My Kind of Town

Chicago is, my kind of town...

The first weekend in November, I flew out to Chicago to meet up with my good friend from my Rivera days (about 6 years ago) Kelli. I had not seen her in a few years (since she moved out to DC) so I was very excited to see her and spend time with her exploring a new city (we both had never been before). We got to spend the whole weekend catching up on each other's lives and reminisce about the Riv days that we loved so much and talked about where everyone is now. It was so fun.
Our trip was very relaxing. We got a nice hotel that was close enough to the airport that we got a free shuttle ride there and back. It was also right next to a Subway stop, so we could get to the city very easily as well. We slept in every day and took our time getting ready and many nights we would come home around 7 or 8 and would just relax in our hotel room and go to bed early. It was SO nice. I also feel like even though we were not on a tight schedule, we saw the city. I think we did all the major things there are to do in Chicago. By the end, we pretty much felt like locals. We had the city down.

These are just a few highlights from our trip.

Every morning, I would stop at a Starbucks to get a hot chocolate and pumpkin scone for breakfast and then we would get on the subway for our half hour commute to downtown.

We walked around town trying to get familiar and see what we wanted to do. We went shopping at "The Magnificent Mile" where I found myself a very cute coat. It was awesome weather for us while we were there. Sunny the whole time. Perfect fall weather and colors, but the first day was a little chilly and I didn't bring a coat. Silly me. ha ha.

We then headed over to the Hancock Building, which is the second tallest in Chicago. We wanted to check out the view, so we went to the lounge at the very top and had some drinks and enjoyed the view. They had a pretty amazing view in the bathroom actually.

Next, we had to go try out Chicago's much talked about deep dish pizza. Uno's was recommended to me by a friend. Must be good because we had to wait an hour for our pizza's. It was a fun place with good food.

Then we had to hit up Willis Tower (aka Sears Tower) and check out the view of the city from the tallest building in the Northern Hemisphere! I am not going to lie to you... it was kind of scary for me. They even have these clear cases that stick off of the building that you can stand in so it looks like you are just hanging 110 stories in the air. It took a little courage for me to step out in that case... but I did it. It was quite a site!
*It is kind of hard to see in the picture, but the darker picture is of our shoes while we were in the clear case... so you can see the city WAY below us... looks like we are standing in the air*

The next day we went to the Museum (The Art Institute of Chicago) and walked through most of the exhibits. Then we took a visit to the bean! Which is very fun for pictures..... as you can see.....

The city is full of beautiful and unique architecture. What better way to learn about it then to go on an Architecture Boat tour, which we did. It happened to be my favorite thing that we did the whole trip. It was beautiful and educational.

Another recommended restaurant from my friend from Chicago was Ed Debevics. So we went. Boy was THAT entertaining! ha ha. They make you wear the hats, the are loud and rude on purpose and the waiters dance on the counter. The food was pretty good too. Funniest part was my hamburger came to me on a hot dog bun. It was all funny. How nice for them that they get paid to be rude and loud.

Next day we decided to venture to a different part of Chicago. So we took the train and went to the Frank Lloyd Wrights house for a tour. Across the street from that was the University of Chicago. Beautiful campus... especially a sight to see in the fall. We LOVED it. It is what I picture a university to look like... like what you see in the movies!

We then we to see the Museum of Science and Industry, which is a BEAUTIFUL building. I wish we had the time and energy to have gone inside. We ended up taking the train back to downtown and ended up eating at some weird random place and then had the whole drama getting home that pretty much took up the rest of our night. Oh well. It was all very funny in the end.

Overall, the trip was fantastic. I loved Chicago! It was a very fun and classy city. So glad I was able to go, I love to explore new cities. Really glad I was able to go with Kelli. Not only was it good to see her again and catch up on life, but she is also an amazing travel companion. She was easy going and fun and  we had a great time just the two of us. I would travel with this girl anywhere in a heartbeat. Thank you Kelli for an amazing trip!