What did we do?
You know that massive snow storm we hit while driving to Chicago?? Well it was also still in Chicago by the time we arrived, so instead of doing a ton of sight-seeing, we stayed in our friend's place where it was warm and overlooked the beautiful city (we also played board games because we really love board games :) ). The good news though was that by late afternoon we had about a 2 hour gap where we could walk the city before the snow picked up again. In those 2 hours we covered:
Not a bad view!
The Bean - a classic but MUST on my list! Zack had already been before but he was nice enough to show it to me! I'm such a tourist sometimes and even got a little giddy when we came up to it! It was so cool so how could I not be excited?! The snow stuck to the walls of the piece so I couldn't get the best view of the reflected city but it didn't matter!
Commentary by Z: The architecture boat tour is a little pricy at ~$50 but definitely worth it. Did it a year ago at night and even though it was cold its an awesome way to see all the buildings and hear their history!
Chicago Riverwalk - We would have loved to do an architecture boat tour but it was way too cold for that (we will just have to come back in summer!) but it was cool seeing the river and how it was surrounded by buildings.
Grant Park - We both loved this park and how it buffers the city from Lake Michigan. It was covered in snow and looked magical!
Lake Michigan - I am just amazed how massive the great lakes are. I mean of course they are huge but did you know that they are so big that they create their own weather systems?? Ya, that massive storm we hit was because of the great lakes and turns out the term "lake effect snow" is a thing! I had never even heard of it until we drove near the great lakes and experienced it ourselves.
Chicago Cultural Center - it was so cold the we partially stopped here to warm up but it worked out because it was beautifully covered with mosaics on the walls and ceilings.
Target - ok ok so I do love Target buuut what I realized was that I had never been to a big box store in a city before until we stopped in Chicago. I didn't know that 1. they typically are more than one floor and 2. they have escalators for your shopping carts. Yes. An escalator exclusively for the shopping carts. It was really exciting to see :) Like really exciting! So exciting I didn't even get a picture of it because I was just watching it the whole time.
Commentary by Z: Pretty sure I have a video of it somewhere that I will most definitely be showing to our children.
Where did we eat?
Lou Malnati's Pizzeria - I have never had deep dish pizza before and so that totally showed when we went here for dinner. I didn't know that it takes 45 min to cook!! It was a busy night though so we placed our order right after we checked in at the hostess stand and by the time we were seated and got our drinks, we waited another 20 min for the food, which all things considering, was not a bad wait time. The pizza was probably the best thing ever and I would recommend it to everyone...buuut be prepared to over eat and then feel really sick... I don't think our bodies were ever meant to process bread, cheese and pepperoni by the pounds. That night my stomach felt like there was a rock in it...TMI?? Well I'm just preparing you! It was worth it but probably a good thing that I don't live in Chicago or I would be in real trouble and most likely 100lbs heavier...
Portillo's Hot Dogs - I don't know if you have ever had J-Dawgs (a hot dog place) but if you have, think of that but _better_. This place had more variety with burgers, sandwiches, salads and of course, the hot dog. I just got their classic hotdog and it was great! Although I'm not really sure how you mess up a hot dog...? Zack got a 2 meat sandwich and that was also yummy, right Zack?
Final Thoughts
Well, Chicago was definitely cold haha but also a really cool city! I think it's safe to say that it's on our list to come back and visit when it's warmer! The food is great, the streets were clean, and there's plenty of things to do! A bonus, it wasn't as windy as I expected! Until next time Chicago!
