We spent three days around Chicago during our two-night stay. Following is information about some of the transportation we used and places we visited.
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| Sun rising in St. Joe; taken from Pere Marquette Amtrak ride en route from GRR. |
Transportation
We took the
Amtrak Pere Marquette route roundtrip from GRR. If you make a reservation in advance, the adult Smart Fare cost is usually $28 one-way, or 1,208 points. We were able to redeem points for part of the trip. The Christmas light decorations along the way were beautiful on the return trip. Both trips were uneventful, and we arrived on time. The train was 100% full on the way to Chicago, and it was not very full on the way back to Grand Rapids. This is the perfect situation for this trip. Grand Rapids in the first place to board the train when departing, so it was not a problem finding seats together. There are always many trains leaving Chicago, and it is nice when this route is not full, because Union Station is chaotic when it is. Click on the Amtrak label at the end of this post, if you are interested in more information from previous trips.
In Chicago, we took
Uber from
Sheraton Grand Chicago to Garfield Park Conservatory. There was a sign for Uber pickup in front of the hotel and Shula's Steakhouse (which is in the hotel). After I scheduled the ride, I sent a text stating our exact location in front of Shula's, because there are different street levels in Chicago, and GPS does not recognize that. The hotel concierge had mentioned rides and the different street levels during one of our conversations, and then I realized that was why my map app had been confused during some of our walks! 😁 We did not wait long, and the ride took less than 20 minutes. The cost was $12.71 pre-tip. We rode the
Green Line train back to Chicago, which took about the same amount of time. You can purchase tickets from a machine at the station. The cost was $3 each for a single ticket (the website says $2.50; not sure why the price difference). The security person working in the station told us the ticket could be reused for the next two hours. There is a shelter and heating lamps in the platform waiting area. Trains run about every 10 minutes on weekdays.
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| My favorite room at Garfield Park Conservatory! |
Garfield Park Conservatory, parks, attractions
Garfield Park Conservatory opens at 9AM, and we arrived about seven minutes early. Fortunately, the weather was nice, because there was not a covered waiting area. Others were waiting before we arrived, and they opened the doors a couple of minutes early.
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| Grapefruit tree inside Garfield Park Conservatory. |
There is no charge to visit the conservatory; donation boxes with a suggested amount were placed inside the entrances. The Green Line train entrance is only about a block away, and is visible from the conservatory.
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Palm House above
Dessert House below |
We thought this was a great visit. It was easy to get to, the price was right, and the plants were beautiful. We visited the entire 2 acres of indoor gardens. We did not get to see the 10 acres of outside gardens because we visited in the winter. We walked outside on the terrace and along one of the paths; however, there was not much growing, and the ponds had been drained. I have many more pictures of the conservatory than I am able to share in this blog. I am sharing another photo of my favorite room below.
Chicago has
many parks! Others we visited this trip include:
Maggie Daley Park (free
ice skating with your own skates, or you can rent them),
Millennium Park,
Buckingham Fountain/Grant Park, and
Northerly Island. We also went to
Navy Pier, and
Art on the Mart on the riverwalk.
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| Chicago skyline from Grant Park looking north toward Buckingham Fountain. |
This visit, we did not walk to
Art on the Mart until the last half hour, and last time we had visited at the start. I suggest going at dusk, as the show had been more entertaining and beautiful when we visited at dusk in 2018. There are photos in my 2018 post, and there is a
video on my Facebook travel page. Holiday lights were on display in most of the parks. You can find more information about many of these areas in my previous posts by clicking on one of the labels at the end of this post.
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Beverages at Bellwether Meeting House.
Brunch menu below. |
Dining, beverages, Happy Hours, shopping
Bellwether Meeting House inside the Embassy Suites near our hotel, was a fabulous find on Saturday. The service and quality was excellent. Unfortunately, we had already eaten, because the brunch menu looked delicious. The Happy Hour Bloody Mary and Mimosa we had were both good quality.
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| SafeHouse mission. |
We were familiar with the
SafeHouse in Milwaukee, and just before this visit, we learned there is now one in Chicago. I looked it up online, and then signed up for their email list. We received a free beverage coupon, which we stopped to redeem one afternoon. If you are not familiar with the SafeHouse, you will need the password to enter (or, you may need to do something silly, first). I wish I had recorded the entrance corridor after we were granted access, because it was kind of cool. It was quite a challenge to leave at the end of our visit, and I am not sure we exited in the usual spot. We came out in the hotel lobby (AC by Marriott) next door! This was a fun visit, and our beverages were excellent. Food is also available, and there are fun activities you can complete while there.
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| Elephant & Castle Happy Hour menu. |
Other places we visited include
Elephant & Castle,
IDOF, and
Palmer House lobby bar. I have included a copy of the Elephant & Castle Happy Hour menu, as we could not find this online. I was disappointed we missed a visit to
McCormick & Schmick's, which has excellent Happy Hour foods and beverages.
We did not do any shopping this trip, other than supplies for our room.
Whole Foods Market, and a liquor store are located very close to the Sheraton Grand Chicago, where we stayed.
Feel free to share this post, and let me know if you have any questions!
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