Once again, our travel inspiration comes from a Wire and Cable conference! This time, we were headed to the Electrical Wire Processing Technology Expo in Milwaukee, WI. TT Dad has gone to WI for this conference, annually, for many years, now. I had been once before- The conference fell a couple of days after our 2012 wedding, so we started our honeymoon with a trip to Milwaukee.
As a bonus, Auntie C, Uncle C, and the duo’s oldest two cousins also live in the area, allowing for a nice visit!
This year, we decided it made more sense to drive than fly. Our reasoning was based on a few factors-
- There were no affordable direct flights. After our last flight experience, we’ve decided no more layovers with the kids, if at all possible.
- The sheer volume of *things* we travel with these days. Car Seats (We don’t trust rentals, also don’t really feel 100% comfortable checking them, for our lap kids). Strollers. Toys. Monitor, White Noise Machine. Pack and Plays. The list goes on. And on. And you get the point. That’s a lot try to fly with. We could send it ahead of time, but we use it all on a daily or nightly basis, and we don’t have back ups of everything!
- Car Rental. We’ve been spoiled by our minivan. Remember all that stuff we come with? It all fits in a minivan. I would hate to try to fit it all in another vehicle… and renting a minivan is expensive!
That 15 hour drive just keeps looking better and better!
Of course we weren’t going to do 15 hours all at once (at least not on the way there…) We decided to spend a night in Chicago on our way- Only a 13 hour drive! No big deal.
Our plan was not to do the 13 hours straight, either. We would break it up with a breakfast stop, and a trip to a playground. More on that later.
It’s actually quite fitting that I’m tackling our Chicago/Milwaukee trip right now, because part of our reasoning for the Chicago stop was to catch a game at Wrigley Field– and the Cubs are officially headed to the World Series!
We were hoping to catch a Saturday game, starting at 4:05pm. The goal was to arrive in Chicago with enough time to tire the kids out, with the hopes that they would be content to snuggle and lap sit during the game.
We left on Friday night, a little later than we had planned. I bet you never saw that coming!
The overnight drive was long, boring, and uneventful (no compaints, by the way). We tried to figure out where we would be around 7am, which was the duo’s typical wake time. Our projected breakfast stop would be in Elkhart, IN. We settled on Granma’s House of Pancakes, and we were not disappointed.
I had done most of the overnight driving (not all, though… TT Dad is a trooper!) so with our bellies full, we found a playground that TT Dad had scouted online. Shanklin Park was the perfect spot. TT Dad buckled the kids in the stroller and took them for a run. They love running with TT Dad, and he was happy to stretch his legs after sitting for so long! While they were out, I stretched my own legs- in the back of the minivan. I was able to nap for a bit!
An hour or so later, they all returned, and we let the kids loose on the playground. They had a blast. While they were playing, TT Dad gushed about his run. The trail was beautiful, ducks for the kids to quack at, even clean public restrooms. What more can you ask for!?
The kids seemed equally as impressed by the playground. This little detour was exactly what we needed to break up our long drive. By the time we were back in the car, headed to Chicago, it almost felt like we were just getting started.
The duo slept most of the way to Chicago, which was a little bit earlier than their normal nap time, but they didn’t seem to notice.
Everything was going according to plan.
We arrived at the Embassy Suites, Chicago- Downtown Magnificent Mile, around noon-ish, and were able to check in to our room. The front desk clerk offered to upgrade us to a larger, accessible room. We asked what the difference was between the standard room we had booked, and the accessible room they were offering us. She assured us the only difference was that the bathroom only had a shower, and it was larger, to provide wheelchair friendly access. Larger sounds good to us, since we have to fit two pack and plays in the bedroom, so we agreed.
We got up to our room, and found one additional difference. There were no doors between the bedroom and the living area. This may be a non-issue for most people, but we are fairly certain the reason our kids go down so easily in hotels is that they are in a different room, dark and quiet, while we are separated by a door. If we were going to stay in a room without that door, we could have saved a lot of money by booking a non-suite room anywhere else.
We called the front desk, and they rectified the situation with absolutely no issue. We were assigned a new, corner, room, and our bags were brought up almost immediately. We wheeled the kids into the new room, and we were quite impressed. The living area was very spacious. As usual, fitting the pack and plays into the bedroom took some creativity, but there was a door, so we were happy.
We only spent one night in Chicago, but we made the most of it. All in all, we would absolutely recommend this hotel. The location, service, and views just could not be beat.
The duo really loved the glass elevators, too!
Next we’ll dig a little deeper into our Chicago plans, and beyond!