loving through life: Our weekend in Chicago

I got a spring break vacation! It wasn't a cruise, or a trip to sunny San Diego, but I won't complain.

We were at dinner with the Days a few weeks ago when the idea came up. We planned it and 10 days later we were driving to Chicago!

Thursday // April 3rd

We left about an hour later than we had planned thanks to my car battery giving out. (I might have left a light on. oops. but, last time we got the oil changed they warned me that my battery was close to death) Ashton was a hero and we ran to Walmart and back and had the new battery in all within 45 minutes.

During a fill-up break somewhere in Wisconsin, we came across a pink, glasses-wearing elephant. That was the first photo shoot of our trip.

Friday // April 4th

I reserved a hotel room via a website and that landed us on the smoking floor. They didn't have much to offer us, except for a room with only one queen bed, and we didn't get in until like 1:00am so we took it and crashed.

We started Friday morning with a visit to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. It was a sobering experience, one I am glad we had.

After our museum experience, we ran back to the hotel to negotiate our room situation. They still didn't have anything to offer us and the manager wasn't coming to talk to us. Amber talked them into giving us free breakfast every morning and we just didn't spend a ton of time in the room.

When we were settled with our hotel plans, we went off to purchase our CTA passes. We used public transportation to get everywhere. It was convenient (not very fast), but allowed us to have the real Chicago experience. It took about an hour to get downtown.

Our first stop was the Shedd Aquarium. It was alright. I think I might have high expectations for aquariums, thanks to growing up along a coastline. (If you are ever in San Diego, visit the Birch Aquarium. It is quaint and small, but absolutely stunning) That being said, the Shedd Aquarium was only $8 for general admission and we did see some pretty neat things.

fish facin'.

colors of coral = magical

[As I am doing research now, I see that they have beluga whales on display! To
see those it will cost more, but come on, aren't beluga whales (they have been my favorite animal since I was a kid singing, "Baby beluga in the deep blue sea....") the cutest animals ever?! ]

Also, the aquarium is along the shore of Lake Michigan and is a beautiful place for a photo op.

i love the Chicago skyline.

Following the aquarium, we explored Chicago in search of Gino's East pizza - everyone raves about it AND now we understand why. That pizza was the best pizza I have ever had, though the pictures we took of it do not do it justice. Deep dish is most definitely my favorite kind of pizza.

Magnolia's Bakery has to-die-for banana pudding that I only thought existed in New York, but guess what! They are in Chicago too! I would have stopped there everyday if we could have, but we only made it once and I won't complain.

my face doesn't show how excited I was!

Saturday // April 5th

If you thought we did a lot on Friday, wait until you hear about our Saturday! Our ride into town was disrupted because of construction on the tracks. It wasn't fun, but we were figured it out and soon we were getting around Chicago like natives.

the sun was out, but don't let it fool you - it was cold. and it is most definitely called the windy city for a reason.

Our first stop on Saturday was Millennium Park to see the bean! It was probably my favorite part about Chicago.

Then, we walked in search for the John Hancock Tower because we heard it was better than paying the $20 to go to the top of the Willis (which I had done before). Things didn't work out, but we got to walk almost the entire length of the Magnificent Mile. After we were good and tired, we hopped onto public transportation and made our way to Wrigley Field. We were able to go to a Cubs game during opening week! I wish it had been warmer, but baseball means summer is around the corner.

We made it through the first 3 or 4 innings before the cold got to us. After we had our fill of baseball (and a Chicago dog), we made our way to the Lincoln Park Zoo. For being a free zoo, this place is pretty impressive! We hung out there until they kicked us out at closing.

caught the jaguar in action. he was mesmerizing. // kangaroos snoozin'.

we just had to get a picture anytime the skyline was in view. beautiful.

By the time we were done with the zoo, we were starving! We were searching for somewhere yummy to eat and, purely out of luck found Harry Carey's 7th Inning Stretch. Oh my yum. AND (sports lover bonus) they are next to the Chicago Sports Museum and with a meal at the restaurant, you have free access to the museum which was so neat and interactive! We loved the museum and the food.

giving harry some love.

i have a vertical reach of 8 feet! not bad. // testing our reaction time.

i think we could make some pretty great anchors. // favorite restaurant!

Of course, we had to find some dessert. We were set on gelato, but as we left the building our restaurant is in, I found another NYC favorite! CRUMBS! They didn't have a huge selection, but you better believe I bought a cupcake. I didn't get a chance to eat it until we were already home, but I am so glad I found it! We ended up traveling a bit, but found Heavenly Gelato & Ice Cream. I had Mexican Spicy Hot Chocolate with Raspberries. It was as good as it looked!

mexican spicy hot chocolate gelato.

Sunday // April 6th

Saturday wiped us out, but we weren't going to let that keep us from enjoying our last day in Chicago. So before we made the drive back to Minnesota, we stopped by Navy Pier.