Madeline and I drove to Chicago Monday night for a visit to the DePaul University campus on Tuesday. Not a bad drive - just under 400 miles, and as luck would have it, the Reds were playing the Cubs at Wrigley, so I got the rare opportunity to listen to a Reds game through the voice of another team. I liked the Cubs' announcers.
A bit before 9:30 we rolled up to our motel, the Heart O' Chicago. It's about three miles from Wrigley Field, and five from DePaul. A very nice room, free continental breakfast, and only $77 for the night. The street was a little loud, so next time I'll ask for a room farther from the corner, but if Madeline winds up at DePaul, this will be my Chicago home away from home.
We got up early Tuesday morning, left for campus, missed a turn on our Google Maps directions, and drove to Lake Michigan. Being lost in a big city during rush hour was a bit unnerving, but we found our way back on course, stopped at a CVS, bought a (completely un-refoldable) Chicago street map, and found our way.
DePaul is an interesting university, half in Lincoln Park, and half in the Loop. The Lincoln Park campus looks like most any small university with its pretty buildings and some green space. Jump on the "L" and in 20 minutes you emerge from the subway station in the Loop, looking directly at an umteen story building housing the DePaul Loop Campus - kind of a University-in-a-box.
Long story short, the Office of Admissions info session was OK, and the campus tour didn't show us a dorm room, but our Loop Campus tour was a private affair - just us and our guide. Madeline loved it all: the hustle and bustle of the city, the neighborhood surrounding the Lincoln Park Campus, the Library. After visiting UT (no not that UT, no not that UT), Madeline was interested in the school, but this time she was excited. Got on her cell in the car and talked about it for nearly an hour. I even broke my personal rule and bought her DePaul sweats prior to being admitted.
We bugged out just in time to beat the worst of Chicago traffic, but it still took us nearly an hour to hit the Indiana border. The 2nd game of the Reds-Cubs series started somewhere around Indianapolis, and wrapped up as we hit Columbus. For me, the ball game really helped drive time pass quickly.
We got home safe-and-sound a bit after 11, went to bed, and today life is back to normal.
