So, we are back from Chicago and I have to tell you, I seriously seriously love that town. I’ve been impressed with each visit I have had, but none more so than this one. In fact, we were so GOOD at having a good time that we were completely exhausted when we got home last night. THAT said, we were able to catch up on some sleep, finally. We chose Chicago as a sort of interim “honeymoon weekend” since my college friend Sharon was getting married there this past weekend and it seemed to make sense to combine a long weekend with some fun with friends. And since I had already put Chicago on my mental short list of places to which we might like to move, I really wanted David to have a chance to see a lot and enjoy himself. I think he approves of it as an addition to the list.
Highlights:
1. Obviously, catching up with Wellesley friends again, including a couple that couldn’t make it to our wedding. But it was fun to hang out with Nora, Grady, and Siobhan again in such short order after our wedding – only this time we had more time to stand around with them and them only. My friends Arcadia and Leslie finally got to meet David, and there was approval all around.
2. The food served at the wedding was very good, as well as the couple of Chicago hot dogs we consumed on the street. We had a very tasty Armenian lunch our first day there (a restaurant called Sayat Nova).
3. We bid on Priceline for a hotel and were accepted at the Doubletree Magnificent Mile. Have to recommend it – good rate, and perfect location for us – on East Ohio, just about a block and a half from Michigan Avenue, and a ten minute walk to the Navy Pier. Close to all wedding festivities. And the most comfortable beds EVER. We slept in late every day. It was a bit of a shame to miss that morning time in Chicago, perhaps, but we had some serious sleep to catch up on since our own wedding.
4. Went to Millennium Park bicycle center and went on a bicycle tour called the “Friendly Neighborhoods Tour”. There were four of us and the guide, and it was about 3 hours of tooling around Chicago. We went along the Lake Shore Trail a bit, up into the Gold Coast and Lincoln Park, through Old Town and around Streeterville, and by the beaches. It was really fun. Our guide was good and the weather was perfect.
5. We enjoyed the bicycles so much we rented them the next day and went down Lake Shore Trail from the Navy Pier and went to the Shedd Aquarium. We saw the baby beluga whale, and spent most of our time there watching the sea otters. There were too many children, but it was fun for a couple hours.
6. Monday night we met up with a couple of David’s friends from high school who now live in Chicago. We were in an area that was between Wicker Park and Ukrainian Village (if I remember what they said, exactly). We went to an awesome bar called High Dive, which had a juke box so good it made David angry not every jukebox is the same; and gorgeous indie show art prints all over the walls which made me angry I couldn’t own them all. I had a nice chat with the manager about where he got some of them, and the more rare ones. Afterwards we went to a good bar called Happy Village, which was a sort of cross between Double Wide (ambience) and the Waltham Tavern (smell).
7. We saw bats flying around above the river! They must live under the bridges. Anyone know about bats in Chicago? They must get awfully cold under there in the winter.
8. We satisfied our need for touristy cheese by having a beer at the Navy Pier Beer Garden. As we drank we watched a band play Rusted Root covers whilst teenagers and a 50+ crowd danced themselves silly. We could not bring ourselves to eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp – we can tolerate some cheese, but not too much all at once, thank you.
