Day five was spent in windy, chilly Chicago. We chilled in our hotel room until it was time for us to head to the 11am church service at Chicago Temple (a Methodist church in downtown Chicago). I'm glad Matt pulled it up on his map because I would have walked right past it. It didn't look like a church at all from the outside. It was just the bottom floor of another really tall building. Inside was much more church-like.
Oddly enough, there was a youth group from Bryant, AR also visiting the church and some of them sat down right beside us in our pew. During the meet and greet, everyone we met just assumed we were there with them.
The church service was...different...than ours at home. The sermon was done by the Bishop Sally Dycks and it was really good! There was a string ensemble that performed a couple of times - also really good - and all the music was done by the gospel choir. It's our understanding that they aren't normally at the 11am service. They were good and it was fun to watch, but I'm not sure if I'd enjoy it every Sunday. We had a hard time following along with the the hymns.
After church we went straight to the Hancock Building for our 12:30 brunch reservation. This was both our first time to the Signature Room on the 95tb floor and it did not disappoint! Window seats were available on a first come, first served basis and we lucked into one being available right when we arrived. And it was in the corner so we had windows facing two sides of the city. The views were spectacular!
We did not go to Navy Pier, but here's a picture of it from up above!
The food was really good too! It's a set price for brunch so everything is "all you can eat." I could've been satisfied just eating off the appetizer buffet - cheeses and meats, Italian wedding soup, crab legs, shrimp cocktail, smoked salmon, pasta salads, and more. For my entree, I couldn't decide between the waffles or eggs Benedict so my waiter said, "I'll just bring both." Well ok then!
Life is too short to limit yourself to just one dessert, am I right? So I had three - creme brûlée, white and dark chocolate mousse layered cake, and an ice cream sundae. The diet starts next week.
If anything, this trip is helping us perfect our selfie pictures. There's Lake Michigan behind us.
After brunch, we visited Adler Planetarium where we got to see the stars and constellations.
We also saw two shows while we were there. I only fell asleep during one of them. :)
Here's Matt with the Earth. We traced out our journey on the US - we've traveled pretty far!
Another selfie with Lake Michigan and the city of Chicago.
View from the Planetarium.
We still had a few hours to kill before our night train left so we went to see a movie. Kinda lame, I know, but our feet were tired and it was cold outside! We say Eye In The Sky and then had dinner at a place called Noodles. We didn't have enough time for deep dish pizza. :( (We had it the last time we were in Chicago so I have experienced before.)
After picking up our luggage at the hotel, it was back to the train station for us!
Our room on this train is mostly identical to the last one except it faces the opposite direction so it feels backwards. Just like in the last room, we can sit on the couch and stare at ourselves in the mirror.
It was after nine when we departed and we hit the sack soon after. So far, this train ride has been MUCH bumpier than the last one. I don't think either of us slept well at all. But we have a full day on the train ahead of us so surely we'll get in a nap or two!