The nearest campgrounds for visiting Chicago are about an hour outside of town in Joliet – home of the Joliet Correctional Facility. Fans of the Blues Brothers will remember that “Joliet” Jake Blues (John Belushi) served his time there.

We spent two days touring Chicago. The first day we drove into the city. Surprisingly, the traffic was not bad at all. We zoomed into town, parked (ParkWhiz is a great app for finding the best parking rates) and hopped on a bus tour of the city.

The hop on and off bus tours are a great way to see an unfamiliar city. You get a great overview and lots of history.

We got off at several stops including Navy Pier where we had some great, authentic Chicago style pizza.

We also ventured over to Trump International Hotel and Tower to check it out.

Chicago – Day 2

Our second day, we decided to take the train into the city.  It was an interesting experience. The previous day we found parking for $30 for the day.  This day, the round trip fare for the two of us was $30.  No real savings there.  Plus the trip each way took a solid hour and a half. The drive was only around an hour.

Still, for commuters into the city, it’s a good option because you can work, read, or sleep!

Our food agenda for this day was to try a famous Chicago hotdog.  It did not disappoint.  We loved it.

We the spent the afternoon at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.  Wow.  It’s huge – the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere.

Some of its exhibits include a full-size replica coal mine, a German U-505 submarine captured during World War II, a 3,500-square-foot model railroad, the first diesel-powered streamlined stainless-steel passenger train, and the Apollo 8 spacecraft that carried the first humans to orbit the Moon.

The story of the capture of the U-Boat was fascinating. In June of 1944, the US Navy captured the German submarine off the coast of Africa. It was the first enemy ship captured by the US since the War of 1812. During the war, the US captured 6 U-Boats.

The decision was made to prevent the Germans from learning that their submarine had been captured. The U-505 was towed to Bermuda and was renamed the USS Nemo. Nearly all of her equipment (including an Enigma message coder) was stripped out and studied by Allied engineers.

The crew was moved to Louisiana and placed in a POW camp and kept completely isolated from other prisoners. This was to prevent them from passing word that the U-505 had not been sunk but had been captured intact. The government did not inform the International Red Cross officials of the capture, and the crew’s family members were told by the German Navy that they had been assumed killed when the sub was sunk.

Here’s a film detailing the capture.

Apollo 8 Module

Baby Chicks

Among the exhibits was a section featuring baby chicks hatching from their eggs.

Aviation

There were many planes on display, including a reproduction of the Wright Brothers first plane, the first privately operated Boeing aircraft and more.

The museum is simply too big to tour in one day. We didn’t even see half of it, and we were exhausted!