"Hard to leave, harder to stay."
I feel that those words are the very best way to sum up my nine (count 'em-NINE) days in the Windy City. I left on Friday, December 8th and returned Sunday, December 17th. Nine days felt like blissful eternity while I was there, and then I walked through the door of my home, greeted my pup, hugged my child, and realized that I'd only been gone a minute or so.
Isn't it crazy how time passes and yet it doesn't??
So many people wanted to know why I was there and why I was gone for so long. I think a lot of people had their speculations because I wasn't saying much about it, but it was entertaining hearing the theories, I have to admit. I was there as a "companion" to my best friend, Lindsay, who had a minor procedure done on Friday, one week after our arrival in the city. Due to the nature of the procedure, she had to be there several days prior so that the hospital could monitor her for a short while every morning leading up to the day of the surgery. That's really all you need to know about that!
Aside from her appointment every morning, which I didn't have to attend, we had a full day ahead to do as we pleased, and we tried to fill the trip with as much sight-seeing, eating, and shopping as we could. Lindsay has visited Chicago probably two dozen times; her youngest brother is actually in college there and is a gymnast on the men's gymnastics team, so she and her family are familiar with the city as if it's their second home. For me, this was my first time--I was a total Chicago virgin (I've had two layovers at O'Hare, but I hardly feel that that count as "visiting Chicago").
Our plane left just before 8PM Friday night from Memphis, TN, and we were in Chicago just after 9. Our hotel was a cozy Hampton Inn right off Michigan Avenue, lovingly referred to as the "Magnificent Mile." I ended up walking this mile several times during our trip. There was so much to see!
We started bright and early Saturday morning--at 7AM. We Ubered to a pre-game party before making our way to Wrigleyville for TBOX (Twelve Bars of Christmas). It was the first bar crawl I've ever done and while the experience was fun, I'll be totally fine if I never do another. We were supposed to make it to twelve bars, but we actually only made it to three, plus a Starbucks and a pizza joint to get some food on our pretty much empty stomachs (not the best combination when mixed with alcohol).
The coolest part was seeing Wrigley Field, where the Chicago Cubs play. I'm not a baseball fan at all, but after the Cubs' World Series win last year, it was obviously pretty cool to see their home field and all of the Cubs memorabilia in the city. I feel like there's a love for the Cubs that's just slightly more passionate than the city's love for the Bears!
We returned to our hotel room by 4 that afternoon, and we both passed out and slept til after 7. It was a very much-needed nap and then food was a must! We ate at Grand Lux Café, right on Magnificent Mile. The view was amazing!
On Sunday, we ventured over to Millenium Park to see the BEAN. I have always seen people's pictures in front of this giant silver pinto bean (at least that's what I think it is), but of course I never thought I'd get my chance to see it too!
We trekked down Mag Mile to get there, and we walked right past Trump Tower. It is, in my opinion, the most beautiful building in the city. Every time I passed it, I couldn't stop staring at it. It stays lit up at night and is just a stunning structure to look at. One of our Uber drivers told me I would be astounded if I saw the one in Vegas. I don't see how it could possibly "trump" the one in Chicago though, but that could just be my Mississippi talking.
We made it a goal of working out every single day while we were in the city, and I'm proud to say we accomplished it! In addition to all the walking, we were each in the gym at least once every day of our trip! These made for lots of laughs and cute gym selfies... Because if you don't #gymselfie, did you even work out??
I think it's after Monday that different parts of the trip seemed to run together. Lindsay has friends in the city, so one day she spent most of the afternoon visiting people she knew and while I'm not antisocial at all, I decided to take a day to just hang out in the hotel. I brought my laptop, so I got some work done, signed up a couple of new customers, and watched Netflix. While there was a lot to see and we definitely did a lot of sight-seeing and running around, I was also grateful for some time to just be alone. If you're a mom, you totally get it!
I'm not staying true to my blogger platform if I don't throw in some photos of the food we ate while in the Windy City! I finally got to indulge in real Chicago-style pizza in a hole-in-the-wall pizzeria off Michigan Avenue.
I'm also really proud to say that I felt like I became a "regular" at Timothy O' Toole's Pub on North Fairbanks, about a three minute walk from our hotel. It was a cool place to meet residents of the city and get a drink when I wasn't quite ready for bed (I think I visited four or five times during our stay). Lindsay came with me one night, and we ended up ordering dessert--the chocolate climax. It only took about two minutes for us to wonder why we thought dessert was a great idea after going to town on their California fries.
Saturday was our last full day, so we walked about a mile to Navy Pier; next to the Bean, it was the second most exciting thing I wanted to do, though I'd had a number of locals tell me that I wouldn't be too impressed this time of year. So this is me admitting that
yes, I'm glad I saw Navy Pier, but
no, I wasn't super impressed. It was really cool seeing the Ferris Wheel and the boats coming in, but aside from that, there wasn't very much to it.
I absolutely loved every minute of our trip; it was more fun than I'd had in a while! But I was missing this little guy so much while I was gone. When our plane landed in Memphis, I sprinted through the airport to meet him and his dad in baggage claim. I scooped up all fifty-five pounds of him and smothered him in kisses until he'd had enough of me and wanted to see the airplanes again.
I'm so thankful that we made this trip happen and that Lindsay allowed me to be her trusted companion for her procedure. Without saying too much about it, I'll just say that she did an amazing thing; someone is going to be very blessed because of her!
The fun we had and memories we made are just an added plus. Of course there are things I can't disclose on my blog.. We are, after all, KATE & LINDSAY 2.0 and hilarious stories seem to follow us everywhere... Luckily we are meeting for coffee tomorrow night to recount our entire trip and laugh about all the crazy things that happened that I can't talk about here :)
If you're from Chicago or frequent the city often, I apologize if these pictures don't do it justice--I would have to agree, they don't! But I'm so glad I finally got to visit and I can't wait to go back! Next time, I'm bringing my good camera and I'm shooting for two whole weeks in Windy City!!
For now, I'll settle for some coffee from my Chicago mug and snuggles with my little guy on this chilly morning!
