I have flown into Chicago Midway many times. My usual journey to the midwest would be flying into MDW, and then driving a rental southward about a hundred lonely and dark miles on the I65 (mostly night flights) to West Lafayette, Indiana - a delightful wee college town. Not as delightful as Ann Arbor, obviously - but it does have its charms.
The thing is, life and times change and I now have no more occasion to make that particular journey. Future travels are likely going to take me through the mountains of Central Pennsylvania, through the understated, yet very cool Lehigh Tunnel and suchlike. However, I find myself retaining a certain fondness for Midway. The city of Chicago itself - I like a lot. But the Midway airport - well, it is a tad unfashionable to speak of an airport such - especially not one as beautiful and resplendent as Singapore or Dubai. But Midway is special.
For one thing, this airport (operational since the 1920s) was renamed in 1949 after the epic Battle of Midway in WWII, where US carrier battle groups dealt a crushing blow to the Imperial Japanese Navy. This airport has been through several ups and downs. The somewhat seedy neighbourhood doesn't help too much, however the location is quite central.
So, here are a couple of pictures. One of a US Navy WWII warplane. Also, I noticed that instead of murals and advertisements, Midway airport has chosen to decorate its walls with images from scientific institutions in Chicagoland. Microscope images, fossils and so on. Says a lot about the city.
The thing is, life and times change and I now have no more occasion to make that particular journey. Future travels are likely going to take me through the mountains of Central Pennsylvania, through the understated, yet very cool Lehigh Tunnel and suchlike. However, I find myself retaining a certain fondness for Midway. The city of Chicago itself - I like a lot. But the Midway airport - well, it is a tad unfashionable to speak of an airport such - especially not one as beautiful and resplendent as Singapore or Dubai. But Midway is special.For one thing, this airport (operational since the 1920s) was renamed in 1949 after the epic Battle of Midway in WWII, where US carrier battle groups dealt a crushing blow to the Imperial Japanese Navy. This airport has been through several ups and downs. The somewhat seedy neighbourhood doesn't help too much, however the location is quite central.So, here are a couple of pictures. One of a US Navy WWII warplane. Also, I noticed that instead of murals and advertisements, Midway airport has chosen to decorate its walls with images from scientific institutions in Chicagoland. Microscope images, fossils and so on. Says a lot about the city.
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