Our Final Day in Chicago

We were so exhausted from the day before that we allowed ourselves to sleep in past 7. We didn't have a ton of plans for our last day, so it was a pretty relaxed morning.

I was hoping we would have time to go to Ann Sather's for $3.50 cinnamon rolls, but it just wasn't in the right direction...we will have to go next time! 

After getting off the train we started to get a little hungry and it was getting close to lunch time. We headed to Millenium Park to see "the bean" and saw another Shake Shack, so we decided we needed it one more time before we left. They ended up having a "Black & White" shake (that they made double for us on accident) that was amazing! Chocolate and Vanilla custard and caramel sauce...I'll be getting it next time. Also, this location is in a hotel, so it's probably the prettiest location you'll ever see!

In the park there are these really cool water features with footage of people's faces. They blink and everything, and then eventually they "spit" water. It would be a super fun splash pad with kids!

The bean was even cooler than we expected. Where do people come up with these things? It was really cool to see your reflection in like a million different directions.

Proving to Tanner that it IS still cool to do jumping pictures.

After a million pictures of "the bean" or "cloud gate", we walked around Millenium Park and that thing is huge! We sat down for a live orchestra rehearsal at the Great Lawn which was amazing, walked around the gardens, and ended up walking through Grant Park. We didn't know where we were going, but we kept loving what we were seeing!

We then ended up at the Buckingham Fountain, and just in time for the water "show". There are park benches all around, and it was a fun place to just sit and chat. I thought it was so beautiful!

We found ourselves stopping at Garrett's popcorn for the "Garrett Mix" which is a mix of caramel and cheese popcorns. We both thought it was good, but are more impressed by the blue bag at Costco. :)

I was so excited to go to the free Money Museum and surprise Tanner because I thought it would be a cool "boy" thing. We got there at 4:45 and they closed at 4:30!! I hadn't even been checking the time and was so disappointed. So someone please go and tell me how cool it is!

After walking around more places, and looking at the beautiful architecture, we took the train home to meet The Read's at Portillo's for dinner. I read so many places to get the Italian beef sandwich, and the chocolate cake shake, so that's exactly what we did. Two shakes in one day? Don't judge.

We packed up our stuff and sadly had to say goodbye. It was not enough time with my Christy, but I'm so glad we got to see where they live and spend time with her and Trent. Luckily the O'Hare airport is super bright and cheerful, and makes it a little less depressing to fly home.

We prepared for our red-eye flight, and decided we will never be doing one again! Tall people are not meant to sleep on planes. That's all.

Thanks to the Read's for hosting us, and to Chicago for being so beautiful and SO clean!!

See you next time!

//1st day in Chicago, //2nd day in Chicago

2nd Day in Chicago

On our second day in Chicago, we woke up early and started walking to the train. We were running just a couple of minutes late, so Tanner suggested we start thinking about hitchhiking. I actually didn't think he was serious, but in fact he was. We started speed walking, and we instantly started dripping sweat. We picked the most humid weekend to visit-lucky us! I also had my bag full of every single one of our cameras, water bottles and food, so running with that little guy wasn't too fun. Also, I decided to wear a romper with a snap across the chest...and when it was mixed with the pulling of my bag and running, it kept un-snapping! It was so embarrassing!!

Anyways, we made it to the cutest train station with a minute to spare, and headed downtown!  

We started our day off with visiting Wildberry Pancakes that was recommended by the Fabrizio's, and it did not disappoint! We would highly recommend eating here for breakfast, it was SO delicious! And, the restaurant is huge so your wait goes by fast! We were also really impressed with the food prices in Chicago...it felt so much cheaper than SF!

If you know me, you know how happy I was with the Lemon Poppy seed pancake special! I'm still dreaming about it.

The night before, we scored a Groupon deal for a Seadog Architectural Tour, and got an extra 10% off on top of that deal. What I've learned from living in a major city, is that you can usually always find a deal on Groupon or some travel site, so make sure you check!

Seadog Tours are SO great. They are funny, entertaining, and super informative-we learned so much. We got to go out on Lake Michigan really fast, and come back into Chicago River and learn about all the cool buildings. 

We would recommend a tour at sunset during the summer. We had so many things we were packing into the first day, so we wanted to make sure we had enough time to get everywhere we wanted, and went with the 1pm tour. If it wouldn't have been so hot and humid we would have been fine, but those hot leather seats don't do much to cool you down! I guess I was also imagining being on a boat like "My Best Friends Wedding", but there was no head coverage. We had a really good time, but the second the boat stopped I ran into the Navy Pier to hopefully cool off, but then I remembered that your sweat doesn't disappear like it does in AZ heat!

I've always had a slight obsession with ferris wheels.

We walked SO much this day, and saw so much of the city. At one point we were both so tired and hot we found a hospital that looked like it had good AC, and sat in there for a bit! I even took a really quick snooze. Embarrassing! I woke up to Tanner whistling over to me with a donut from Stan's Donuts. What a guy!

We went to lunch at Shake Shack because we hadn't had it since our trip to New York. We planned on going to the new ones in Scottsdale, but never made time for it. It never disappoints! We love the Smokeshack burger, the fries of course, and vanilla concretes with caramel and toffee bits! Mmmm now I want some!

After walking the Magnificent Mile, and going in and out of all the fabulous stores downtown, we grabbed an Uber and went to Wrigley Field. We were skeptical of scalping tickets, but I think we found an even better deal. I don't LOVE baseball, but it was seriously cool to experience this legendary field with Tanner! We finished the night off with some jalapeno nachos, a Chicago dog, and a large Diet Coke- just like you always should at the ballpark! Oh, and some popcorn by our friends that sat next to us in the tiniest seats. I actually loved how they haven't really renovated the stadium much. The fans are also really great. I loved their accents!

He was in heaven. Mind you this was my third baseball game in a matter of 5 days, so I kept reminding him how great of a wife I was. :)

We had the craziest uber ride back to the train that night, and we could barely stay awake on the ride home! It was a fun-filled-packed-day! Christy and Trent picked us up from the station and we got to go stay at the house they were house sitting that night. We ended up hot tubbing until about midnight, and then started a movie after that. It was so fun getting to hang with our friends! 

//1st day in Chicago