lake
Michigan. Four of the five houses looked wildly modern in 1933, so
ahead of their time that they remain modern looking today.
- Great Marsh Trail
Marshes form in many ways, from shallow backwaters
of creeks, from former lakes or ponds, or from shallow lagoons.
Marshes host a rich mix of life, with more species and greater numbers than
found in most habitats. We waited in the parking lot to give Iris some
time to finish her chat with
her friends about the concert tickets....
- Dune Succession Trail and West Beach
We took the Dune Succession
Trail to the West Beach. The boardwalk (and a lot of stairs) makes it
quite easy to travel through dunes and forest, and learn the meaning of
"succession" here -- how plant communities replace each other over time.
Going Home ...
With a quick McDonald's drive-through and a couple of unsuccessful
attempts to get gas in Gary, Indiana (the ‘Most Miserable' City in US), it's
about time to head toward O'Hare Airport at around 1:30PM to catch our flight
home. It's a good combination of both intense driving (2-day 700-mile in
heavy rain) and relaxed vacation (free days in Baltimore and Chicago). I
hope Iris will settle and like her new place (and cold winter), and find her
next step to move on.
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