Chicago!
Chicago is one of our favorite cities. So when Nick had an appointment there and asked me to go along, how could I say no?
Thanks to my parents for holding the fort down, we were able to go sans children. Which was amazing! Our therapist had told us we needed to find time to have conversations about things that are just about us…not about our businesses, children, finances, home projects or other things but to really spend time enjoying one another. I was able to get some much needed relaxing done, we were able to have some time alone, and we had some amazing food!
Here are some photos for you to enjoy of the city…
After dinner we had a romantic stroll through downtown. I always love to look at all of the flowers and the combinations of flowers that the city puts in the flower boxes. I am not a fan of orange but I need to find some of these bulbs for the fall. I am fascinated by them.
Before we said goodbye to the city we stopped to get some Garrett’s popcorn. My favorite is the butter and the rest of the family likes the chicago mix which is caramel and cheese mixed together. If you’ve never had it it is a must try!
One of my favorite things about Chicago in particular is the juxtaposition of old and new, raw materials and finished, beaux arts and modern. Don’t get me wrong, I know this is in all cities. We’ve been to LA, Detroit, Boston, Atlanta, Indinapolis, Philly. Big cities, small cities. And while they all have this to a degree, I’ve never found it to be more pronounced as in Chicago. It’s always striking to me. When I get in the city I can remember my dad taking me on his weekends to Chicago. We would ride the train up and I would be horribly sick from the motion. But it was all so fascinating. We almost always went to the Art Institute. And lots of times we’d eat at some off the beaten path place. Lots of times we’d go to some grimy part of the city so my dad could go to art stores for supplies. I remember those things which made it even more striking now.
When we first arrived we decided to stay in. We checked into our hotel room and then found one of our favorite pizza places, Lou Malnati’s! When you are Chicagoan you have your favorite deep dish pizza place between the big contenders…Gino’s East, Pizzaria Uno, and Lou Malnati’s. We have tried all and have floated on each as our favorite throughout the years. Our current fave and the one that has been our fave the longest is Lou Malnatti’s! I am a fan of just cheese and Nick loves surpreme. We ordered takeout and got a half and half pizza and an order of wings which were so yummy! It was a perfect night relaxing and dining on a yummy treat.
Our final night in Chicago we went to one of our favorite places: Eataly!
Have you ever been to one? Eataly is an italian market. In Chicago the market has two stories. The first story has little cafes for gelato, cannolis, coffee, and a wine bar. There’s also candy, cosmetics, and some grocery items.
On the second floor there is a huge deli, a mozzarella lab where they make their own cheese, a pizza restaurant, a bar, and a more formal restaurant.
We ended up hitting it at Happy Hour. And while it completely wasn’t on our radar we decided to go for the half off meat and cheese board. It was so much food! And it was SO good. We could barely finish the thing. That ended up being our dinner even though we had been planning on pizza or pasta. Not sorry at all! That and a glass of sparkling wine was divine!
Our last stop on our way out was in Mount Prospect at a cute little ice cream shop called Capannari Ice Cream. It was very good and the perfect ending to a perfect evening and trip to Chicago.
