Cool! Thanks for the tip, Kevin. My kids will love that.

Is the Art Institute admission free, do you know?

Just trying to do as much as possible for as little as possible.

Sue,

From earlier in the thread, someone posted that it is free from 5pm to 9pm on the 19th. Nice little restaurant there, too. What time does the last train leave?

Kevin

Thanks, Kevin - so many replies, I'm sure I've overlooked something!

Last train leaves at 7:10 weekdays, 8:30 (or thereabouts) on weekends. I'm thinking they consider Friday evening a weekend.

However, my youngest will only be with us up through 3 pm, when we take him to meet up with his dad, so I'm not sure how that will work out. I'll have to check the art institute pricing prior to that time.

Suebeehoney70, on the above reply, are you talking about the South Shore's timetable? As with other types of transportation: Fridays are considered weekdays. Weekends are Saturday and Sunday.

Besides, you'll need to have time to pick up your luggage from the hotel just before you need to leave, don't you? You wouldn't have much time to spend at the Art Institute.

I assume that someone in your party will have the use of a cell phone. Not sure if your ex-husband is taking Amtrak into Chicago Union Station; but, if so, Amtrak is often late - sometimes *very late*, meaning by hours - depending on the route. If you call their number 1-800-USA-RAIL, you can get status updates on particular trains. Mentioning this so you aren't just sitting and waiting at Union Station.

Also, if your husband is riding Amtrak, you'll need to consider what you are going to do if his train is late 3 or 4 hours.

exiledprincess, Suebeehoney has decided not to stay overnight and she is thinking of possibly leaving the vehicle/luggage at the Union Station garage.

Sorry, I missed that above.

Suebeehoney, that's a long, long day of driving. On the other hand, once you take the South Shore in, you are limited to that last departure of 7:10 p.m., if it's a daytrip. So if your ex's train is late by several hours, you are stuck.

Are you sure that you don't want to stay overnight?

Try not to miss Millenium Park....I think your boys would enjoy it.

Thanks everyone!

Just to clarify, my ex IS riding Amtrak, but they are scheduled to arrive late Thursday night, and we are meeting them in the late afternoon on Friday - so even if their train is delayed, even by several hours, we should be ok. I hope!

We both have cell phones, so we will be in touch with each other throughout the day on Friday to confirm that all is still on track.

Millenium Park is definitely on the list, but the Aquarium is first.

As far as the long day of driving, trust me, I've done worse! I've driven all the way from Michigan to Virginia in one day, slept overnight and driven all the way back the next day. (It's a 10.5-11.5 hour drive one way.) Being a single parent with an ex in another state, one thing I'm used to is driving - a lot. I think I could drive the MI-VA route in my sleep! LOL

If we do elect to stop to sleep somewhere, it will be after we get out of the city, and we'll just find a reliable chain motel along the way somewhere. But at this point, I'm honestly thinking that we won't stay in the city very long after we drop my youngest off to his dad.

Too bad you can't spend the night. Chicago is looking extra beautiful right now. The new bridge going over from Millenium Park to the Art Institute's new modern wing is it's newest attraction...quite amazing! So I hope you do get a chance to go to Millenium Park and walk across the new bridge.