Leaving the St. Paul library, we wandered the town, stopping at the Charles Schultz character statues in Rice Park, a leisurely lunch in the Running Waters micro-brew shop (Riesling and a Walleye sandwich for Lyd and a red Irish Ale and a turkey Reuben for me), and a stop in Candyland to re-establish our supply of chocolate for the road, chocolate being a necessity that is hard to come by when traveling by public conveyance. Always stock up when the opportunity presents itself. We then made our way back to Hotel 340 with our bags of chocolate and unfinished sandwiches. Along the way we photographed a commemoration of the Theodore Hamm’s beer bear. Created in 1952, the silent bear become iconic in early television commercials. I can still sing the jingle.

Lyd organized us for the early morning departure and we spent the rest of the evening snacking on the remnants of our lunches supplemented with a bourbon and soda apiece.

Our departure was once again a scramble as we slept late and had to rush to make the train. On the way down to the street we stopped at the free breakfast and pocketed a couple of blueberry muffins for the road. I paused long enough to check out and, having set the keys on the counter, was rewarded with a bored “thanks” from the receptionist before she returned to her phone screen. Evidently, she was not interested in my experience in her establishment.

We had coach seats from St. Paul onward and our wait at the station was short before we boarded and found seats. We settled in for a pleasant day of scenery watching, purchased a box-lunch BLT from our car attendant, an older woman who was nearly unintelligible, obviously an alumna of the Stevie Nicks school of enunciation, and the usual game of people watching. We rolled past never-ending fields of corn, interrupted by wide vistas of the Mississippi river. Through Milwaukee and its many beer companies we finally made our way into Chicago around 3 in the afternoon, the skyline visible in the distance for a full half hour as we approached it through the edges of the city.

And so here we are in Chicago, the Freehand hotel, a hostel really, the obvious seniors in the building. We had an early supper of carnitas and adult beverages including a Sazerac in a lavender scented glass. We’ve been making our plans for our visit since then, other than the Cubs’ game tomorrow and the architectural tour of course. Lyd is propped on the bed and I’m at the laptop at the desk. Simon and Garfunkel are singing “Bleeker Street” on Pandora. What a wonderful evening.

Blessings.

The Road