Hey,
y’all! Today I’m finishing up recapping
our trip to Chicago by sharing our last two days, one of which was mostly a
travel day.
Friday,
October 11
Friday morning,
we set our alarms for 7 AM CST which is 8 AM our time. We stayed up so late the night before that we
wanted to sleep in again. Rather than
enjoying the free breakfast in the hotel on Friday, we decided to get ready and
walk to Firecakes Donuts because y’all know we always have to find a good local
donut place when we travel! Several
different people had recommended Firecakes, and it wasn’t a long walk from our
hotel, so it was perfect. And on our
walk, Brian found a $20 bill on the ground!!!!
We stood around for a while trying to figure out if it belonged to
anyone in the area, but nobody seemed to be missing anything, so we ended up
keeping it. I feel really bad for the
person who lost it, though. That’s a lot
of money to lose on the sidewalk!
The donut shop
had many different flavor options, so it was hard to choose, but ultimately, I
chose an apple cider and a glazed, Brian chose a cinnamon roll and a glazed,
Jacob chose a cinnamon roll and a sprinkled, and Olivia chose a pink frosted
and a chocolate frosted. Normally, I
would go for a cinnamon roll, but the glaze looked more like a frosting on
theirs, and it didn’t look appealing. I
ended up trying a bit of Brian’s, and I was glad I didn’t go that route because
the topping was, indeed, frosting, and it was a cream cheese frosting which was
really odd on a cinnamon roll. The rest
of the donuts were DELICIOUS, though, and I think that was the best apple cider
donut I’ve ever had. I wish I’d gotten
two!
Since there is
no seating inside Firecakes, we carried the donuts back to our hotel room as it
was too cold to sit outside and eat. While
we ate, Olivia and I discussed which song we would keep from every single
Taylor Swift album if we could only keep one.
That is really hard to do, y’all!
Haha.
After we were
all done with breakfast, we took an Uber over to Old St. Patrick’s Church to
check it out, but strangely it was all locked up and we couldn’t get in. I guess they don’t let people tour it. I did love their all-inclusive sign hanging
on the outside of the building, though. <3
After we
weren’t able to get into St. Patrick’s, Brian took a look at the map, and we
decided to walk to a couple of famous sculptures in town since they weren’t
far. On the way, we happened to walk
right by Union Station, so we decided to go check it out. Again, it was nothing like Grand Central
Terminal when it comes to tourists.
There were no tourists in there… everyone there appeared to just be
waiting for the actual trains.
Haha.
After that, we
made our way to the Flamingo statue by Alexander Calders. It’s one of the iconic statues in Chicago,
but again, there was nobody else around there, so we were able to get lots of
good pictures without any crowds around.
Next up, we
walked to the Picasso statue. This
statue was actually made by Picasso, but it’s unnamed, so everyone just calls
it “The Picasso Statue.” Haha. There were several people taking pictures
there, so we did have to wait for a couple of minutes before we could get our
picture with it.
Right as we
were there, my friend, Emily, texted me to say that she and her husband were
all checked into their hotel, and they were ready to meet us. If you’re an avid blog reader, or if you’ve
been following my blog for any amount of time, then you probably already know
this, but I’ll tell it again for those who don’t know.
My friend,
Emily, and I met via blogging nearly ten years ago. I started blogging in early 2015, and she had
started blogging sometime shortly before I did.
Somehow, we found each other’s blogs and started following one another
and reading and commenting daily.
Eventually, we got each other’s phone numbers and started texting, and
we’ve been texting nearly every day for, probably, nine years now. I consider her to be one of my very best
friends, even though we’d never met in person, but on our Chicago trip, we
FINALLY got to meet in person for the first time and it was everything.
Emily and her
husband live outside of the Chicago area, so we planned months in advance so
they could take Friday off to spend the day with us.
Once we knew
they were ready, we took an Uber back to our hotel to dump our sweaters and
change our shoes (because it was hot on Friday!) and then we walked to DuSable
Bridge that goes over the river since they were waiting for us there.
When we
arrived, Emily and I hugged forever and I teared up, and it was just the most
joyful thing to finally see her in person.
Her husband was so kind and nice, and we had THE BEST DAY with
them. It was like we’d known each other forever
and were just meeting up again, rather than for the first time.
After our hugs
and tears and excitement, we decided to walk to The Bean (Cloud Gate). We got lots of good pictures together, and
that was so fun! Pictures to cherish
forever!
Once we were
done there, we walked to Crown Fountain and watched it for a few minutes. They project images of peoples’ faces on the
big screens on either end, and then eventually, the people open their mouths,
and the fountain starts shooting out of their mouths. The kids thought it was so cool (and a little
gross). Haha.
After we were
done there, we walked through Millennium Park for a bit. They have some gardens and various other
things to see. It was pretty hot Friday,
though, (81, I think?) so it was quite warm walking in the sun.
By that point,
we were all getting hungry, and Jacob was thirsty and getting really tired, so
we made the walk to Lou Malnati’s for lunch.
Lou Malnati’s is Emily’s favorite Chicago-style pizza place, so she’s
been telling me about it for years, and we were excited to try it.
When we arrived
at the location nearest the river, we were told it would be about an hour and a
half wait – eek! – but the hostess told us if we were willing to walk a few
blocks over and a few blocks down, there was another location that would likely
be able to seat us immediately.
I called first
just to be 100% certain that there was no wait, and sure enough, they said they
could seat us right away. So, we made
the walk over and the kids were so relieved to have a break because we’d already
walked miles that day and it was only lunchtime. Wait until you see my picture of how many
steps I took that day at the end of this post!
Lunch was
delicious – it was every bit as good as Emily has always described – but man,
was it filling! We got an appetizer of
garlic cheesy bread, too, so we were all stuffed by the time we finished. We ended up lingering for a while, so we were
able to chat with Emily and Jess, and it was just the best thing to get to talk
face-to-face with them!
We also got a text from my MIL to let us know that Maui was doing great, and they had made her a ramp to get up and down the stairs easier. They spoil her so much! Haha.
After lunch,
our plan was to do an architectural boat tour with them, but unfortunately,
they were all sold out until nighttime.
Emily and Jess were also in town to celebrate their wedding anniversary
and they’d booked a reservation for dinner for the two of them, so they weren’t
able to do a night tour. Since our
family didn’t want to miss out, we went ahead and booked our tour for 8:15 PM
(I think??) and then we had to figure out what else to do with Emily and Jess
since we weren’t able to do the boat tour.
The kids had
spied a Build a Bear Workshop, so we headed in there first, and Olivia bought
some Chicago PJs for Sheepie, and then we stopped by the angel wings right
outside the store to take pictures.
After that, we
decided to go for a walk on the river walk and it was just the best. I couldn’t believe how amazing their river
walk was! They even had several popup
fall spots, so of course, my little girlfriend wanted to take some
pictures.
There was also
a really unique playground that we stopped at to let the kids climb on for a
bit, as well as an old submarine façade that they wanted to check out.
All too soon, 5
o’clock rolled around, and it was time to part with Emily and Jess as they had
dinner reservations, and we had to find some dinner before our boat tour. It was so hard saying goodbye not knowing how
long it’ll be until we see each other in person again, but we are already discussing
potential plans to meet again in the future.
After we said
our goodbyes and parted ways, our family of four headed back to our hotel,
stopping by a CVS on the way to grab some waters. The kids were exhausted and hungry by then,
so we let them grab some candy while we were there, too, and then we headed
back to the hotel for happy hour that was just starting. B and I each grabbed a cocktail, and we sat
down in the lobby and enjoyed our drinks while the kids ate their candy.
We had a few
minutes to rest in our room after that, and then we all changed back into our
sweaters and tennis shoes since the temps were starting to drop. We weren’t sure exactly where to eat for
dinner, but we’d passed by a place called Crushed by Giants Brewing Company
earlier, so we decided to try it.
None of us were
super hungry after our big, late lunch, so Brian and I split a smashburger and
fries, and we each tried one of their IPAs (it was good!). The kids split a mac and cheese appetizer,
and it ended up being the perfect amount of food for everyone.
Once we were
done there, we walked to Michigan Avenue again so I could search for a souvenir
photo frame for our collection, and then we ended up going inside a mall while
we were browsing. They had a cute little
fall setup at the front entrance, so Olivia and I had to grab a picture.
We took one
last bathroom break while we were there, and then we headed to the boats! We did a Wendell Boat Tour, and it was
fantastic. The guide was super
informative and really funny, and it was a great time. Our tour ended up being at night, and y’all,
it was just stunning. I can’t even
imagine doing it any other way looking back!
The lights in the buildings against the sky and the river were just a
sight to see!!
The tour lasted
about 45 minutes, and the culmination was when they took us all the way out
into Lake Michigan and turned us around so we could see the entire Chicago
skyline all lit up at night, and it was just perfection. If you ever go to Chicago, make sure you add
that to your list!! It was the perfect
ending to our trip!
After our tour,
we walked back to our hotel, and we got in the bed super late yet again, around
11:30 PM our time, so we were all out cold as soon as our heads hit the
pillows. Look at all those steps! That may be my all-time record for one day!
Saturday,
October 12
Saturday morning,
we slept in until 8 AM our time, 7 AM CST, we got ready, and we had breakfast
at the hotel again. Then, we headed back
up to our room to pack since we were flying home later in the day.
Since our
flight wasn’t until mid-afternoon, we had a little bit of time to explore some
more, so we walked to Michigan Avenue again.
Unfortunately, everything opens really late there, so nothing was open
at 9 AM CST, and it was reeeeally cold and windy, so we ended up walking
back to the hotel. But not before seeing
hundreds of marathon runners! They were
all out training since the Chicago Marathon was the next day (which we didn’t even
know about until we got there).
Back in the
hotel room, Brian and I watched ESPN College GameDay for about an hour, and
then it was time to head to the airport.
We grabbed an Uber at 11 AM CST and made the drive there. Traffic was a bit worse than it was when we
came in, probably because it was a Saturday and there was also a marathon the
next day, so it took a bit longer to get there.
We arrived with
plenty of time to grab lunch in the airport – the kids had McDonald’s and Brian
and I ordered a pizza (for him) and a panini (for me) from Goose Island. After we ate, we made our way to the gate,
and I also bought a last-minute souvenir for myself – a Chicago sweatshirt.
Our flight was
on time, and it was smooth the whole way.
The kids played games the whole way back, and we landed right on time at
5:30 PM EST.
Unfortunately,
the Atlanta airport is being majorly renovated, so they had moved the station
for the Park and Ride (the buses you take to get back to your car in their
massive parking lot that we’d parked in), and we couldn’t figure out where to
go as there was ZERO signage. We ended
up asking at least five or six airport employees where to go, and every single
one of them told us to go to a different place.
If you’ve never been to the Atlanta airport it is MASSIVE, so it was
incredibly frustrating. And Brian has
traveled in and out of that airport a hundred times over the years with all of
his business travel, so even he was getting frustrated because we’ve never had
an issue navigating the airport before.
We finally
found it, and it was in a completely different place than it was in back in
2022 when we’d flown with the kids to NYC, but it still wasn’t back in its
original spot where it was for years.
When we got
there, the whole situation was a cluster and there was a long line of people
waiting with some lady organizing us into groups. We had to wait foreverrrr to get on a bus to
get back to our car (and you can’t just walk to the parking lot because it’s
miles away and you have to travel on the highway), so by the time we got to our
car, an hour had passed since we had deboarded the plane. Sigh.
We finally made
it home around 8 PM and we were all exhausted, but it was just the best trip,
and meeting Emily was the icing on the cake!
And that wraps
up my recaps! If you missed any of the
other posts, you can see them here, here, and here.
Happy
Wednesday, y’all!
