Memoir
Trip to Chicago Memoir
In the summer of 2018, I spent 3 days in Chicago. We traveled around Chicago admiring the tall buildings and famous landmarks. We visited the pier and the science museum. We even stayed in a colossal hotel. This simple family vacation made my perspective on my home town and the rest of the world change.
My trip to Chicago began with a 5-hour train ride. We left early in the morning, so we could get to the train station as quickly as possible. My family and I rushed around packing, eating and showering. We packed my aunts car with tacky bags filled with clothes and other essentials; then departed for the station. We boarded the train, immediately, when we arrived at the station.
The train ride was very tranquil. My brother, Mikey, slept in the seat across from me; our parents sat behind us. I was in the middle of watching “The Office” for the first time so I watched about 6 episodes of “The Office” during the ride. The ride had gotten very tedious towards the end. I would often get up to go to the bathroom or the snack car because my legs were cramping and I needed to walk it off. Our family arrived in the breathtaking city of Chicago. We took a sketchy taxi ride to “The Palmer House Hotel.” The Palmer House’s reception area was 3 stories tall and had intricate chandeliers, velvet rugs, golden pillars, and finely glazed wood filling up the entire area.
Connected to the reception area was a Starbucks, Crocs store and sandwich shop. We found our room, rested for a few hours and then began our Chicago adventure.
Our Chicago experience began with us making our way to ¨The Navy Pier.¨ We were going to take a boat tour, from Navy Pier, and my Dad wanted to find where we would depart from. There were a few stores that grabbed our attention, on the way to the pier, so we stopped at them. After some time, we located the pier. The pier was a mess of people and shops. My Dad studied the area and eventually found where the tour boat would be. After retrieving the information we needed, we decided to go back to the hotel and rest for a few hours (it was getting hot at the pier and everyone was tired). After resting, we went back to the pier to eat and wait for the tour.
The tour was one of the most important moments of my Chicago trip. The dark sky and colorful lights created an extravagant light show. The tall buildings made me feel small and insignificant, which despite its sound was an amazing feeling. It gave me a sense that there was much more to life than school, work, and death. It made me realize that not every city in the world is like, my city, the sub-par city of Lansing. I realized that there are grand cities with lights, and tall buildings, and shops. The city was vast; I would never run out of places to explore, and things to learn about the city. Thereafter the tour I dreamt about living in a city like Chicago. Tokyo, New York, Paris, London, anywhere that had more going for it than Lansing did.
Later that night, after returning to the apartment, the idea of living in Chicago was still fresh on my mind. It was 2 AM and none of us could sleep. My Dad and I decided to go out and explore the immediate area, also get some snacks for the family. Exploring Chicago at night, yet seemingly insignificant, was my favorite moment spent in Chicago. There seemed to be an energy in the air. Even though it was 2 AM, the city still was alive. Shops were open, people were still laughing and wandering, cars would fly by. The 7 Eleven we got our snacks was still bustling with people. This city had so many people in it, so much going on, what's not to love about Chicago?
The next two days were exciting but not as impactful as the first. We went to a massive science museum. There was a space exhibit, arctic exhibit, weather exhibit and more. We tried to visit the aquarium, but there were so many people in line by the time we got there that we wouldn’t have gotten in before closing. We got Chicago style pizza. We ordered one pizza for us all, which we thought was enough food for us, but our server gave us a free dessert pizza because it was our first time in Chicago. We also shopped at a few stores before leaving.
On my ride home, I reflected on Chicago. How big it was, how magnificent it was and how busy it was. Chicago made Lansing look insignificant and, in a way, it was. There are no tall buildings, no extravagant light show, no boat tours; What do we have compared to Chicago. This trip made me think about my future. If I were to live my life to the fullest, I would need to move to somewhere exciting. It doesn’t have to be Chicago, just somewhere that has a substantial amount of stuff to do. Somewhere that I can fit into the crowd, but still feel like I'm a part of something.
In the summer of 2018, I spent 3 days in Chicago. We traveled around Chicago admiring the tall buildings and famous landmarks. We visited the pier and the science museum. We even stayed in a colossal hotel. This simple family vacation made my perspective on my home town and the rest of the world change.
My trip to Chicago began with a 5-hour train ride. We left early in the morning, so we could get to the train station as quickly as possible. My family and I rushed around packing, eating and showering. We packed my aunts car with tacky bags filled with clothes and other essentials; then departed for the station. We boarded the train, immediately, when we arrived at the station.
The train ride was very tranquil. My brother, Mikey, slept in the seat across from me; our parents sat behind us. I was in the middle of watching “The Office” for the first time so I watched about 6 episodes of “The Office” during the ride. The ride had gotten very tedious towards the end. I would often get up to go to the bathroom or the snack car because my legs were cramping and I needed to walk it off. Our family arrived in the breathtaking city of Chicago. We took a sketchy taxi ride to “The Palmer House Hotel.” The Palmer House’s reception area was 3 stories tall and had intricate chandeliers, velvet rugs, golden pillars, and finely glazed wood filling up the entire area.
Connected to the reception area was a Starbucks, Crocs store and sandwich shop. We found our room, rested for a few hours and then began our Chicago adventure.
Our Chicago experience began with us making our way to ¨The Navy Pier.¨ We were going to take a boat tour, from Navy Pier, and my Dad wanted to find where we would depart from. There were a few stores that grabbed our attention, on the way to the pier, so we stopped at them. After some time, we located the pier. The pier was a mess of people and shops. My Dad studied the area and eventually found where the tour boat would be. After retrieving the information we needed, we decided to go back to the hotel and rest for a few hours (it was getting hot at the pier and everyone was tired). After resting, we went back to the pier to eat and wait for the tour.
The tour was one of the most important moments of my Chicago trip. The dark sky and colorful lights created an extravagant light show. The tall buildings made me feel small and insignificant, which despite its sound was an amazing feeling. It gave me a sense that there was much more to life than school, work, and death. It made me realize that not every city in the world is like, my city, the sub-par city of Lansing. I realized that there are grand cities with lights, and tall buildings, and shops. The city was vast; I would never run out of places to explore, and things to learn about the city. Thereafter the tour I dreamt about living in a city like Chicago. Tokyo, New York, Paris, London, anywhere that had more going for it than Lansing did.
Later that night, after returning to the apartment, the idea of living in Chicago was still fresh on my mind. It was 2 AM and none of us could sleep. My Dad and I decided to go out and explore the immediate area, also get some snacks for the family. Exploring Chicago at night, yet seemingly insignificant, was my favorite moment spent in Chicago. There seemed to be an energy in the air. Even though it was 2 AM, the city still was alive. Shops were open, people were still laughing and wandering, cars would fly by. The 7 Eleven we got our snacks was still bustling with people. This city had so many people in it, so much going on, what's not to love about Chicago?
The next two days were exciting but not as impactful as the first. We went to a massive science museum. There was a space exhibit, arctic exhibit, weather exhibit and more. We tried to visit the aquarium, but there were so many people in line by the time we got there that we wouldn’t have gotten in before closing. We got Chicago style pizza. We ordered one pizza for us all, which we thought was enough food for us, but our server gave us a free dessert pizza because it was our first time in Chicago. We also shopped at a few stores before leaving.
On my ride home, I reflected on Chicago. How big it was, how magnificent it was and how busy it was. Chicago made Lansing look insignificant and, in a way, it was. There are no tall buildings, no extravagant light show, no boat tours; What do we have compared to Chicago. This trip made me think about my future. If I were to live my life to the fullest, I would need to move to somewhere exciting. It doesn’t have to be Chicago, just somewhere that has a substantial amount of stuff to do. Somewhere that I can fit into the crowd, but still feel like I'm a part of something.