I got married on October 6th. It was a good day, obviously. To celebrate, Ashley (wife) and I planned our honeymoon in Chicago, Seattle, and Portland. Neither of us enjoy relaxing on vacation; when we travel, we do it like the world is about to end and the only way to save billions of innocent people is to absorb as much of our destination(s) as we can.
I logged off social media, put up my out-of-office message, and unplugged from the news. I wanted my side of the trip to be intentionally notificationless. Below is a summary of what we did, saw, and experienced over our nine-day honeymoon. You can read about it from the beginning or skip to specific parts of our trip by using the below links.
C I N C I N N A T I , O H
We started our trip by taking Amtrak out of Union Terminal to Chicago. Being fans of Cincinnati’s cherished train station and museum, we thought it would be a good way to kick things off. Of course, because we live in the Midwest where everyone can’t imagine a world without Ford Explorers, Amtrak service out of Cincinnati is understandably limited. Our departure time was 1:40 AM on the Cardinal.
We went big and got a private roomette: a double bed room with adjustable bunk beds. The lower level bed folds up to reveal seats if the occupants aren’t interested in traveling prostrate. We caught some shut eye on our bunks for the first three hours and eventually transitioned the lower bunk to seats for the duration of the trip.
I’ll be honest—I wasn’t sure how this train ride was going to go, but it was awesome. We were so comfortable, we honestly didn’t mind the nine-hour ride to Chicago. I will say that if you happen to travel this way, make sure you like being physically close to your riding partner. I don’t think I’d like doing this with anyone but her. From the dining cart to the private bathroom in the roomette, we had everything we needed for the trip. It was better than flying first class on a plane, in my opinion.
Photos of Cincinnati’s Amtrak station, the Cardinal, and the roomette are below.
C H I C A G O , I L
We arrived to our destination and I was blown away by Chicago’s Union Station. I knew it would be nice, but damn. We lingered there for a bit, taking in all the sights and sounds of the train station before leaving.
We rolled our luggage to the hotel a few blocks away and made our first order of business finding Chicago-style pizza. Lou Malnati’s was our choice. It was good, but I still prefer Detroit-style pizza. We heard Giordano’s was the lesser of the two brands by some, and the opposite by others. To be frank, I couldn’t imagine them being incredibly different based on the 50/50 advice we’d received; it sounds like a Skyline/Gold Star debate to me (they’re both good, don’t email me).
After that, we rode the Blue Line to Willis Tower and saw Chicago from the 103rd story. It was the highest observation point I’d ever seen from a building. For comparison, it’s nearly three Carew Towers tall. I did the Ledge and convinced a frightened Ashley to join me. We got a tourist photo. I didn’t include it below because I look greasy in it and, let’s be honest, you don’t care to see it anyway.
Later, we rode the Red Line to the Magnificent Mile during rush hour, and boy was that an experience. I’ve been on some tight streetcars before, but you haven’t experienced life as a sardine until you’ve done that. I didn’t get a photo of the inside of the train because I found it impossible to operate an iPhone with an elbow in my neck. It was actually kind of fun as a guy who rode two stops and doesn’t have to deal with that every day.
Living up to its name, the Magnificent Mile was indeed magnificent. Lots of shops and traffic, people and energy everywhere. We eventually went into Bloomingdale’s because we saw a burger ad on the exterior (we are essentially clothed bears always searching for food). It was a helluva mall with giant screens on the ceiling at the top of the six-story atrium. We checked out Aster Hall—a food court on one of the upper floors. You order at touch screens and they tell you which window your food will appear at, but those were broken, so a guy at a counter took our order. We got Chicago-style hot dogs and they were as delicious as they are photogenic.
We met up with a friend who was nearby at a hotel for work, got drinks, and headed home. Below are some more photos from that night.
The next day, we walked around, took some trains, saw the sights, and checked out Millennium Park because we are insufferable tourists (did I mention this was my first time to Chicago?). Did the Bean and all that. The autumn trees were a brilliant spectrum of red to yellow, the sun was out, and it wasn’t very cold. Weather-wise, it was perfect.
We then walked the Chicago Culture Mile, which is described on its website as “Michigan Avenue between the Chicago River and Roosevelt Road and Eastward to the Museum Campus” in which “museums, art centers, educational institutions, and retailers” can be found. A lot of great architecture could be found along the Chicago River. I resisted outwardly scowling at one of the tallest buildings there; though I assumed the Chicagoans around me were sane people with a reasonable level of decorum and vote with fully-formed brains, you can never be too sure which bored MAGA crusader is around and ready to pounce because their feelings are hurt that you think their president is a scumbag.
That nice corner of architectural goodness was the appetizer for our architectural boat tour entree that followed. We hopped onto a massive tour boat of 11 people and floated up and down the Chicago River while a guide briefed us on the history of the surrounding buildings and the city as a whole. It was my favorite part of our time in the Windy City.
Because there was a LOT to digest, I can’t give specifics for each building here, but some of the highlights included:
Marina Towers (1963, 1967) and River City Marina (1986) by Bertrand Goldberg. I really enjoyed these structures because of the way they stand out from their neighbors. The repeating shapes and curves of each are mesmerizing. (First three photos below.)
A collection of towers that are all physically connected. You don’t see structures of this size that touch like this often, and I believe these were the only ones that did on the river. (Fourth photo.)
Aqua (2009) and the upcoming Vista Tower (2020) by Jeanne Gang. Aqua’s balconies are arranged in a way that makes them look like liquid passing over the structure, and each are different to offer unique outdoor experiences for lodgers. Vista Tower will surpass Aqua in height, making it the world’s tallest building to be designed by a woman. Apparently there are breezeways built into Vista Tower to allow the wind to pass through it instead of blasting against it. (Last two photos.)
After the boat tour, we warmed up in the Apple Store nearby. I couldn’t help but think this design would look amazing on Cincinnati’s riverfront. A pipe dream, I know.
We then walked to the Art Institute of Chicago. The multi-story building was filled with a lot of great stuff, including works by René Magritte, one of my favorite painters. I also got to see American Gothic again after seeing it when it was at the Cincinnati Art Museum several years ago.
There was a part of the museum in which architectural salvage from notable buildings and architects of note were on display. Windows from Frank Lloyd Wright homes and ornamental grating, cornices, and doors from historic Chicago landmarks lost to the wrecking ball could all be enjoyed. It was a preservationist’s dream and something that resonated with me.
One of the other perks of the museum: a great view of the trains. The last photo in the previous set shows the window where you can see trains arriving and departing below. It was fun to stand above them as they traveled on their way.
We met up with a friend for beer, walked around a little more, then headed out to Sedgwick for a show at Second City. It was hilarious and exactly how I imagined it after hearing about it for so many years. If I lived in Chicago, I would be there all the time. I didn’t take photos during the show because I’m not a monster.
The next day we had the best unpretentious diner food imaginable at Johnnie’s in West Loop. We’d eaten fancy breakfast the day before, and I’m not one who enjoys fancy breakfast, so it was so refreshing to eat eggs and bacon on a sliced baguette (???) with a cup of black coffee and toast on the side. If you’re ever in Chicago, go there for breakfast. They’re super nice and the meal is reasonable in an otherwise expensive city.
Our time in Chicago came to an end, so we took the Blue Line to O’Hare Airport for our flight to Seattle.
S E A T T L E , W A
We landed at SeaTac Airport late and rode Link light rail to the Westlake Station in Downtown Seattle. The train ride took a little bit to get there, and we really couldn’t see outside because it was dark.
After traveling all day and being tired, we just called it a night at the hotel. The next day we prepared for an outdoor excursion to Mount Rainier. We hired a tour guide named Marty and he picked us up along with five others. He knew a lot about Seattle, natural history, and was an experienced hiker who grew up near Tacoma. He knew the Mount Rainier area well.
He drove us all to Alder Lake first. We had coffee and scones on picnic tables as he told us about the natural history and native Americans who lived in the area for thousands of years. The foothills in the distance made for beautiful photo opportunities.
From there, we made our way to Paradise—the uppermost area of Mount Rainier that’s reachable by car. We stopped to admire a picturesque waterfall along the way.
When we got to Paradise, it was a sight to behold. The mountain took my breath away when I first saw it. That’s not a figure of speech; I literally lost my breath for a half of a second because it was so beautiful. We parked the car, took off our jackets because it was surprisingly warm, and made our way up the paved path to the mountain.
The path was icy and wet with dry spots between. We used hiking poles to ensure we didn’t slip. Small streams trickled around us, Gray and Steller’s jays flew overhead, and the mountain stayed perfectly still in the distance. Marty talked about how much has changed in 20 years with the glacier there as well as the history of climbers who’ve attempted and succeeded (along with those who still fail every year). It was all very fascinating.
I couldn’t get over the physical beauty of the world around us in that moment. It was incredible. The photos below do not do it justice.
Some photos of those birds I mentioned earlier are below. The Gray Jays are apparently very eager to take food from your hand if you hold it up, though we didn’t do that because it’s not good to feed wildlife. The only reason I was able to get that tree photo of the Gray with a 120mm lens is because it was so unbothered by its proximity to me. The Stellar’s jays stayed further away.
One of my favorite things about this part of the trip was seeing a little sign at the base of the mountain that seemed directed specifically at me. It combined the name of my favorite hometown food with the name of my beloved dog, who I missed dearly at this point in the trip. It’s dumb, but I felt like it was a little wink from the universe.
After a few hours on the mountain, we got back in the van and headed to Narada Falls for our last stop before the sun went down. As we arrived, the sun was fading into the horizon, pouring Golden Hour light all over the falls. We navigated our way down the slope to the riverbed below. The women followed Marty to the underside of the falls. Myself and a man from the Netherlands who was on the tour decided to stay back. Based on how treacherous their path looked, I didn’t trust my clumsy legs to prevent losing my photography equipment to the water.
Marty drove all of us back to our hotels, we thanked him for the amazing day, and we walked to dinner at Old Stove Brewing near Pike’s Place Market.
The next day, we ditched nature and stayed in the city. I was surprised by the steepness of the hill from First Avenue to Pike’s Place. Apparently that was the improved grade from the original, too. With the fog looming over the harbor and throughout the city, Seattle was a blast to photograph that morning. I could imagine how great someone’s work day would begin with a commute in weather like that. All the bike lanes and buses were refreshing to see.
We went to Pioneer Square before our next tour. It was the landing place for Seattle’s first colonists and a very old neighborhood with an excellent collection of old architecture to admire.
We took an underground tour while there. If you’re not familiar with Seattle history, I’ll recount it as best as I remember from the tour (or Google it—you’re an adult clearly with time to waste on reading about Seattle): The city was originally constructed during low-tide and after toilets were installed and found to be…troublesome…when high tide would occur, the city was looking to find a better way to dispose of its waste. Then, a dude in a shop accidentally burned down 33 blocks of the city and everyone kind of collectively breathed a sigh of relief knowing they could finally rebuild the city the way it should be to accommodate modern plumbing. Buildings were reconstructed, but the streets were raised one story from ground level over the course of a decade. The result was half-submerged buildings with first floor entrances now on their second level to align with the new, elevated streets. This created underground areas that extended down to the original street level that the building owners privately owned. Plumbing was installed at the new street level, fixing the sewage issues from old Seattle.
The underground tour, led by a very charismatic and funny guide named Clay, took us through several of those underground areas. We had to emerge to street level several times to get to the next underground area because they aren’t connected. It all had a very Cincinnati lagering tunnels vibe to me despite being disconnected, and I enjoyed it immensely.
The underground areas had pockets of foliage growing in different corners where natural light broke through. The areas were filled with junk from the past. Old toilets, signs, you name it—if it’s old and junk, it’s in there. The guide mentioned one section of one of the areas was reportedly haunted, too.
The last photo in the gallery below is of one of the original wooden sewer pipes that was replaced after the city was rebuilt one floor above the original street.
The neatest thing about the underground tour was the subject of the purple glass skylights that tied the street level to the underground. Throughout Pioneer Square and the surrounding area, grates with purple glass tiles can be seen in the sidewalk. These allow light to enter the underground and were installed after Seattle was rebuilt. They turned purple by accident despite the manufacturer’s attempt to prevent them from discoloring.
After the underground tour, we hopped on a boat for a tour of the harbor. It floated around Elliott Bay and showed us all the piers, dry docks, and riverside industry. The size of some of the ships was astonishing.
We checked out the area near the harbor after we got back to shore. I had fish and chips from Ivar’s while there. It was excellent.
Pike’s Place was our destination after that. The Big Soccer Match® was happening on Sunday, so a replica of the Big Soccer Cup® was on display in front of the market. I saw the fishmongers throw fish, spoke to a guy named Mike at Sosio’s Produce who sold us a bunch of cotton candy grapes and fruit, then checked out the lower level shops, including a magic shop my friend Travis suggested. Pike’s Place is like Findlay Market with more flavor at three times the size.
NOTE: We walked past Pike’s three times that day, so the photos included below are from various times of day.
After Pike’s Place, we walked around that area and checked out the gum wall below it. The gum wall is exactly what you think it is, though it’s a lot prettier than you’d probably assume. There’s a fair amount of artistry involved with some of the leavings, making for quite an interesting art installation that apparently changes every September when they remove all the gum and start over.
Losing daylight, we needed to see Seattle from the Space Needle as soon as possible. We made our way to the Seattle Center Monorail at the Westlake Center. I stopped to get photos along the way. The system was opened in 1962 and apparently still uses the original monorail cars designed by Swedish manufacturer, Alweg.
We paid the outrageously high price tag for two tickets to the top of the Space Needle and leapt to the top. I was surprised by home many people were up there; I estimated over 60 people were around the deck, not counting the people who were on the lower level. The bar seemed to be doing good business at that time.
The sun was going down over the water and Rainier was illuminated in the distance. We couldn’t have asked for a better time to be up there.
We descended from the Needle after awhile and hailed a Lyft to Kerry Park to watch the sunset over the city. I got a classic shot of the skyline by propping my Nikon 1 J5 on a pocket tripod on an electric box. I was lucky to still have light on Rainier when I set it up. A few minutes after taking the photo below, it faded into darkness.
We hit up a Thai place and walked around downtown a little longer before heading back to our hotel. It was our last night in the city, so we wanted to soak it in as much as possible.
We left Seattle the next day by way of the King Street Station. Because it was raining, I didn’t get a photo of the exterior, but the interior was magnificent. I think I liked it even more than Chicago’s Union Station. When we got there, barely anyone was in the station, so I took full advantage of my time to photograph it. I only wished I’d had two hours and a tripod with me. The train ride to Portland was three hours long, and it was a comfortable, relaxing ride. We sat in business class this time instead of a roomette. The train was surprisingly full of passengers.
P O R T L A N D , O R
Keeping up with the oh-my-god-trains-and-train-stations-are-amazing theme, Portland’s Union Station was quite the looker as well. It had cool little neon signs that pointed to different doors. This station felt cozier than the others.
We took the Red Line into Downtown, walked our luggage to the hotel, then wandered around for awhile. We saw Mills End Park, the smallest park in the world. We checked out the Willamette riverfront and surrounding area before heading for a pint and a bite at Deschutes Brewery. Afterward, because the weather was gross, we retired to the hotel for the night.
The next day, we walked down the street, got coffee at Stumptown, then walked right into Voodoo Donuts, which apparently is weird because it’s supposedly always packed. It was lightly misting outside, so we ate under an umbrella. We killed time by the river before our next agenda item.
A bike tour of Portland was our plan for the morning. Portland is a very bike-friendly city, so it made sense to check it out on two wheels. Our guide, Jamie, was very nice and led us and a small group around the city, showing us everything from Chinatown to the very edge of east Portland. He told us where to get good food, coffee, beer, and myriad other salacious things that were amusing to hear about despite our indifference to them. His enthusiasm, knowledge, and quiet quirkiness was delightful.
I took most of my photos while riding using my iPhone. The few times we stopped, I used the Nikon 1 J5.
After our three-hour bike ride through Portland, we went to Pioneer Square (yes, Portland has one, too) to get some food out of a food truck. From what our guide said, Pioneer Square’s open plaza is more or less the living room of Downtown Portland. I didn’t photograph it, but there’s a miniature amphitheater where, if you stand in the exact middle of it, you can hear your echoed voice in your ears in a very strange and clear way. It’s an audio feature driven by the architecture around you. I highly recommend stepping into that circle and talking if you ever find yourself there. It’s trippy as hell.
It was easy to get around Downtown Portland. One of our goals for this trip was to never touch a steering wheel and to limit the amount of rideshare we used. The city has the buses, MAX trains, and looping streetcars to move people around, so getting nearly everywhere was easy. We never waited long for another streetcar or train to arrive at our station because they ran so frequently. That frequency is key; we never worried about missing a bus or train because we knew one would be right behind it shortly. It made using transit so much more enjoyable than it is in Cincinnati.
Oh, and we saw a gondola in the distance while biking across Tilikum Crossing, too.
We went to Powell’s Books, the world’s largest independent bookstore, next. It was heartening to see so many people in the store reading and browsing the stacks. I would imagine Powell’s is larger than some smaller cities’ libraries. It takes up a full city block and rises several stories. Because we had limited room in our suitcases, we didn’t purchase anything.
Across the street from where we were, a shopping arcade stood. The only reason I’m writing about a shopping arcade in Portland is because it seemed to be themed—as in, all the stores were outdoor adventure-themed. There were about nine different stores connected by a similarly themed hallway. You could pass through the whole thing and get to the other side without entering any of the stores. I thought it was interesting that they all collectively played off each other. I’ve never seen retail set up quite that way before.
Anyway, someone brought their husky into one of the stores and he peed on the plant next to the door.
Without a plan for the rest of the evening, we just wandered around Portland for hours, taking streetcars and trains to different places. We got beer, pour-over coffees, sushi from a sushi-go-round, and went back to the hotel.
The next day, the weather was gorgeous. No rain, no overcast skies. Mild temperature. Perfect. We got breakfast, hopped on a bus to Washington Park, and hiked through a very pretty forest to the International Rose Test Garden.
Portland is known for its roses. Over 650 different types of roses are grown in this hilltop garden. Of course, we came in November, so nearly all the roses were gone by that point. A few remained and we enjoyed the lingering few that held on.
Afterward, we walked up to Portland’s Japanese Garden. It was a great idea to visit this place because it was so different from every other location we’d seen so far on our trip. Because it’s autumn, the trees were shedding golden leaves in heaps, further gilding an already spectacular setting. The zen garden, multiple pagodas, bonsai trees, stone work, ponds and streams, and everything in between were beautiful. You could even see Mount Hood in the distance at one point.
Because we couldn’t walk to it, we Lyfted to our next destination: the Pittock Mansion. The house was built in 1914 for the Pittocks. The patriarch of the household ran the local newspaper and was apparently very wealthy. The house was done up to feature period furniture and showcase the history of the family as well as events that happened in Portland while they were alive. If you’ve been to Promont, the Betts House, or the Wright Brothers’ estate in Ohio, it felt a lot like those historic homes-turned-museums. The land the mansion sits on overlooks the city with the mountain in the distance.
Pittock Mansion required the use of a car to get to it, so when it was time to go back into downtown, we called a Lyft. The driver was a friendly guy who gave us the suggestion to go to 10 Barrel Brewing, so we did and enjoyed it. We walked to the edge of Chinatown and got ice cream from a food hall, then returned to the hotel.
We left Portland and landed in CVG the next day. Our honeymoon was over. As we left our terminal, I brought up the transit app to see when the next TANK bus was so we could get home; 55 minutes thanks to “major delays” due to highway construction. If we waited, who knows how much longer it would be delayed. Would we even make it home by 7 PM if we arrived at 5 PM? TANK doesn’t even drop us off downtown. We’d need to get off in Covington and take the Southbank Shuttle to downtown.
I missed not being able to take rail from the airport to the city like in all the other major US cities we’d just visited. They all have it figured out, and we’re over here slowly gassing ourselves into insanity believing the car is the only viable method of transportation when it’s the one killing us, draining our wallets, and polluting the Earth. It really put into perspective how far we need to go to be even within the same ballpark as those other cities transportation-wise.
Regardless, we traveled and had a great time. I’m eager to return to each city sooner than later.