Thursday, April 16 | The Shedd Aquarium & Heading Home
One last morning in Chicago, one last adventure, and a long road home. It’s been an incredible trip.
After eight nights in Chicago, we gave ourselves full permission for the laziest of mornings. Coffee in bed, no rush, no agenda. Just two people savoring the last quiet hours in our 20th floor corner room with those magnificent views of Lake Michigan one final time. Some mornings are worth stretching out, and this was one of them.
Eventually, reality called. We packed up, said goodbye to what had been a truly spectacular home base at the Hilton Chicago, checked out, and stored our bags so we could squeeze in one last adventure before heading to the airport.
That adventure was the Shedd Aquarium — and what a way to close out the trip. Situated right on the Museum Campus alongside the Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum, the Shedd is one of the world’s premier aquariums, and it lived up to every bit of that reputation. We wandered through stunning exhibit after stunning exhibit — vibrant coral reef displays teeming with color, graceful sharks gliding through massive tanks, and the always mesmerizing beluga whales, who seemed just as curious about us as we were about them. So much more besides. It was a fantastic afternoon and a genuinely wonderful final chapter to an already unforgettable trip.
With the aquarium checked off and hearts full, we retrieved our bags and made the trek out to O’Hare for our evening flight home to San Antonio. Travel, as it sometimes does, had other plans. A couple of delays pushed our departure back, but we were fortunate enough to wait it out in the comfort of the Admiral’s Club — which made the wait considerably more bearable.
We finally touched down at 12:30 AM, and by the time we got home it was even later. Tired? Absolutely. Worth it? Without question.
Chicago 2026 is a wrap. What a trip it was. 🏙️❤️
Thank you for following along on our Chicago adventure! From the lakeshore to Wrigley Field, Pullman to Indiana Dunes, Millennium Park to the Grand Ballroom — this city gave us everything. Until the next road trip, Tezels out. 🚗✨
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