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Old 23 Aug 17, 01:35 PM  
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fillmore
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From Chicago to LA by car and train - Day 1 - flight to Chicago

I woke up to find out our AA flight had been delayed by an hour so we wouldn't be taking off till around 1pm. I nipped out to a very empty Caffe Nero near the train station just after 7am for coffee and pain au chocolat. By the time we left an hour later the concourse was much busier. We checked out quickly and made our way to terminal 3. The queue to check in was huge. We waited an hour before it was our turn and we were asked loads of questions. Wasn't expecting that at this end! We then moved on to security and got DS's antibiotics through the liquid scanners ok.

I'd ummed and ahed about the Escape Lounge and decided not to in the end. Which was just as well as it took us so long to get through into departures. DS had no appetite after his tonsillitis so he wouldn't have eaten much anyway. Instead we had a pot of tea at the Lion and Antelope then picked up a couple of baguettes from a stand on the way to the gate.

I had been worried about how DS would cope on the 8 and a half hour flight, especially as we wouldn't be having seat back IFE. He'd only got his Kindle Fire two days before we left. I needn't have worried...he was fine! Despite the lack of seat back IFE I was really impressed with the AA flight. The crew were all lovely and friendly, comfy seats with plenty of legroom and the food was good. DS and I were in front of DH so DS could recline if need be without disturbing anyone else. He managed a nap and I passed the time watching Forrest Gump which I'd never seen before and really enjoyed. As we didn't have a flight map to watch I'd downloaded an app called Flyover Country so you can find out what's below you. I hadn't realised NE Canada has so many lakes and waterways.



Good landing at O'Hare and we waited with baited breath to see if immigration would let us in! This time it was me that had the problems. I didn't realise as first time ESTA visitors I needed to fill in a blue customs form. Luckily the officer let me do it at the desk. He took our fingerprints, asked why we were there etc and off we went to pick up our bag. When we handed the blue form to the customs officer at the exit he noticed my passport hadn't been stamped! So we had to go to see another officer to get it stamped which took about 15 minutes to sort out. Finally we were able to enter the US!

We took a train to the El station for our 45 minute journey downtown. The tickets cost $5 each which I thought was quite reasonable. There was no option for a child's ticket so the ticket checker told me that DS was 6 whilst he was in Chicago as under 7s don't pay! The journey was long and very jerky. DS had a seat which was just as well as he was starting to flag. DH and I passed the time watching a group of mums and daughters who must have never ridden the El before...they were wobbling all over the place and were very entertaining. Our stop was Washington which was a short 2 block walk to our hotel. I had the screenshot of the route on my phone and knew exactly where to go...but went in the wrong direction anyway! This is somewhat of a family tradition now. DS looked amazed when we came out of the station and he saw all the skyscrapers.

We made it to our hotel for the next 2 nights - the Residence Inn on South La Salle Street at 5pm. Our room had a kitchenette, seating area, and bathroom. DH and DS were both impressed as I hadn't told them it was a suite hotel. After freshening up we headed out for dinner. The original plan had been to explore Millenium park but poor DS was past it. We had sandwiches and soup at Panera across the street from the park and decided to call it a night. The food revived DS enough to cope with a trip to Target which we passed on the way back. I had never been in Target before. I fell in love with Target - how sad is that? It was so clean, and well spaced out, and the staff were lovely. We picked up a few groceries then headed back. By this point DS just kept saying "I want my bed" - he normally does everything to avoid bedtime so we knew he was shattered. Within two minutes of climbing into the sofa bed he was spark out. We stayed up another hour before going to sleep too.

Tomorrow - exploring Chicago.
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Old 23 Aug 17, 01:59 PM  
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andylad
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Im following with great interest cant wait for more.
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Old 23 Aug 17, 09:15 PM  
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A hassle free day, just what you need when travelling! Looking forward to more.
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Old 29 Aug 17, 08:17 AM  
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Sounds like a pretty good travel day, your DS coped so well, bless him he sounded so tired by the end.
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Old 2 Sep 17, 09:34 AM  
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Poor ds
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Old 17 Sep 17, 06:13 PM  
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I think the fact that he was getting over his illness and general lack of food didn't help either but he did well!

Thanks for reading everyone.
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Old 15 Oct 17, 11:22 PM  
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Finally I visited Target last year and I love it, could spend hours browsing! Your poor son, what a shame but he sounds like a trooper!
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Old 13 Nov 17, 11:25 AM  
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A really good travel day.
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Old 21 May 18, 10:03 AM  
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great travel day x
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Old 21 May 18, 10:12 AM  
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Some great firsts , Forest Gump and Target . Great movie and really appropriate for arriving in the US. I love Target ... so much nicer than Walmart. I really like AA too, good airline.

Chicago is one of my favourite cities, looking forward to following along (need some Garrets popcorn now though !)

Edited at 10:13 AM.
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