I’d be lying if I didn’t confess that a TV show inspired our weekend trip to Chicago (the tradition of Kelli, Michelle, Karen and Kristan TV themed weekends started last year with our GG trip) – and I’ve only heard great things about the city and have always wanted to go! It was a fantastic weekend. The weather was perfect, which always makes sightseeing that much better. Every day our itinerary consisted of walking our legs off, and then every night we crashed at an embarrassingly early time :)
On Saturday we started our trip by taking a ride to the 103rd floor observatory at the tallest building in North America and the third tallest in the world - The Sears Tower. It was a clear day and there was a gorgeous view for miles.
After the Sears Tower we took a walk up Wacker Drive :) And then around The Loop – defined by the oval created by the El tracks, in the heart of downtown. Chicago is known for their collection of famous public art and architecture, and I completely enjoyed being a tourist and walking around looking up :) We saw the Picasso in Daley Plaza and other sculptures.
Daley Plaza ring any movie bells for anyone? This is where Michelle pulled out her Movies based in Chicago list. :) We went and had lunch at Frontera Grill. It’s won the 2007 Outstanding Restaurant James Beard Award, so I had to check it out. It was excellent. Then we walked over to the Magnificent Mile – but us New Yorkers and DC shopping snobs didn’t feel the need to shop for something we could just get at home. And we saw the Chicago Water Tower, one of the few buildings that survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
Even though we felt like we couldn’t walk anymore, we walked over to the Navy Pier. It was not what I was expecting at all! I felt like it was a state fair/amusement park, but we did ride the Farris Wheel and enjoyed another spectacular view of the city and lake.
We ended the day with pizza! Karen’s Dad recommended this famous stuffed pizza place called Giordanos. It was amazing!
Whenever I told someone I was going to Chicago they always said an architecture boat tour is a must do, so we did! The Chicago River goes right down the heart of the city and is lined with some of the city’s finest architecture. The views were amazing and the guide was great. I’ll admit that I’m an architecture nerd and loved every minute of the skyscraper-studded panorama.
The Wrigley Building.
Notice the Jetson/Corn Cob building in the background!
Claims to be the largest commercial building in the world with more than 4.2 MILLION square feet!
The Sears Tower
My favorite. I loved how the curved shape of the building followed the river bend and the reflection of the other buildings in it.
After the tour, Kelli, Michelle and I took the El out to the Frank Lloyd Wright Studio in Oak Park. The neighborhood was gorgeous and filled with prairie homes. Again, architecture nerd :)
We also walked through the park and went to the Buckingham Fountain. The center jet shoots up to 150 feet in the air, and the fountain contains 1.5 million gallons of water!
We also became obsessed with The Bean. British artist Anish Kappor’s Cloud Gate is a 110-ton elliptical sculpture of highly polished stainless steel plates that reflect the city’s skyline. It creates an amazing picture of the skyline – and is fun.
On Monday we went to the Art Institute of Chicago. It has a fantastic collection of impressionist and Post-impressionist art. London turned me into an art lover – I even worked in a museum – and this was a cultural gem. Then we went out to Wrigley Field! The Cubs lost to the Dodgers miserably, but it was great seeing Wrigley. It’s the second oldest active major league ballpark (behind Fenway Park) and known for its ivy outfield wall and manual scoreboard. It’s a really small park, and I got a kick out of the fact that there are bleachers on the surrounding apartment buildings – and one roof even has an ad on it (it is sloped, so I’m assuming an ad was a good way to earn money since they couldn’t put bleachers up there). Hilarious. It was fun afternoon at the ballpark.
This post was a monster and picture filled, so I'm sure you've stopped reading at this point, but it was a great weekend! I loved Chicago!
2 comments:
I was similarly obsessed with the Bean. Glad you had fun in Chicago!
I have eaten at Giordanos and LOVED it. Got to love that load of carbs, Chicago-style pizza crust! Fun pics.
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