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In our tenth year of taking trips it was time for something big. Real Big. Chicago sounded about right. Just me and my mom. The potential for disaster was huge. We put our reputations and egos on the line and dove right in.
The impetus for the trip was my sister's wedding in southern Indiana. That was our first day. The service was simple and the groom cried. The next day we drove to Chicago in my Grand Am. As we got closer to this colossal city, our nerves began to kick in. We had to get to our motel by six and we were running out of gas. We had to pay a toll just to get into the city. We were releived to fing the motel in a nice part of town. It was just a couple of miles from Woodfield Mall, the most visited mall in the country. The trip shifted into high gear the next day.
We had to take an elevated train (subway) to get downtown. It took us an hour just to find the subway station. The brisk speed of the subway was disconserting. After getting off at our stop downtown we hopped on a bus that took us to the Field Museum of History. They had life sized models of dinasours there.
That night we drove to Milwaukee. As we headed north I made a wrong turn and ended up in O'Hare airport. We managed to find our way out and breathed a sign of relief. The next day we went to the Milwaukee Co. Zoo. The gorillas put on a memorable performance.
On Wednesday we were back in Chicago. That day we visited the Navy Pier, a dining and entertainment complex off the shore of Lake Michigan. There we saw an Imax movie about creatures of the sea. Afterwards we walked several blocks in the rain on Michigan Avenue. We took a cab to the Lincoln Park Zoo. The zoo was free and we saw some big cats there.
That evening we went to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs. They beat the Expos 9-5 in front of a raucous crowd. Sammy Sosa hit a three-run homer.
The following day we visited the Adler Planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium. The latter had exotic fish from all over the world. Mom really enjoyed the sea horses. After the aquarium we went inside Sears Tower, the tallest building in America. We took an elevator to the top and had a spectacular view of the windy city at night. It was after 10 o'clock when we finished and we had to find a subway station. When we finally did find a station we missed the train. I slumped to the pavement in agony as mom looked on. We finally made it back to the car after midnight.
The next day we went to Saint Louis. It was much easier to get around in and I drove straight to the Gateway Arch. We took a tour of the Mississippi River on a paddlewheeler. Later we went to Union Station, formerly a train station which was converted into a vast shopping and entertainment facility.
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