My Kind of Town, Chicago Is

Ed was born and raised in Chicago.

We lived in a suburb of Chicago for four years.

BUT, we have always wanted to spend some time downtown Chicago acting like a tourist. Well, this past Wednesday, we had our chance!

Getting me there on Amtrak
Ed and I are wanting to have him be home all next week into the holiday weekend. To do so it would be necessary for me to go up to Chicago to help him get ahead with the landscaping. Now, this has always been simple in the past but with fuel prices the way they are, we had a hard time justifying my driving up there and the two of us driving TWO vehicles back to Lebanon. To fuel my car alone would have cost me around $60!

Sooooooooooo, I began to get creative. What good is it to have been in conventions and travel for over 20 years and not be able to "tap into" those talents to get me up to the city. I narrowed it down to Amtrak's Hoosier State train that left Indy at 6:30 a.m. for a five hour trip or I was interested in giving MegaBus a try since their rates were good and they had other times during the day. Ultimately, I chose the train because I could get a ride to Indy from Lebanon with a friend and, hey!, I love trains! The fare for a reserved coach seat was only $29.00 and I could order my ticket online to be picked up at the ticket window upon arrival The ride was great and interestly enough the conductor informed me that the fuel prices have allowed ridership to grow dramatically insomuch that the Senate may allocate more funds to support the Amtrak operations. I hope so! PLEASE NOTE: Presently, there is no food service onboard the Hoosier State but they are hopeful this will change as ridership increases.

Introducing The Chicago Trolley Company!

Okay, I'm REALLY tired just now so I'll return to write more later. I have to tell you how wonderful these trolleys are and how GOD AWFUL MegaBus is!