Who knew I would fall for Chicago?! Don't get me wrong. I was excited about my trip to Chicago, but I didn't realize how much fun and how interesting it would actually be. My best friend and I managed to do all things Chicago (just like we promised the guy at U.S. customs - lol).
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| The Famous Wrigley Field |
K.Hi & I left my house around 6:30 A.M. on a Thursday morning in June. We left early because we had tickets to a Chicago Cubs afternoon game (interesting fact #1 - almost all cubs games are afternoon games). We encountered some hard rain, but made it to Chicago without incident and even early for the game so we scored free Chicago Cubs sunglasses. Being able to experience a game at Wrigley Field more than made up for the less than desirable hotdog and seating. After the game, K.Hi and I had a late lunch at Al's #1 Beef (which has been featured on Man Vs. Food). K.Hi thoroughly enjoyed her beef dip!
My wonderful friend, J. and her husband, M. were more than welcoming, allowing K.Hi & I to stay at their humble abode for Thursday and Friday night while we were touring the city. J. helped us figure out the transit system in Chicago so we could get around easily. I'm not familiar with public transit having grown up in a small town, but Chicago's system seemed fairly easy to get the hang of. That night we set out to Willis Tower (formally the Sears Tower) to take in the view from the Skydeck, 104 floors up. We stayed long enough so that we could get late evening and night pictures.
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| Loooking up at the Willis Tower |
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| Me - 104 floors above Chicago |
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| Sunset over Chicago |
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The Ledge - 104 floors above S. Wacker Dr.
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| Gino's East Pizzeria |
We then found our way to the Magnificent Mile and got to see the long stretch of designer stores. It was late and they were all closed, but let's be realistic... we weren't going to be buying anything at Tiffany's or Georgio Armani anyways. From there we went to eat a very late dinner at Gino's East (which is known for it's deep dish pizza and was also featured on Man vs. Food). There was a line up at this pizza joint at 10:30 at night with two floors of seating full. By the time we got in at 11pm we were starving only to find out that the deep dish pizza's we ordered would take an hour to make. We spent most of our time waiting, taking in the scenery of the restaurant which was covered in graffiti. K.Hi loved her deep dish pizza! I liked mine, but I think I'll stick with regular pizza.
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| Shedd Aquarium |
The next morning we took the bus to the Shedd Aquarium. It was a free admission Friday and there was a 2 hour line-up. It was the main thing I had wanted to do in Chicago, so K.Hi, being the good sport she is, put up with the 2 hour wait in the hot sun with me. Afterwards, we took a water taxi to Navy Pier and boarded the 3pm Architectural Boat Tour. This Tour was about an hour long and took us up and down the river with a guide who talked about the different buildings along the river's edge. It was so beautiful to witness and interesting as well. After arriving back at Navy Pier, we had a late lunch at Harry Caray's Tavern.
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| River City - from the boat tour |
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| Lunch @ Harry Caray's |
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| Millenium Park |
We then found our way to Millenium Park where we saw the giant sculpture that looks like a chrome jelly bean. Right beside Millenium Park is Grant Park and an ampitheater. There just so happened to be a free orchestra concert that night so we took a seat and listened for an hour or so and relaxed. We then found State Street where we were advised to go shopping. K.Hi scored a Michael Kors bag there and was ecstatic! By this time it was 10 or so and we found our way to "Ditka's" which we assumed would be a sports bar/tavern. When we arrived it was a fancy steak and seafood place. WHOOPS. We weren't turned away for a dresscode so we stayed. K.Hi had the meatloaf stack and I had a burger (the cheapest thing on the menu for $15 dollars).
Saturday came and J. and M. took us to a farmer's market and then to Lincoln Park Zoo (interesting fact #2 - it is a FREE zoo). We took J&M out for lunch to thank them for allowing us to stay with them while we were in town and then headed out to our hotel near the airport. We stopped for dinner at a place (featured on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives) called Smoque. I didn't order anything, but K.Hi was in bbq heaven! We signed in at the Hyatt and chilled a bit before getting ready for the event to end out our weekend: the NKOTBSB concert at the United Center. What a concert it was! It was the perfect mix of boyband greatness, if I may be so blunt! The shuttle back to our hotel from the airport subway was quite an adventure. I got spat on by a crazy person who I thought was going to take the shuttle driver hostage and/or turn around and knife me, but I survived!
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| New Kids On The Block AND Backstreet Boys |
Not only did I have an amazing trip, I also got to cross off another new state visited on my 101 in 1001 list.
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