Hard to believe it's been 2 years since our wedding! So Nanci and I have always loved the hustle and bustle of the big city, which is why we go to New York frequently and why we moved to downtown LA. Well I've been wanting to check out Chicago for a while now, and Nanci has been there but only for work... So we thought we would go for our anniversary.
Our hotel was minimal, which is what we prefer since we didn't plan on being there much. More importantly it was in the middle of downtown Chicago.
One of the first things we noticed about the city was that there were tulips everywhere. Chicago really puts some effort into making the city look nice. It was really clean too, hardly any trash on the streets.
Of course the most beautiful flower on the streets of Chicago was..... Nanci?
Sure, why not! So we made a list of things we wanted to do and see, and we got a good amount done. First stop was the parks right by our hotel. At the entrance of the parks were twin 50ft glass fountain towers
Millennium park is where they have that cool bean sculpture
Me at the park, there are just not enough pics of me on this blog, and let's face it.... I'm cute! At least my mom tells me that =/
More cool flowers and blossoms
In the middle of Grant park is Buckingham Fountain, you might recognize it from the opening scene of Married with Children. There happened to be a high school orchestra playing music in front of the fountain, they were really good!
We mostly used subways to get around. They didn't go to as many places as NYC, but def more places than the LA subways. I guess technically they are not subways since they are above ground, which is sweet cause you get cell reception!
Next stop was the John Hancock Observatory. Very cool view of the city. Also a cool bar/lounge at the top called The Signature Lounge where we had a few cocktails.
We also took an architectural boat tour that several people recommended. It took us all along the Chicago river and explained the history of all the buildings, very interesting and a great way to see the city.
We also got to go to the top of the Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower. More great views of the city, and these cool glass bottom observation decks, they were pretty freaky. The pictures of us on the decks didn't come out great because I forgot my flash.
Ok how about some food? Chicago is known for their deep dish pizzas, so it was the first thing we tried. This place called Giordanos is very popular, but I gotta say Nanci and I weren't too impressed... Not enough flavor and seemed like it tried to make up for it with way too much cheese.
The second pizza we tried, Ginos East, totally redeemed Chicago, it was SO good! We got the patty style sausage pizza, it had a HUGE house made sausage patty in it that made up a whole layer of the pizza!
Chicago is also known for hot dogs. Again, first one we tried was good but not great at this place called Portillos, and later I found out they have Portillos in CA!
Once again, the second hot dog place we went to was WAY better, Franks N Dawgs. My cheese head brat with caramelized onions and portabello mushrooms was great, but Nancis brunch dog was AWESOME, pork sausage with thick chopped bacon, fried egg on top, and drizzles with maple mayo!
Randomly ran into some high school friends our first night in Chicago, so we met them at Franks N Dawgs.
Just a few last shots of us hanging out in the city.
After Nancis first shot I told her I needed some attitude, she gave me some cheesiness instead.
A few other places we went to were magnificent mile to shop, it's comparable to NYC's 5th ave. Also shopped at Bucktown, which is comparable to LA's Melrose. We also went to Wrigglyville for drinks, but it was pretty dead since there was no game that night.
And that's about it! Not as exciting as NYC, but still a lot of fun. Thanks Chicago for the history, the memories, and the extra 10lbs! And thanks Apple for keeping us connected with our baby boy back home at grandmas!
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