Thread: Illinois-Land Of Lincoln - Trip Report

L.A.

As I sat on the secure side of the TSA checkpoint, repacking my bag and watching my fellow passengers doing the "three-step-shoe shuffle", I glanced up at the departure screen and saw that there had been a gate change for my flight.
As we neared the gate we could hear the agent announcing that the Vegas flight (the flight previously scheduled to leave from that gate) would now be departing from a different gate. In lockstep, a hundred-plus passengers moved across the concourse.
Things went pretty orderly until a few people tripped over a guy seated cross-legged on the floor playing on his computer......trust me, "cross-leg guy" needed a new power cord after that. A few minutes later the agent made the gate change announcement again. A few minutes after that, she announced that she was on her way over to the new gate and all remaining passengers for Vegas should follow her.
And with that we were alone, no gate agent, no plane, no cross-legged guy on the floor, just three non-revs and one forgotten Barbie doll with missing hair plugs and no shoes (obviously Barbie had gone through the secondary TSA screening) waiting for the flight to Chicago.
But our little Barbie wasn't waiting for long, as her "little mommy", with her dad, came rushing back to claim her. I have to tell you, the relief that swept across that little girl's face when she saw her dolly right where she left it, well, you would have thought she'd recovered the most precious thing in the world.

The flight to Chicago was uneventful. I was seated in the middle seat on a Super 80, waaaaay in the back and I had a twinkle in my eye and a big smile on my face. I was on my way!.

Chicago

Right off the plane, our first stop-Giordano's for deep-dish pizza ....AHHHHH!
I ordered one to take home- Giordano's partially bakes and freezes their pizzas for travel- the ulitmate "windy city" souvenir.
The weather in Chicago was great, in the 70s, and what do you do in Chicago on an unseasonably warm spring day, well you head for the lakefront--Navy Pier.
Navy Pier is shops, restaurants, entertainment venues and one very large Ferris wheel.
*On a side note - Because of the unusual warm temperatures many Chicagoans had fallen victim to SWC-(Seasonal Wardrobe Confusion); heavy winter coats with sandals, winter boots paired with tanktops and shorts, trust me it had me scratching my head. huh?

Springfield Illinois

On a whim we decided to drive down to Springfield (about a 2 to 3 hour drive) to visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum, as well as the Lincoln home and tomb.
Unfortunately what we didn't know but were soon to discover, was that our spur of the moment trip coincided with the annual Boy Scouts Lincoln Pilgrimage week-end. Thousands of Scouts from across the Midwest gathered for activites to honor our 16th president.
The Scouts pilgrimage is one of the largest events on the Springfield calendar.
Were we lucky or what?

Lincoln Tomb
(Oak Ridge Cemetery)
President Abraham Lincoln's tomb is quite moving and has a majesty to it. And yes there were plenty of Scouts preparing for the ceremonies and parade the next day visiting along with us. But as you would expect, the Scouts were all respectful and very quiet.
In fact, all the flags, banners and parade preparations just made the visit to Lincoln's tomb more memorable.
Were we lucky or what?

Lincoln Presidential Museum
The museum is quite impressive and interactive, combining scholarship, showmanship and loads of booming special effects. If you don't have a lot of time or are visting with 4,000+ Boy Scouts you won't want to miss the "Treasures Gallery" - "Ghosts of the Library" (film) "Civil War" (film) and mock TV news coverage of Lincoln's election.

Homeward Bound - ( aircraft - 767-300)
I checked in on-line, things didn't look good. How does a flight go from 40+ seats to 5 overnight..........
Boy Scouts!
Security at ORD 45 minutes at least, lots of stuffed backpacks.

To say we were surprised that we got F would be an understatement, we were stunned.....
and what was even more amazing, our overhead - the one directly above our seats- it was completely empty; I almost fainted.
I really enjoyed my time in F, from the duvet, the hot towels, the warm nuts and the automated lumbar massage, right through the meal, the warm chocolate-chip cookies, (although I do miss the chocolate sundaes they use to serve) the movie and my nap, I just enjoyed the high life.
Were we lucky or what?

Ok, what happened next I can't explain. Maybe it was the lumbar massage or all those chocolate-chip cookies, at any rate, somehow-someway, I forgot my "windy city" souvenir on the plane. Back I went up the jetway, and when I looked under my seat and saw my Giordano's deep dish pizza with sausage, mushrooms, green peppers and onions just where I left it...well do I even have to tell you about the relief that swept across my face....... yup, it was, was............... Barbie-esque.

This is a repost from my Forum blog