Told myself I was gonna keep it short, but turns out I'm really bad at doing that. If you want to read, feel free.
This Monday I started off at LAX where I took Frontier first to Vegas, followed by a redeye to Midway. At 3:30 when I got to terminal one, it wasn't busy and I was through security within 15 minutes of arriving. I had checked in the day before online, and I only had a personal item (the only thing Frontier allows you to take for free). I've flown quite a bit out of LAX, and I've never had an awful experience. I took the bus from terminal one to the Satellite terminal of TBIT, where Frontier operates out of. Having a few hours, I decided to walk from there back to terminal one to see the rest of LAX, as I only really fly out of TBIT. The terminal-connections on the north side are much better than the south side, and the terminals were good (Deltas renovations look great). I had been stressing a lot over the size limit on the personal item, as my backpack was definitely pushing it, but I could squeeze it into their little box that checked it, and it was never checked anyway. My biggest gripe here was the expensive water, which I got for $6.
First flight I had a window seat, and it was a nice, quick hop. Seat was small, tray table was tiny, but I had enough leg room (i'm 5'10). Crew was friendly, especially one lady. In Vegas, I had a four hour layover and so I walked around a little. The airport was nicer than I expected, terminal 3 looks very nice, and they have a little airport train which I always love. I got Ruby's for dinner, and the waitress was very nice, and it was a lovely little place to relax. The classic burger was great, although because it was an airport it was an extra $7 for fries, so I just had the burger. I also took advantage of the free water and stayed nursing it while watching videos. Before boarding, I bought another water, this time for slightly under $5, and was the cheapest I could find. On this flight I had the middle seat, which wasn't great, but not atrocious. This flight had a departure time of 11:59 PM and an arrival time of 5:33 AM, almost identical to my United redeye on the 757 in August. On this A321, I got about an hour of pretty good sleep, which was better than the United flight. My back definitely was hurting for most of the flight though.
It was my first time at Midway, and it left me impressed. We landed early at 5:00, and barely 3 minutes later we were parked at the gate. Took 15 minutes to get off, and from there it was an easy walk to the orange line station (although I did get a little lost in the parking garage, so a little more signage would be nice). It was cold, rainy, and dark, but I was dressed for that, and it would remain raining in Chicago the entire time I was there. This was my first time using an airport rapid transit line, and it was excellent. I boarded the Orange line at around 5:30, and the journey was fast, comfortable, and the older coaches were a total vibe. Something about the fast ride while watching the suburbs slowly wake up in the dark was so enjoyable. Not even 30 minutes later we were in the loop, and I got off at Washington (I think) and walked over to Ogilvie. Again, walking through the rain at 6 AM in a mostly empty Chicago was such a cool entrance to the city. I love Chicago's downtown and it just felt special to be there again. There were a lot of holiday decorations up that added to the mood.
At Ogilvie, I got a coffee from Starbucks and then hopped on the 6:35 Metra out towards Kenosha. I think Metra is such a cool railroad, and I can't let a visit to Chicago go to waste. The ride was smooth, busier than I expected (which I liked -- support transit!), and relaxing. I was already really enjoying my day, and being on the train is always a mood-booster, so I was very happy. I was headed to Winnetka to see the home of Kevin in Home Alone, but also I always see these cute little downtowns whenever I go through Chicago on the train, and wanted to visit one, and Winnetka fit the bill. We got to Winnetka around 7:20, just as it was starting to get light out, and still raining. I walked up to street-level and loved the holiday decorations and actual downtown, it was perfect. I walked to the "Original Greenbay Cafe," a very cute and cozy diner. I was very pleased to see pretty cheap prices, and thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast of scrambled eggs, potatoes, and toast, and more free water! I was relaxed on the train and CTA, but it was nice to be in one place and just totally decompress. I walked over to Kevin's house, which was pretty cool. The owner has a problem of people ringing the bell I guess, and there was a sign out front asking people not to. Took a few pictures, and then I just walked around the little downtown. It was very cool, the urbanist in me loved it. The urbanist in me actually loves the urban fabric of all of Chicagoland, and I was geeking out over it from the moment I arrived to the moment I left. The station at Winnetka was cute and clean, and I got on the train back to Chicago at around 8:50. The ride again was nice (although I will say Metra does go fairly slow, but I understand why), and I spent most of it admiring the urban landscape. Arrived back in Ogilvie at 9:30, and from there I walked to Union to meet the friend I was riding with.
The decorations, mainly the Christmas tree, in the Great Hall were amazing and really added to the atmosphere. I went to the Metropolitan Lounge, and my friend I talked while I relaxed. Again, it had been raining the whole time I was out, and so I was very wet. But again, I love Chicago and don't like wasting a good opportunity, so at 11:00 I went out again and walked over to the Bean. It was nice to see people ice skating, and the Chicago skyline is always impressive. On my way back I stopped by Chipotle and then headed back to Union again to rest, thoroughly wet again. By now the time was about 12:30, and as various trains left the lounge emptied out. They were calling trains about 30 minutes prior to their departure, which is closer than I remember them doing it in years past.
Just before 2:30 they called us up to board, and we walked out. I think in years past they just walked you directly to your platform, but recently they have you go through a boarding area. I think it's really stupid, and it's chaotic without much signage or direction unless you have a redcap. On the way to the waiting area, I saw the #4 that had arrived, and I had actually seen the same #4 in Fullerton two days before. Pretty cool to see it on either side of the country. Anyways, we got the pretty bare waiting room (with no seats), only to be told we had to wait. It was pretty annoying to be called for boarding, only to end up standing waiting. Not a great way to start a journey. One good thing they did have for coach passengers was a board that told you which door of the train to go to depending on your destination. They were telling people to look at it, but because of it's placing and randomness I doubt it was that effective. After not too long (but it felt like quite a bit due to the anticipation), the attendant said the conductor had given the all clear and we boarded. The train was on the through track, but pulled up all the way into the north side, so we had to walk on the dinky side platform past service vehicles to the north side. I think they should have just boarded us from the north side, but that would make too much sense for Amtrak. The conductor stood towards the end of the train, and he scanned tickets and directed people where to go. Some of the OBS were wearing New Years Hats, and seemed pretty festive. Our SCA, Mark, was solid. He was polite and proactive, but I think he could communicate a little better, as he mumbled quite a bit and had trouble explaining some things to people.
This Monday I started off at LAX where I took Frontier first to Vegas, followed by a redeye to Midway. At 3:30 when I got to terminal one, it wasn't busy and I was through security within 15 minutes of arriving. I had checked in the day before online, and I only had a personal item (the only thing Frontier allows you to take for free). I've flown quite a bit out of LAX, and I've never had an awful experience. I took the bus from terminal one to the Satellite terminal of TBIT, where Frontier operates out of. Having a few hours, I decided to walk from there back to terminal one to see the rest of LAX, as I only really fly out of TBIT. The terminal-connections on the north side are much better than the south side, and the terminals were good (Deltas renovations look great). I had been stressing a lot over the size limit on the personal item, as my backpack was definitely pushing it, but I could squeeze it into their little box that checked it, and it was never checked anyway. My biggest gripe here was the expensive water, which I got for $6.
First flight I had a window seat, and it was a nice, quick hop. Seat was small, tray table was tiny, but I had enough leg room (i'm 5'10). Crew was friendly, especially one lady. In Vegas, I had a four hour layover and so I walked around a little. The airport was nicer than I expected, terminal 3 looks very nice, and they have a little airport train which I always love. I got Ruby's for dinner, and the waitress was very nice, and it was a lovely little place to relax. The classic burger was great, although because it was an airport it was an extra $7 for fries, so I just had the burger. I also took advantage of the free water and stayed nursing it while watching videos. Before boarding, I bought another water, this time for slightly under $5, and was the cheapest I could find. On this flight I had the middle seat, which wasn't great, but not atrocious. This flight had a departure time of 11:59 PM and an arrival time of 5:33 AM, almost identical to my United redeye on the 757 in August. On this A321, I got about an hour of pretty good sleep, which was better than the United flight. My back definitely was hurting for most of the flight though.
It was my first time at Midway, and it left me impressed. We landed early at 5:00, and barely 3 minutes later we were parked at the gate. Took 15 minutes to get off, and from there it was an easy walk to the orange line station (although I did get a little lost in the parking garage, so a little more signage would be nice). It was cold, rainy, and dark, but I was dressed for that, and it would remain raining in Chicago the entire time I was there. This was my first time using an airport rapid transit line, and it was excellent. I boarded the Orange line at around 5:30, and the journey was fast, comfortable, and the older coaches were a total vibe. Something about the fast ride while watching the suburbs slowly wake up in the dark was so enjoyable. Not even 30 minutes later we were in the loop, and I got off at Washington (I think) and walked over to Ogilvie. Again, walking through the rain at 6 AM in a mostly empty Chicago was such a cool entrance to the city. I love Chicago's downtown and it just felt special to be there again. There were a lot of holiday decorations up that added to the mood.
At Ogilvie, I got a coffee from Starbucks and then hopped on the 6:35 Metra out towards Kenosha. I think Metra is such a cool railroad, and I can't let a visit to Chicago go to waste. The ride was smooth, busier than I expected (which I liked -- support transit!), and relaxing. I was already really enjoying my day, and being on the train is always a mood-booster, so I was very happy. I was headed to Winnetka to see the home of Kevin in Home Alone, but also I always see these cute little downtowns whenever I go through Chicago on the train, and wanted to visit one, and Winnetka fit the bill. We got to Winnetka around 7:20, just as it was starting to get light out, and still raining. I walked up to street-level and loved the holiday decorations and actual downtown, it was perfect. I walked to the "Original Greenbay Cafe," a very cute and cozy diner. I was very pleased to see pretty cheap prices, and thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast of scrambled eggs, potatoes, and toast, and more free water! I was relaxed on the train and CTA, but it was nice to be in one place and just totally decompress. I walked over to Kevin's house, which was pretty cool. The owner has a problem of people ringing the bell I guess, and there was a sign out front asking people not to. Took a few pictures, and then I just walked around the little downtown. It was very cool, the urbanist in me loved it. The urbanist in me actually loves the urban fabric of all of Chicagoland, and I was geeking out over it from the moment I arrived to the moment I left. The station at Winnetka was cute and clean, and I got on the train back to Chicago at around 8:50. The ride again was nice (although I will say Metra does go fairly slow, but I understand why), and I spent most of it admiring the urban landscape. Arrived back in Ogilvie at 9:30, and from there I walked to Union to meet the friend I was riding with.
The decorations, mainly the Christmas tree, in the Great Hall were amazing and really added to the atmosphere. I went to the Metropolitan Lounge, and my friend I talked while I relaxed. Again, it had been raining the whole time I was out, and so I was very wet. But again, I love Chicago and don't like wasting a good opportunity, so at 11:00 I went out again and walked over to the Bean. It was nice to see people ice skating, and the Chicago skyline is always impressive. On my way back I stopped by Chipotle and then headed back to Union again to rest, thoroughly wet again. By now the time was about 12:30, and as various trains left the lounge emptied out. They were calling trains about 30 minutes prior to their departure, which is closer than I remember them doing it in years past.
Just before 2:30 they called us up to board, and we walked out. I think in years past they just walked you directly to your platform, but recently they have you go through a boarding area. I think it's really stupid, and it's chaotic without much signage or direction unless you have a redcap. On the way to the waiting area, I saw the #4 that had arrived, and I had actually seen the same #4 in Fullerton two days before. Pretty cool to see it on either side of the country. Anyways, we got the pretty bare waiting room (with no seats), only to be told we had to wait. It was pretty annoying to be called for boarding, only to end up standing waiting. Not a great way to start a journey. One good thing they did have for coach passengers was a board that told you which door of the train to go to depending on your destination. They were telling people to look at it, but because of it's placing and randomness I doubt it was that effective. After not too long (but it felt like quite a bit due to the anticipation), the attendant said the conductor had given the all clear and we boarded. The train was on the through track, but pulled up all the way into the north side, so we had to walk on the dinky side platform past service vehicles to the north side. I think they should have just boarded us from the north side, but that would make too much sense for Amtrak. The conductor stood towards the end of the train, and he scanned tickets and directed people where to go. Some of the OBS were wearing New Years Hats, and seemed pretty festive. Our SCA, Mark, was solid. He was polite and proactive, but I think he could communicate a little better, as he mumbled quite a bit and had trouble explaining some things to people.
