While our toddler slept, we took turns chatting and having a drink in the hotel lobby with our friend before he caught his last train back out to the western suburbs. Babar and Celeste don't mind leaving their kids alone in hotel rooms, but we're more cautious that way.

The next morning, we walked three blocks to the Eleven City Diner, a Brooklyn-style Kosher deli and diner, with a bit of a hipster vibe, where I was happy to share my egg cream with my son, for his first taste of this childhood favorite of mine.

Eleven City Diner, 1112 S. Wabash Ave., was not only staffed with just about the nicest people we encountered all weekend (and that's saying something since darn near everyone was sweet as pie), it was also affordable and, oddly, packed with Wisconsinites, from our Milwaukee-native waiter to the table of New Berliners next to us.

We decided against the lox and I went for the completely over the top Tom Waits 2 a.m. Breakfast 1987, which for $10.95 got me two eggs, two huge pancakes, two delicious and slightly tangy sausages, house potatoes and two slices of toast.

Next, we zipped down Lake Shore Drive to Obama's Hyde Park neighborhood to check out some of the many, many charms of the Museum of Science and Industry, 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive, which has so much to see and do that we dubbed it the Louvre of Family Museums.

The Idea Factory is a science-focused Brinn-style room with some really engaging hands-on stuff for the kids and it was an instant hit. We stopped here first and momentarily thought we'd never make it any deeper into the museum.

But then our toddler saw a real John Deere tractor and combine that you could climb into and we were off. That led us up to the insanely huge model railroad layout -- called The Great Train Story -- that's in a hall with real steam engines, trolley cars, jet-propelled cars and a Boeing 727 suspended from the ceiling. The experience of seeing them all in the same space is awe inspiring.

"ToyMaker 3000: An Adventure in Automation" was a really interesting look into engineering and the manufacturing process, but we popped in only briefly, bagging once we realized that it's meant for much older children.

Although "Yesterday's Main Street" is much smaller than the "Streets of Old Milwaukee" it was a hit and so was "Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle," a model of a turreted castle complete with improbably huge dining room and towers.

As we walked around the outside of the gorgeous Silver Streak Pioneer Zephyr, our little one was yawning nearly non-stop and we knew that even though there was a real submarine and lots more to see, it was time to go.

Admission is $13 for adults, $9 for kids 3-11. Parking is $16 although we quickly realized that parking in Hyde Park on a Sunday morning is easy, free and almost restriction-free. We found a spot a 5-minute walk from the door.

And 23 hours after we hit the Loop, we were headed back to Milwaukee, with some solid memories blowing around in our heads.

If you're looking for guidebooks to Chicago, Time Out offers a thorough general guide ($19.95) and an annual "Eating & Drinking" guide ($11.99), too.

The main book is in its fourth edition and the 2009 food guide is the second edition.

The general guidebook -- which also has a short section on day trips to Milwaukee, Madison and The Dells -- is perfect for planning short and longer visits to the city. The "Children" section of the guidebook has five pages of suggestions perfect for little ones, including restaurants. But, remember much of what's discussed in the book's other 330-odd pages is also fun with kids.