I never thought I would jump at a chance to go to Chicago, but it looks like it is the only "vacation" in the cards for us for the rest of the year. Jon is going for business, and I'm going to play. This is where you come in! You gals hooked me up with awesome rec's when I headed to NYC and I was hoping you'd do the same for Chi-town. The only thing I know about Chicago is that it was the setting to one of my fave films, The Fugitive and Oprah (duh). I am interested in eating, shopping and having fun. I am not interested in sports, history or museums.
P.S. We are going in five short weeks!
Posts
15 comments:
lucky! i've been wanting to go for a weekend trip with the boy.
i've never been so i'm not much help but i'm sure you'll hear about a ton of places to go to. chicago is lively like that.
oooh you'll be in my town!!!! how exciting!!! Okay food, my hubby and I love Rick Bayless' restaurants, Frontera is amazing and he has a street food type place that we heard is suppose to be out of this world called xoco I think. If you go to www.rickbayless.com you can see all 3 of his places. SO worth every penny.
Then I would find myself the nearest Lou Malnati's Deep Dish Pizzeria and chow down. For fun I'd head to Millenium Park and see the giant bean and hang around there. It's pretty cool. Yay for a trip to Chicago!
ps. skip Navy Pier if you can...it's boring.
yay!!!! if you plan to visit wicker park, my former 'hood, i can supply you with a huge list, bigger than the abridged version im gonna leave you here.
here we go...
1. lovely: a bake shop - you will love this place! it's part bakery, part cafe, part handmade goodies shop. best blueberry muffins ever. or go to bakin' n eggs, a brunch spot run by the same people!
2. big star - a taqueria/whiskey bar with a crazy fun outdoor patio, well-made cocktails and fancy tacos. place is huge, but always packed!
3. belly shack - byob asian/mexican fusion fast food place. they have a tofu jibarito that is suuuuper good.
4. more cupcakes - this isn't in wicker park...it's downtown off the magnificent mile...and i know cupcakes are kinda overplayed...but these are my absolute favorite, and very pretty. the store presentation is also nice.
5. argo tea - this is a local chain that they have all over the city...a tea cafe with lots of good drinks...i used to go here everyday. thank god they expanded to nyc too!
jeslous!! take me with you! we can play while jon works :)
Chicago is amazing! That will be a great time of the year to go - perfect fall weather!
Stay near the Miracle Mile (i.e. shopping!!)
Awesome.........something I can write about. I live in the wonderful city of Chicago.
1. SHOPPING!! It's touristy, but visit the Magnificent Mile of Michigan Ave. It's a mile long of shops and small mini-malls/shopping centers. At the North end of the strip is the Water Tower Place mall also full of shops.
2. While on Michigan Ave, stop at Giardelli's Chocolate Shop for the best ice cream sundaes ever. If it is chilly, a hot chocolate would do as well. It is located by the Water Tower right off Michigan Ave.
3. Rent bikes or one of those pedal carts and take a ride down the bike path along Lake Michigan.
4. Catch a show at one of the many theatres downtown. Ballet, Broadway, Opera, etc.
5. For pizza, I say get the deep dish at either Giorandos or Pizzeria Uno. Both are fantastic and several locations around the city.
Avoid: Sears/Willis Tower...meh. Navy Pier...really not that interesting unless you go there to catch a boat cruise on the lake.
We had lots of fun at Navy Pier, and a boat tour of the Chicago River is really nice too... There are a ton of parks, and we loved the Lincoln Park Zoo (and it's free!)... We went to harper studios, just to walk around the outside and take pics, and to the Oprah Store.. but it's in kind of a weird industrial area, so be prepared for that... I know you aren't interested in sports but I think you guys are going to a game at Wrigley, so you will have fun with that, it's fun and cool to go to historic ballparks like that :) Ummm, maybe I will just email you a list of all the stuff we did, since its a lot! haha :)
ahhh you guys rock. thank you so much! printing all of this now!
I went last summer and I'm obsessed! Me and Andy are going again in 3 weeks and since we did alot of touristy things last year I'm into the fun stuff now. So my tips:
avoid Navy Pier..
you MUST go to the bean..it was my absolute fave.
If you do one touristy thing I recommend going to the top of Sears Tower..it's wild walking out on the glass!
I wasn't too impressed with the Magnificent Mile..alot of shops that I have at home.
I'll let you know if I find any good local places to visit when I get back :)
SO jealous!! You will LOVE Chicago.. such a great city!
Got your note...jude and gene but.....really i'd pick portillos over those two. I'm a bit obsessed with the place. They have good food and a CRAZY good chocolate cake, that you can have as regular cake or a chocolate cake shake. They give you a spoon and a straw. Kind of sick but so so good.
Oh I thought of some other things. If you can, go to Wells Street in Old Town, between Goethe and North Ave. Great little shops, and some cute places to eat. It's also where Second City (the famous comedy place) is that if you can get tickets to is super fun to go to.
If you're on Wells Street you can go up North Ave. too and there are lots of great restaurants and it's a block from the lake.
I hope you have the best time. I think you'll love it. ps. Michigan Ave is not that great...it's all the normal stores. Head to Oak St. if you want the fun boutique places. And if you're over there you should go for breakfast at Tempo. So yummy.
pps. they might not be winning but you can probably get some cheap cubs tickets too and wrigley field is very cool. skip the white sox. they're the white sox and they suck all around!!!
my husband just said i should i have said hot doug's apparently he's the it guy right now for different hot dogs sausages etc. havent had it myself but heard a lot of good things
i will second a visit to big star in wicker park, i am obsessed with that place. also, i really like garrett's popcorn, there are locations all over downtown. millenium park is a must see.
Some follow-up commenting:
Of the two hot dog places, I've never been to either. Sorry. Can't give you a review of either.
Some more shopping ideas:
My favorite little neighborhood that has shopping and great hang out spots is Southport. Southport Ave is a street up in the Lakeview/Wrigleyville area. Start at Belmont Ave and go north to Irving Park Ave. That whole stretch has little boutique shops, great bars and restaurants. One of my faves is Southport Lanes. It's a bar with some bowling lanes and pool tables. Tons of fun. Try Julius Meinl Coffee House for great Hungarian cafe food. The ham and cheese omlet is fantastic and the coffee/tea/dessert selection is fantastic. They have outdoor seating as well if you want to enjoy it outside and people watch.
Also on Southport are two small theatres that I love and usually have concerts or small shows. Check out the Music Box Theatre and Mercury Theatre.
And not a far walk from there is Wrigley Field home of the Cubs. Along Clark St by Wrigley Field are another whole bunch of bars and great places to visit.
More suggestions coming later......
Chicago was the first place we went after we sold our house. We were only there for a day but I loved it!
I liked the museum of science and industry... but realistically, it's probably better suited for children.
We took a walk by Michigan Lake which was really nice - good photo ops.
Of course, the bean - and I heard there's a new huge art installation that was recently built there as well.
Can't wait to see your posts about it!
Post a Comment