Following my previous blog about Open House Chicago and the Aon Center, the same morning John and I were able to visit Chicago's Union Station. We were able to visit the exclusive first class lounge, which restored its barbershop room featuring historic photographs and also the old ladies lounge which was in the process of being restored. Below are photos of the old lunch room/restaurant--plans for that restoration were unclear to us. I really liked finding the over-sized Christmas ornaments inside the ladies lounge. Overall, Union Station was a marvelous neoclassical treat to visit and I hope we catch a train sometime soon to get some use out of it.
Located about six miles away from downtown Portland at the Alpenrose Dairy is a fun and rustic (to say the least) little western-style village that gets decked out for the holidays. Christmas in Dairyville features small 'stores' with two large model train sets, a confectionery selling donuts, a concession stand, and many stores/rooms filled with antiques and animatronic santas and elmos. The small village was really festive for families with children and it even had its own currency (pictured at the bottom) for Dairyville dollars. The largest attraction in the town, surprisingly was not Santa, but for Storybook Lane, which was a mixture of wonderland village, decorated for Christmas, telling the Christmas story, depicted with live animals that were mostly sleeping behind plexiglass and wire inside miniature barns and cottages. My one disappointment was not being able to eat any cheese or ice cream at the dairy. But the highlight was being able to meet Felipe--an adorable donkey who liked being petted on his head.
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| Midget track?... |
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| Goat? |
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| Felipe! |
