Country Mice in the Home of Big Shoulders

48 wild hours in a distant land!

Noah Coley

Dec 13, 2023

“When this pandemic is over, we should travel more.”

“When we aren’t building a home, we should travel more.”

“Later when…”

The time for waiting is over!

Last year for Christmas we decided to do something different. Yes, Santa brought them their yearly socks, shoes, and dancing Hallmark Snowman, and we gave them each a few smaller gifts, but we also gave each kid a unique trip in 2023 based on what we know they love!

For Henry, to the boy who loves to know how things work, we gifted him a trip to the Chicago Science and Industry Museum.

For Elliott, the lover of presidential history, we gifted a trip to the Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library in Springfield, Illinois.

For Benjamin, the lover of animals, we gifted an experience to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois.

For Amelia, our constant broadway singer, we went and saw the traveling Broadway version of America’s favorite orphan… Annie.

For Arthur, the tractor connoisseur, we went to the Half Century of Farm Progress show in Rantoul, Illinois.

Last weekend was our final stops on Christmas Experiences 2023. We spent the weekend in Chicago and crossed off the stops for Henry and Benjamin. It was a wild adventure that the kids will never forget! Here are some of the highlights:

Saturday

3:45 AM- We woke the kids up and loaded into the Chevy Express and drove 90 minutes to Mattoon, Illinois to catch the Amtrak 59 train to Chicago Union Station. The kids were good sports and slept most of the way there.

We boarded the train (picture above) in Mattoon Illinois, at a quaint old train stop. There are no employees at the stop and when you are ready to go in and wait for the train, you have to call the Mattoon Police Department for them to come down and unlock the train station. The stop was full of beautiful old wooden benches and a nice covered platform.

The train itself was a beautiful Amtrak Superliner with coach cars, sleeper cars, and an observation car with dining on the first floor. We enjoyed our seat space and each child made sure to press every button and lever for the first 90 minutes of the journey until Noah put the kibosh on that!

About midway through the trip Noah was sitting with Henry for awhile and Noah was trying to turn the lights off from up above the seat. There were two lights, two white buttons, and a large yellow button in the middle. Noah started pushing the white buttons when Henry said, “You know if you just push the yellow button, that will shut off both lights.” Noah proceeded to push the yellow button, and Henry erupted with laughter saying… “Just kidding… that calls the train attendant!!! They laughed and laughed until tears were in their eyes.

Then we explored the train and went car to car until we found the observation car. It was a beautiful with large windows on the walls and ceiling and very spacious seats with lots of elbow room. We enjoyed some coffee, milk, and cookies and took in the scenery as we came into Chicago!

We arrived at Union Station at about 10 AM and walked around downtown. For lunch we got a recommendation from our friend Jeff Malloy to check out Paisano’s Pizza and we made our way. We arrived about 15 minutes before they opened, but let us come in and sit at a table while they finished opening. They were so friendly and their food was incredible. A good time was had by all.

Then as we were getting ready to leave, the kids got their first taste of homeless and mental illness that was rampant in the city. A man came in with his guitar and bag and plopped himself in a booth. He refused to order anything and became angry and belligerent with the staff. Noah kept his eye on this situation the entire time. When the staff decided to call the police, it was time for us to mozy down the road. Once we left Noah talked with the kids about how the city is a different world than our community back home. How on cold days, some folks look to get arrested so at least they get a warm cell and meals rather than try to survive on the streets. We talked about how people don’t always think clearly and use common sense either because they are dealing with some sort of mental illness, or possibly dealing with addiction issues. It was an eye opening experience for them and it would not be our last!

We couldn’t get into our hotel until 4pm, so we made our way to the Shedd Aquarium. We hopped on a bus that took us all the way to the aquarium. The public transportation system is really the way to go in Chicago and is very easy to navigate. At Shedd we rented a large locker and stuffed it to the brim with coats, sweaters, and the four backpacks that had our clothes and supplies for the entire weekend. We spent the next 3-4 hours in wonder of all the amazing creatures on our planet! About halfway through we went to the main exhibit pool and they put on an “animal showcase” because apparently for reasons unknown they are not allowed to call anything else anymore (Elizabeth asked about what time the dolphin show started and was rebuked for the audacity of calling it by that name).

So after we watched Flipper do his tricks and eat his sardines, we were thirsty and needed refreshed. Six sodas, one water, and $35 later, we went down to the shark reef. I think this was everyone’s favorite exhibit…except for Arthur. Arthur LOVED the penguins! Like LOVED them and laughed uncontrollably for awhile. It was so sweet!

Once we retrieved everything from our locker and loaded ourselves up, we headed back on the bus this time in search for our hotel. We rode on the bus as close as we could until we had to get off about 6 blocks from our hotel. It was getting dark and Noah wanted to be near the hotel at dark for safety reasons. It was here that we saw the most disturbing part of our trip. In the heart of the city there is a stretch called the Magnificent Mile (Michigan Street) that has all the major shopping in the city and another street that is parallel called State Street, another very busy street. Our bus dropped us off as we were walking toward our hotel Noah noticed lots of noise and commotion. In the streets were caravans of vehicles laying on their horn with massive flags sticking out the top and riders hanging out of every window. It was a pro-Hamas (not just Palestine supporters) demonstrators. The riders were covered in military garb with armor vests on, their faces were covered, and they were yelling out the windows. We couldn’t tell what they were saying, but the flags that were draping off the sides of the vehicle were crossed out Israel flags with horrible writing on them. They laid on their horns and just kept driving up and down both these streets taking up all the lanes and yelling at the onlookers. It was very disturbing to see such a vitriolic demonstration of people that hated Jews. The kids did not really notice this, but it left a mark on the rest of us.

We checked into our Marriott hotel and regrouped to start thinking about what we should have for dinner. After a little searching online we settled on a place called JoJo’s Shake Shack and it was only a block away. We bundled up and walked down the road hand-in-hand and arrived quickly to the restaurant. I asked the hostess how long of a wait it would be for a party of seven? She looked me dead in my eyes and said…4 hours. Instead we walked another couple of blocks and enjoyed Jimmy Johns sandwiches with no waiting!

Most everyone was exhausted from the day, but Noah and Henry stayed up and watched the NBA in season tournament championship between the Indiana Pacers and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Pacers lost, but it was a sweet time together as they enjoyed the game very much.

Sunday

A lot of you might be asking how does a family of 7 sleep in a hotel room? Well first off we have had the best luck with Marriott hotels, in particular we like the Fairfield Inns. This time we were staying at a Springhill Suites and the room had two “Queen” beds (more like Fulls) and a sofa that has a couch in it. It is a tight squeeze, but we are just sleeping after all. We always get a room that has a hot breakfast and this one did not disappoint! Overlooking Dearborn Avenue in downtown Chicago we enjoyed a hot breakfast in the very clean dining area. After breakfast, Elizabeth got an unexpected phone call from Cannon our goat sitter. She was informed that one of our goats had a baby in the night and it had died. This news was so foreign to us because…we didn’t even know any of our goats were pregnant! Cannon did such a good job of trying to help and we were very proud of him. We called another friend of ours Cathi Wilson who has goats and she said she would check on everything. We were very thankful for both of their hard work. After the shock wore off it was time to get dressed and load up and out!

We started the second day exploring the downtown shopping areas. This meant a lot of walking, but the kids did a great job of staying with their assigned buddy and staying between Noah in the front and Elizabeth in the rear. When we would get to far apart, Elizabeth would say, “Sandwich”, and the kids new to get closer to the middle of the pack. We saw all sorts of fancy stores like Tiffany’s, Sacs Fifth Ave, the Michael Jordan Steakhouse, and we actually went inside the American Girl doll store. Wow what a different world! Elizabeth and the kids had been reading the old American Girl books and wanted to see if they still sold the dolls from that time frame. They did not (fortunately for our wallets). It was crazy how much money could be spent on dolls, accessories, books, and even tiny corgi companions!

We then began our trek across town to the Museum of Science and Industry. This required our first experience with the Red Line “L” train. We hopped on and it was PACKED! There was a Chicago Bears vs Detroit Lions game and the train was bursting with people. We got on in the standing room only area and held on. For several stops we had to hold on tightly so we didn’t fall or get separated as people got on and off. Once we passed Soldier Field we were able to find a seat until we got off at Garfield. At Garfield’s exit the kids got another glimpse of how different life is. We got off the platform and walked towards the bus stop, and there were two guys peddling items like hats, cds, and headphones. The kids thought they were giving stuff away. Then at the bus stop, we saw a man about 10 feet away not looking so hot. He was wobbling and swaying and he cracked open a drink from a brown paper bag. Elizabeth and I tried to prevent them from staring, but we all kept an eye on him. A few moments later, it sounded like someone was dumping a five gallon bucket of liquid onto the floor. We looked over and the man had thrown up all over the place. He went on and on, and when he finally stopped, he cracked open another drink. This cycle went on for the entire 20 minutes we waited for the bus. It was a sad sight.

Finally, the bus came and we arrived at the Science and Industry museum. The place was super busy, but it is a huge building so it wasn’t too crowded. We toured every inch of the building and found it all so fascinating! We spent most of the day at the museum. The exhibit the kids wanted to spend the most time in? The farming exhibit where there were tractors you could sit on and eggs hatching.

Around 5pm we decided it was time to start making our way back to Union Station for our 9pm train departure. We returned to the Green Line this time and prepared to board. While we were entering, Elizabeth got a phone call Cathi who was helping with our goat situation. Elizabeth took the call and Noah stood with the kids talking about the plans for the evening. Elizabeth returned looking even more dumbstruck as she said, “Well, we have another goat in labor!” Cathi informed us that another goat was about to have kids so she took her home to her barn so she can keep an eye on her. The reason this must have happened is that we had a Pygmy Buck (Pygmies are very small stature goats) in the same pen with these two Boer Does (Boers are much larger) and they weren’t even in heat for the few days we kept them together when we moved. But alas who can stop true love?

We got on the Green Line train and it was full of tobacco smoke. It was again not a great environment. There was a man sitting across from us that started rapping loudly about halfway through the ride and he got up and moved to a different train. We were glad to get off downtown and hopped on a bus to Union Station.

We arrived at Union Station around 5:45pm and made our way to the McDonalds in the food court. After dinner we returned to the Great Hall to wait for our train. Elizabeth took the kids over to a corner and read books to them while Noah waited with our belongings. We had a long time to wait, but we were so happy with our the kids attitudes throughout the wait. We boarded the train at 9:00pm and when the train rolled out at 9:10 the youngest three were already asleep. The oldest two made it about an hour before they crashed as well.

The train ride home was very relaxing. It was a full train, but we had great seats. Elizabeth and Noah had some fun conversations with the conductor and he was telling them how this train runs from New Orleans to Chicago about three times a week. Noah and Elizabeth relaxed and talked the whole way back to Mattoon at 1am.

Once back at Mattoon we got off the train and made our way back to the Chevy Express thinking the exciting part of our trip was over. The kids got in, buckled up, and fell asleep. Noah drove a different way home to avoid the winding roads we encountered on the way in. The roads we took were straight and destitute. I’m not sure we encountered a single car for over an hour. Now one thing about driving is that if you need to get somewhere fast, Elizabeth drives, if you have lots of time to kill…Noah drives. Noah doesn’t like to speed or pass people. He might as well be sipping coffee and sucking on Werthers from his front flannel pocket because he drives like a grandpa! We were nearing the Indiana state line on highway 36 when all the sudden red and blue lights started flashing behind us. Noah pulled over figuring the officer needed to pass to get somewhere, however the officer pulled right behind us. Now to set the scene we were surrounded by empty corn fields, no one was in sight for miles, and it was 3 in the morning. Noah rolled the window down and the officer said, “I clocked you going 54 miles per hour.” Noah said, “isn’t the speed limit 55?” The officer said yes, but it dips down in the town back there.” Noah looked around on all sides and said, “Town? What town?” The officer then said, “Back there is a Dollar Tree and that has a town around it, no one ever notices it, but it drops to 45 for half mile stretch.” Noah handed him his drivers license, registration, and showed him the insurance card off of his phone. Then as the officer was about to walk away he asked, “Do you have a drivers license?” Noah was confused and said, “I just handed it to you…” The officer said, “Yes but is it active? I don’t want to go through the trouble of running it if it isn’t active.” Noah responded in the affirmative and officer retired to his car. a few minutes later he returned and handed Noah back his license and registration and said, “Ok its just a written warning this time, make sure to slow it down!” Noah said, “Where is my written warning paper at?” To which the officer replied, “Ohh we don’t actually write them on paper anymore, its all in the computer.” Noah smiled and we went on our way. We still have no idea if the cop was a town marshal, county cop, state trooper, or FBI agent. Actually he was super young and it is more likely that his mother doesn’t even know he was out of bed again pretending to be a cop out on the road! What a weird experience.

We arrived home about 3:30am and Elizabeth helped the kids get inside and to bed and Noah took care of the baby goat that died. We were exhausted and ready for bed and Noah had to be at work at 7:50am that same morning.

Overall it was an excellent adventure and we would highly recommend gifting your family experiences as Christmas gifts this year. However if you find yourself travelling in rural Illinois at 3am, make sure to slow down near the Dollar Tree