Is it just me, or did the whole month of May pass by in the blink of an eye? The last couple weeks especially have been a whirlwind, and if I don’t get some pics posted soon I’ll forget all about our quick Chicago trip!
We flew up to Chicago last Saturday, celebrated by birthday on Sunday (29 years and 19 weeks pregnant, for those keeping track), and flew back home on Tuesday. It was the perfect amount of time to enjoy exploring while only taking 2 days off of work. (Pro tip: Check out Frontier or Spirit airlines for cheap flights! Promos come up pretty frequently and the destinations/dates are limited, but you can get a great deal if you check often. For this trip, we got two round trip tickets for $50 each, even with fees added.)
We had a loose list of things we wanted to see and do, but mostly played the itinerary by ear. It was nice to go with the flow, and we didn’t pack in so many activities that we were exhausted, so it was a pretty good balance. The weather was absolutely beautiful which didn’t hurt one bit.
The only glitch was that we weren’t happy with the AirBNB we booked for all 3 nights, so we had to figure out new places to stay each night and ended up spending most of each morning checking out of one place and moving our bags to the new place. It was fun to see different parts of the city though, and now we know you have to do your due diligence when it comes to AirBNB… and that cheap rooms are usually cheap for a reason. (Another pro tip: if even one previous review mentions that the owner only cleans once a month and the reviewer ended up staying at a hotel, take it seriously.)
I’ll stop with the words now and try not to overload you with photos. We didn’t get to see half of sights on our list, but we certainly filled 2 full days and can’t wait to visit again!
…Saturday and Sunday…
To Eat: Italian Village, Eataly
To Sleep: Marriott Residence Inn Downtown (great continental breakfast) and Freehand (my favorite – it even made H54F!)
To Do:
Couldn’t resist the Dressing Downton exhibit, and it was only a block from our hotel!
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Magnificent Mile
People watching and window shopping is always a great combination, so we walked along the Magnificent Mile on the way to the John Hancock building for the 360 view. And all that walking was the perfect excuse to indulge in a gelato (and a cocktail for hubby). On the way back we kept finding cute little shops I just had to peek inside.
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My birthday treat was an improv show at Second City, and it didn’t disappoint! It was also Soul Sunday, and after the show there was a local band and more improv – super fun!
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…Monday and Tuesday…
To Sleep: AirBNB right on the river
To Do:
Perfect excuse to rest our feet and enjoy the sun – and the views! Definitely had a new appreciation for the Chicago skyline after this tour.
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Of course we had to see the Bean! Walking through the park along the water and sipping a smoothie was the perfect way to spend the afternoon.
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We didn’t realize how far we had walked until we got to Navy Pier and my phone calculated over 10 miles of steps! Unfortunately the ferris wheel was closed but the sunset views were perfect and we worked up an appetite for deep dish pizza (Giordano’s was worth the wait!)
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Whew, that was fun! More city sights coming soon 🙂
The Amateur Librarian 
Great pics! Beautiful city!
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Aw, glad you had fun in the Windy City. My husband and I were at Navy Pier last weekend, too, for a play at the Shakespeare Theater! 🙂
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Looks like you had fun! Question for you – we were looking at flying Frontier from New Orleans to Orlando later in the year (for a conference, not Mickey), and saw some reviews that their planes are very cramped with less leg room than normal. The flight would be less than 3 hours…did you feel like you had less space or were more uncomfortable than normal on your flight? The prices are almost worth setting aside comfort completely, but I’ll be awfully pregnant by then, so I don’t want to make a big mistake! Thanks 🙂
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To me, the plane was no different than any others. But hugely pregnant is a different story!
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