 |
Because the train was about 5 hours late,
we missed our connection to Pittsburgh and had
to stay overnight in Chicago. Amtrak was
accommodating. They gave us $30 each for food
and put us up in the Hyatt Rosemont--a 30-minute
drive northwest of Union Station. They chartered
a bus with Church of God of Christ written in
gold letters on the side and we joked that we
were being taken to a Christian re-education
camp.
Trainriders are a special breed. Maybe just
sheep. Despite being given a daylong delay,
everyone just laughed when the hotel turned us
away. You see, there are two Hyatts in
Rosemont and our driver had taken us to the
wrong one. We resumed our seats on the bus and
he took us to the correct one just a mile away.
The next day, the bus to take us back to the
station was late. Luckily, Tex from North Dakota
took the initiative and asked the front desk to
call over to the other hotel. Sure enough, the
bus (with a different driver) was waiting there.
The extra day gave us time to meet my college
friend Dave and his 2-year-old son Sam for
lunch. We went to a cozy Greek place where he
told us about his forthcoming book, Soft in
the Middle, a scholarly treatise on
softcore porn. We were best friends in college
and it's always good to see him. We went back to
the station and waited for our train, which was
again delayed.
|
