The Windy City

So back in the day when I first started on this collegiate journey we went to school from August to November with out any breaks. I think that so many students and teachers were on the brink of going off the deep end by the time Thanksgiving hit that they decided to throw in a fall break. Now as a student body we enjoy a long weekend at the beginning of October at the very point where you are about to kill your roommates, have a panic attack because of how much school work you have, and have an emotional break down due to stressful relationships weather with friends or a significant other. This year as it is my senior year Meghan, Regina and I decided that we should go all out on a major road trip. Conveniently Meghan's music minister and his family just took a position at a church right outside of Chicago. Although a 12 hour drive is significant for a long weekend we decided that it would be worth it.

Regina, Meghan, Meghan's sister Amanda and I all piled into the car on Wes. night with plenty of junk food, a GPS and an IPOD ready for an adventure. We left at 7:00pm and took three hour shifts of driving. In the course of the trip we almost hit a deer (Meghan and Regina), almost went off the side of a cliff (Regina), and got pulled over (Meghan). Luckily we did not get a ticket and at 6:00am the next morning made it safely to our destination.

After getting coffee and sleeping for a couple of hours we took the Metra (yes, I spelled this correctly it was the Metra not the Metro) into the big city. Before I begin my overview of all that we saw you should know that Meghan and I are very economical when it comes to traveling. We love free things and if it is not free than we have a coupon for it. First on the list of things to see was the Sears Tower ($2 off per ticket coupon). It was a very clear day so you could see pretty far and it was Thursday so it wasn't overly crowded, which was nice. After enjoying the view from the top we headed to Millennium Park, where we saw the bean and the fountain and spent some time walking around and ate our picnic lunch of BP & J that we had packed. Then we went to the Art Museum (free on Thursday nights). Finally we headed back to the McMinn's to get some much needed rest.
(Sculpture at Millennium Park)

On Friday we drove into the city and parked at Moody Bible Institute where my friend James goes to school (parking = free) and met up with him. At 10:00am we arrived at the Chicago Cultural Center where we met our private tour guide (free) who showed us around the city giving valuable information about the buildings and the history of the city. This is an awesome service that they provide and I would recommend it to anyone. After the tour we went shopping on Michigan Avenue (window shopping = free) where James ditched us girls. The Navy Pier (free to walk around) was next on the list of attractions and so we walked across town admiring the architecture along the way. We also stopped at the Lake Michigan beach front (free) to take some pictures since it was close by. This week just happened to be Macy's fashion week in Chicago and we were able to get reservations to a fashion show which was really fun. After the fashion show we met back up with James at his apartment to play Nerts, which James won but we was also the score keeper. Last time I played with him he also won and was also the score keeper I think this is more than just a coincidence.
(On the walking tour: the bean and the water tower one of the only buildings that survived the Chicago fire)

Sat. we went on a tour of the church and went and saw the house from Home Alone and then visited Northwestern and shopped in downtown Evensdale. That night the McMinn's took us all out to dinner in the city at a very nice Italian place.
(At the water front near the house)
Sunday was church and then a quick lunch in the city to say goodbye to James and then a long drive home. We left at 2:00pm which was really 3:00pm with the time change and so it should have been a 12 hour trip but the interstate to Indianapolis was shut down. I love GPS but it does not account for road construction. So in Gary, IN we spent about an hour trying to follow the detour provided which lead to a dead end. Every time we would try to take a different road the GPS would tell us to do a U-turn to get on the interstate that was closed. After about the third time it told us this we shut off the annoying electronic voice and got out the atlas that Regina had in her car. Thanks to Regina's map skills we were able to find our way old school. This set us back about two hours though so we finally arrived back in Lynchburg at 5:00am.

Although I felt like I got hit by a bus on Monday, it was completely worth it. As Meghan said, "at least it was a fun bus". Four and a half days with good friends and no school, what more could you ask for? So take a road trip and see how much you can do on a budget. Make some memories and live a little.

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

P.S. Check back for more pictures later.