Today we had another flight, from Boston to Chicago. Will this flight go smoothly? Let us see!
Morning
We had no time for breakfast in the hotel this morning. Our flight to Chicago was at 8 am. Having experienced how busy it was in Newark, we were taking no risks and got the 5 am shuttle bus to the airport.
However, unlike Newark airport, we found Boston airport to be pretty stress free, getting through TSA quickly.
The terminal our gate was in was very quiet with not much open in it, Dunkin’ Donuts was the only place open, so it was a Doughnut for breakfast. It was tough putting in the next couple of hours, and I was never so glad to hear my plane being boarded.
After the previous two flights, I was glad this one went smoothly, with no issues the entire flight. – Yay!
Shortly after touchdown, we were waiting on the train into Chicago itself. We knew it would take about 50 minutes, followed by a short walk to our hotel. Nicola had mobile data and spotted that there was a closer station called ‘Grand’ to our hotel. Half asleep, I asked if it was 100% the correct stop as I knew there were multiple stations with that name in the city. “No, it is M with a blue around it, and it is the blue line which we are on.”
Shortly after getting off we soon realised we had made a mistake and were at the wrong station. Thankfully, the next train was only 15 minutes away, and we made our way to our hotel.
On arrival at the hotel, we found out we are hotelsdotcom gold members. Megan thought she was something special! However, it did mean we got to check in very early and get on about our day – result!
Afternoon
Our last visit to Chicago in February ’22 was freezing, with huge minus numbers. However, today the weather was beautiful. We enjoyed walking around in shorts and t-shirts, enjoying the things we didn’t see before.
We enjoyed some time walking around Navy Pier, visiting the “Bean,” having a cheese grill and a pint in the Billy Goat Bar, and enjoying a walk along the river.
Before we knew it was time for our entertainment for the evening.
Evening
Our plans for the evening were to go to Soldier Field and watch Chicago Fire take on Toronto in an MLS game. We arrived at the stadium in good time and headed for the fan park. Megan tested her football skills while we had a beer enjoying the afternoon sun.
We decided to head onto the ground, but before that, we managed to see something different. After announcing the squad, the players’ names get raised on flag poles outside the stadium. I have been to hundreds of games and have never seen this done.
We then tried to enter the ground but got stopped by security. The bag Nicola brought was causing problems. I would describe the bag as smaller than a piece of A4 paper, but that was too big. We were directed to a secure area to leave the bag for $10. The guy handed Nicola an A4-sized plastic bag and said put what you need in there. “Hang on, that’s bigger than the bag she has!” – Stadium rules was the response. A complete money-making scam! The hassle didn’t end there! We weren’t allowed suncream into the stadium, not necessary in the summer sun! Then Nicola’s asthma inhaler was scrutinised, and we were sent to a medical queue to get the ok to bring that in.
That left a pretty sour taste in our mouths, but we tried to enjoy our evening as best we could after that. If you want to see clips of the game, check out our youtube video here.
The game ended 2-0 to Chicago.
Night
Rather than mess about with buses, we decided to just walk back from the stadium to the hotel. We soon realised walking was a great move, and we got a great view of the city at night.
The city was busy with it being a Friday night, but the walk back to the hotel was uneventful. We grabbed a pizza and beer and headed to bed.
Thanks for reading about us travelling across the USA.
The Lewis Family.
