Chicago

If you follow me on Instagram, there is no reason to keep reading this.  It is simply a regurgitation of my photos from our recent trip to Chicago.  Once again, I can thank Instagram for eating my blog.

Will and I spent a total of 49 hours in Chicago last week.  We were there celebrating our 5th anniversary, which was in May, and Will's 31st birthday.

It was W.O.N.D.E.R.F.U.L.!

Seriously, it was the most fun we have had in a very long time.  Kid free fun that is. We have plenty of kid-full fun around here.

We stayed at the Park Hyatt. Super nice. We rarely stay at hotels with over-sized tubs and flat screens in the bathroom.

Here is the view from or hotel window:

Or first stop was Giordano's Pizza.  Good. A little too much emphasis on crust for us. We walked right in and to a table.  Perks of being there on a Monday at 11 AM.

Afterwards we headed to the Willis/ Sears tower.  We went right to the top.  No lines at all.  It was worth the 36 bucks.  Very touristy, but that is what we were!

We tried Garret's popcorn.  The Chicago Mix was melt in your mouth yummy.

We checked out Millennium Park.

After regrouping and taking a nap in our hotel, we checked out the view from the Hancock Tower.  No joke, the best view was in the women's bathroom of the Signature Lounge. We didn't even pay to go in the tower.  We actually didn't even buy drinks at the lounge.  We just checked out the view.

From the top:

From the bottom:

Afterwards, we found a Portillos and tried a true Chicago dog.
Note: We got tons of great restaurant recommendations, and I originally wanted this trip to be a foodie adventure.  We decided to just stick to trying some of the food Chicago is known for...pizza and hotdogs.  We hope to go back one day and try more food.

I really wanted to see the Theatre District.  We took the train to walk around that area for a bit

Afterwards, we hit a local Irish Pub.  Not sure of the name, but it seemed more like a local spot. It was a perfect spot to unwind and talk.

Day 2 was much more relaxing. We strolled around Navy Pier that morning.

Afterwards, we took an architectural river tour through a company called Sea Dog.  Our tour also included a speed boat ride on Lake Michigan.  If we could only choose one thing to do in Chicago, this would be it.  It was so cool!  I loved seeing and hearing about all the history of downtown.  It was well worth it!   We had heard to make reservations beforehand. We didn't, but our boat was nearly empty.  Another perk of being there during the week I guess.

Our boat just so happened to be cruising under that waterfall as it turned on that morning.  It turns on for a minute every hour or so during the summer. They usually time it to miss it.   Obviously, they didn't this time.  There were a few folks that were mad.  I honestly thought it felt awesome.

Then, we went to Gino's East.  We liked it the best!  Less emphasis on crust, and more on the toppings! We took Man vs Food's advice and tried the meaty legend. Glad we did!

Our final adventure was watching the Angels play the Cubs at Wrigley Field. This was our third Angel's game together.  The first two were in Los Angeles exactly 4 years before.

Chicago was a great adventure.  We laughed at the fact that we traveled by car, plane, taxi, subway, train, bus, and boat in just 2 days.  We really don't live that type of life here in Helena, and it was a nice change of pace.  We love exploring new places together and look forward to the days our kiddos can share in the experience with us!