My Kind of Town, Chicago Is
Homecomings are something to behold. The way they effortlessly conjure up memories, of both the special occasions and every-day routines, of that place where you lived so many seconds, minutes, hours, days...moments. Last weekend I finally found the time and budget to take my daughter on a long overdue trip back to her hometown, Chicago, Illinois. She was born there, and it remains my favorite place to live. We had a fantastic girl's weekend, taking in many of the must-do Chicago experiences. Here is her take on our weekend.
Sweet Home Chicago
This Memorial Day weekend, my mom and I went on our first girls trip together. We decided to go to Chicago. We picked Chicago because that was where I was born and I haven’t been there since. It felt like the first time I was seeing Chicago, because we moved only eight months after I was born.
The first thing that we did after we got checked in to the hotel, was go up to the John Hancock Building. We looked at some of the sport souvenir shops and then went up to grab a snack. The 95th and 96th floor of the Hancock building is the signature room. In the signature room, there is a restaurant and a bar. There is also a space that you can rent out. One of my mom’s friends got married up there. The elevator was so fast and there was also a sign saying Minors are not allowed in the signature room after 7:00 pm. So, if you are coming with kids, don’t come too late. Lucily, we got up there around 4:30. We saw the dining hall on the way to the bar. There, we decided to get a triple cheese dip and pretzel baguette slices. For our snack dessert, we ordered a pair of chocolate covered, cream filled, red velvet cakes. They were so good. We hung out, talked and enjoyed the view before we headed out to shop and eat dinner.
On Friday after brunch, we rode a train out of downtown all the way to Wrigley field. We were early, so we took some pictures and I got some more Cubs gear. There were so many people everywhere, walking down the streets was so much fun, but I really had to make sure that I didn’t loose my mom in the crowds. So, if you take little kids to a Cubs game, make sure that you don’t loose them.
Once we were through security, we grabbed some fries and found our seats. My mom was not convinced that we were in the right seats at first because she didn’t realize that she had gotten such good seats. Luckily, the seats weren’t too good though, because during the 7th inning, it started to pour, and there was a rain delay. Although it sucked, it was really cool to see what they have to do to protect the field. Once the rain delay was called, a bunch of men brought out this HUGE tarp and pinned it over the field. Lots of people left, but I wanted to stay, so we hung out for a while until they started to roll up the tarp. It didn’t end there though, because the had to groom the field which took a long time. The men poured out the bags of sand, spread it all out, repaint the foul lines, and mist the whole field over. Although it took a long time, it was so cool to watch.
Soon after, there was another rain delay! We did not stay for that though. The game lasted five hours total. We were eating dinner when it ended. I was so glad we left when we did.
Another fun thing that we did was a walking food tour. We got to walk all around Gold Coast and Old Town trying new restaurants. If you are a foodie, then this is the tour for you. We got to try so many things including, Chicago deep dish pizza, mango tea, sushi, butter toffee, olive oils, different spices, macaroons, perogies, and more! They also have these food tours in, Lincoln park, Chinatown, and more. We got to eat a ton, but we also got to walk it all off. I also learned so many new things including, Chicago history, restaurant history, food fun facts, and more.
On Sunday, We took another tour. We took a boat down the Chicago River and took an architecture tour. So, if food isn’t for you, maybe try an architecture boat tour. There are so many of them in Chicago. Our tour guide made everything super easy to understand. He talked about the models, history, and usage for so many buildings. I took a ton of pictures. There was also a bar down stairs that even had kid appropriate drinks and snacks. If you are traveling with younger kids though, I would not recommend this for you because your kids will probably get bored.
If you are traveling with kids though, the lake would be a great place for you. After lunch, my mom and I headed to the beach. She brought her notebook for something to do. I on the other hand, got shoulder deep in the lake with my clothes on. The lake was super pretty and has something for everybody in the family to do! Besides the fact that I had to take a second shower afterwards, I loved every part of the lake. There were even ducks.
This being my first girls trip, it met the expectations and better! I think that Chicago is something to do with any group of people whether it’s with a group of friends, or a family because there is something for everybody and every group to do in Chicago. I personally wish that we could have stayed a few more days because there was still so much that we could have done.
