Lake Shore Limited - Boston to Chicago
Lake Shore Limited - Boston to Chicago
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Baseball Trip 2013
AT&T (#5)
O.co (#29)
Petco (#30!!)
Baseball Trip 2013 is officially on!
Boston to California via Amtrak, with games at AT&T, O.co, and Petco. Oakand and San Diego complete a quest begun in 2009, to attend a game in every active MLB Park.
The train arrives on time at 12:28, we board and settle into our small sleeping compartments. We have Roomettes 001 and 002, right in the middle of the first sleeper behind the engines.
The porter took lunch orders and we dined shortly after stopping in Worcester.
With WiFi gadget and a cooperating Slingbox at home, we are able to watch the final four innings of the Sox game on NESN. Lester finally pulled one out as the Sox win 6-2.
10:30 pm - lights out. Curtains drawn, we each have our own six feet of bed to call our own. Considering we’re on a train, I’d say we all slept pretty well.
7/24 6:10am - I peel back the curtains and am treated to a fabulous sunrise over Lake Erie outside of Sandusky, Ohio. The train name “Lake Shore Limited” is certainly apropos.
12:30 pm CT - Our train pulled into Chicago Union Station an hour + late, but it did not matter one bit. Emerging from the underground station, it was immediately obvious that Chicago was enjoying a spectacular weather day. Sunny, 72 degrees, cool breeze, and no humidity. Normally, for late July, one would expect a hot, soggy mess. We walked the 1.1 miles to our hotel. The Blackstone (Renaissance) is an old, but fully-restored Marriott branded hotel, right on Michigan Avenue, across from Grant Park. The famous “Smoke Filled Room” is here, where a behind-closed-doors, back room deal was made to nominate Warren G. Harding in 1920, circumventing the nearby Republican National Convention. Our room faces the Lake and has a great view of the Buckingham Fountain.
7:30pm - We hopped in a cab and next took in Navy Pier, rode the huge ferris wheel, and after walking the length of the pier. An hour later, we were at the top of the John Hancock Building, taking in a spectacularly-clear twilight view of the city from 94 floors above. Next, we boarded a bus down Michigan Avenue to Grant Park and the fountain for ice cream and a view of the 9:30pm fireworks show. As we sat on the edge of the Lake, fireworks blasting away to right, and the magnificence of the fountain and multitude of huge skyscrapers, still faintly backlit by a cobalt-blue sky of late twilight, Peter leans into me and says, “you know Dad, Chicago is epic.”
10pm - we are back at the room, so tired, none of us are able to make it through one cycle of SportsCenter. Conk.