The second day of our trip north was one I look forward to all year long, because it’s the day we visited downtown Chicago. This year, for the first time in a long time, all five children were able to go with me, which made it even more fun.

It was not an adventure without challenges, though, because the train line we usually take was shut down due to mechanical difficulties. We were able to make it to another Metra station on a different line in time to arrive downtown more or less when we wanted, so it all worked out in the end.

Taking a different train line meant arriving at Chicago’s Union Station instead of the familiar Ogilvie Transportation Center. I am not kidding when I say the two stations are across the street from each other, so it shouldn’t have been a big deal, but somehow that minor difference was slightly disorienting, as everything looked just a bit off from the other side of the street!

We walked almost 10 miles, seeing everything and nothing in particular, which sounds like a contradiction, but is how we usually do things:

Of course we stopped to feed the pigeons…we stumbled across quite a flock!

It is always a thrill for me to see the lakefront:

While walking the Magnificent Mile, we stumbled across “Flight of Butterflies,” an art exhibition presented by the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Most were outside, but we found one inside Water Tower Place:

This was the first time Turkey got to see the Water Tower itself!

We stopped at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery, where I was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the place, so we left without ordering anything…it was a cool place to see, though!

To make up for our hasty retreat, we stopped at the Ghirardelli store and shared some of their chocolate creations:

I walked down to the Vietman War Memorial:

And then we went to Marshall Field’s…I mean Macy’s.

We tried the new summer varieties at Starbucks while we were there…they were very refreshing!

We were able to leave from our regular train station, which was nice, because we know exactly how to find where we’re going there!

As is tradition, we road on the upper floor on the way home:

It’s always hard to say goodbye to the city!

And we returned to the station we had intended to leave from in the first place!

We ordered pizza from a local place, Moretti’s, that we had never tried before…It was amazing! I especially loved the use of asiago cheese in the stuffed crust!

Up next…a little more fun, and then the beginning of our work!