Radwood Chicago 2021
In August 2021, I met up with a few friends in Chicago for Radwood, an 80s and 90s car show. This was my first time traveling out of state on Amtrak solo — and the only time my E-Sparrow’s made it out of the mitten!
This is an expansion of a livethread originally posted to Twitter .
I rode the Amtrak Blue Water from Durand to Chicago with my trusty Detroit Bikes E-Sparrow in tow. This is one of the biggest advantages Amtrak has over intercity buses aside from this blog’s namesake food car: roll-on bicycle service.
The show was held atop Soldier Field’s Waldron Deck and was a fun couple hours of exploring, but I had two days to spend in Chicago - I wasn’t spending it all on car culture! I chose to break out of the Loop and visit the city’s neighborhoods.
Trip planning the day earlier at Exferimentation, a microbrewery in downtown Pontiac which closed in January 2022. The space recently re-launched as Kegger Burger.
The 18th Street pedestrian bridge over the Metra tracks.
A visit to McCormick Place
I stayed the night at the Hyatt Regency, which is attached to McCormick Place — North America’s largest convention center.
Can you spot the Metra station entrance? It’s almost hidden.
I have a soft spot for cavernous atriums like this. It’s no secret that I spent an inordinately large amount of my time as a Wayne State student within the lower levels of the Renaissance Center, General Motors’s fortress-like world headquarters in downtown Detroit. It’s far from healthy, sustainable urban planning to build a walled city inside a city, but when you’re a college student a public space with cheap food and direct, door-to-door transit access that runs late is not to be scoffed at. The pandemic only made me appreciate these spaces more — in the cold winter months when outdoor dining isn’t a viable option, I’ve centered entire days around accessing them as a way to safely eat while on the go.
In Chicago, McCormick Place is that… well, place.
- Complex labyrinth of split levels and escalators, several of which aren't working at any given time
- Hotel shares the building
- Near the water
- Has food court with soup and salad
- Connected to train station
In an alternate universe where I lived in a Chicago suburb and went to school downtown, you’d find me studying here before taking a Metra train or Pace bus home, kinda like how I used to take the People Mover back to Grand Circus to catch FAST Woodward home.
A trip on Metra Electric
You know what the best thing about Metra is? On weekends, fare zones don’t apply. $10 for both days, $7 for one day (as of August 2021). Unlimited trips.
After checking out of my room and snagging a quick breakfast from the lobby, I set out for the McCormick Place Metra Electric station to visit Hyde Park.
How much do you think this hotel grab-and-go breakfast cost? Actually, don’t answer that.
This was a Sunday, so the line frequency hit a little closer to home.
I took a trip down to Hyde Park to try out Divvy, Chicago’s bikeshare system. Unlike MoGo , where electric bikes cost the same price as regular bikes, Divvy charges extra unless you’re within the so-called “waiver zone.” Thankfully, the waiver zone is nearly the entirety of Chicago except for the immediate downtown area.
Divvy has electric bikes with variable resistance rather than gears, and you don’t have to return them to a dock. Each bike has a built-in locking cable for use at any rack.
Hyde Park is home to Powell’s Books, notable for its presence in Blue Balliett’s childrens’ book Chasing Vermeer and its sequel The Wright Three. On a previous trip in March 2019, I stopped in for a visit.
The map of the fictionalized Hyde Park seen at the beginning of Chasing Vermeer. Illustrated by Brett Helquist.
“Powell’s was one of Petra’s favorite places; it was peaceful, and you never knew what you might find. It looked more like a warehouse than a store — books were piled everywhere, and the rooms were jumbled together in a mismatched way.” - Chasing Vermeer, Chapter Two
I also made it to the University of Chicago and the Frank Lloyd Wright Robie House on that trip.
Is it a train or a plane? A word on Union Station
After heading back to McCormick Place, it was a quick hop on the Green Line back to Union Station.
So, I’ve always thought large Amtrak stations were operated in a very weird way. Union Station is no exception. It’s handled similarly to an airport, but you don’t wait at your “gate” — everyone waits together in one big space until told to queue up and walk to the platform together, train by train.
It’s a beautiful waiting area, but the setup makes no sense.
Amtrak doesn’t assign seats, so if you want your pick you have to get to the Great Hall early and be ready when everyone forms up. But if you’re a savvy solo traveler and don’t care what seat you get, you can instead wait in the older mezzanine by the restaurants until you hear the boarding call. Once everyone starts passing by in the single-file line led by an Amtrak employee, you just bring up the rear. This is how the station is supposed to work — get there early and pass time in the food court, not in a giant hall where there’s nothing to do but sit and stare at the ceiling.
The boarding gate for the Amtrak Blue Water.
As messy as the boarding process is, you forget about it all once you pull out of Union Station and cross over the Dan Ryan Expressway, reminding you of the alternative.
I’ll end this trip report on a food note: The café car is far and away the biggest selling point for Amtrak over any other option, even flying in my book. There’s a reason my blog landing page is themed after it! If you’re on Greyhound or Indian Trails, you have to pack your own lunch or be ready to stomach McDonald’s or Burger King in the short 20 minutes you get at a meal stop. But on the train? Head to the café car whenever you please during its hours of operation.
Shout-out to Amtrak Midwest for stocking the good chips. (Not sponsored, just Michigan!)