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December 27, 2022
In the middle of December, the city of Buffalo received six feet of snow. I saw amazing videos of people opening their front doors to a wall of white trapping them in their homes. That same storm dumped about two feet of thick wet snow in central Wisconsin and then froze it all in place with a subsequent sub-zero deep freeze. The result was a gorgeous winter wonderland. We thoroughly enjoyed the picturesque scene as we packed our bags for the beaches of Mexico.
Wanda is practicing her credit card voodoo on this trip. She traded in 70,000 points from our United Airlines frequent flyer account for two roundtrip non-stop tickets from Chicago to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We depart O’Hare early in the morning of New Year's Eve and return on March 2. That means that we have to find a way down to Chicago. We can’t drive as there isn’t an affordable place to keep our van for two months.
Plan A was to fly standby out of Central Wisconsin Airport (CWA) on American Eagle. Wanda, as a former 20-year flight attendant for American Airlines, maintains her standby flight benefits as part of her retirement. Flying standby, especially during a holiday, can be tricky. We checked the plane loads and the 6 am flight on December 28 looked like a possibility. Of course, that would put us in Chicago for two days before catching our flight to Mexico.
Plan B was to hop on the bus from Stevens Point to O’Hare if we got shut out at CWA. The bus leaves Stevens Point at 1:40 pm. We would know by 10 am if American Eagle didn’t have any seats on their two morning flights. We would have to Uber it from CWA to Stevens Point, but we could do it. The bus ride is a long 8 hours. American Eagle is 50 minutes. You can see which mode we were rooting for.
Two days in Chicago is actually kind of fun. Wanda used to operate a crash-pad for flight attendants at the Quality Inn O’Hare, just a few miles from the airport. Whenever we come down to Chicago we stay there. Here is where Wanda’s credit card points-game got kicked up a notch. With Capital One she can pay for the hotel up front, receive a zillion extra points on their hotel promotion, and then swap points for the bulk of the cost of the hotel. All said and done, the hotel costs $20 a night and we get most of the points back.
December 28, 2022
Bottom line, we successfully boarded the 6 am flight from CWA to O’Hare. We were off and running. We reached the Quality Inn O’Hare hotel at 8 am. Fortunately, they allowed us to check in that early. Now we had a place to stow our bags when we went into the city. But first, we thought we’d just rest our eyes for a couple of minutes. We had been up since 3:30 am. Two hours later we both woke up dazed and confused.
We shook off the cobwebs and returned to the airport to catch the Blue Line train to downtown Chicago. Wanda started working for American Airlines in 1998 and she has always been based out of Chicago. We have been riding Chicago’s “L” trains ever since. These trains are nicknamed the “L” because some stretches, especially downtown, are elevated. They run above the streets. Ironically, much of the “L” operates underground as a subway, but whose keeping track.
The “L” was an antique system in 1998 and in the following 24 years little has changed. It is loud, sways nearly out of control, speeds up and slows down with no rhyme or reason, the subway stations are pithy, and the racket it makes downtown as it screeches overhead is deafening. Oh yeah, and I love it just the way it is.
Although it was a drab day, the temperature reached a balmy 56º. This was walking weather and we logged over 5 miles. Downtown Chicago has some of the finest buildings in the world, especially the old gothic towers. Michigan Street is the main shopping street. It is nicknamed the ‘Magnificent Mile’. It is magnificent with its vibrant stores and malls that tower up instead of out. People of all sizes, shapes, colors, and nationalities dress up to come downtown making people-watching fun. I enjoy hearing the different languages and trying to match those sounds to a specific country.
North of the Magnificent Mile is the Gold Coast. This is mostly nondescript condos along the Lake Michigan shoreline. However, just a few blocks inland and a grand world of gorgeous old brownstone homes and buildings sprout up. This is one of my favorite Chicago neighborhoods.
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