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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
That is really fun that you got to meet your long time blog friend. I wonder if the places were less crowded since it was during the week and maybe not fall break in other locations?
ReplyDeleteMaybe so? Brian and I couldn't believe how calm and laid-back it was compared to NYC. It did get busier Friday, but it still wasn't overwhelming!
DeleteWhat a great day! I love that you and Emily were able to meet! That is really special and hard to explain, but I get it! I did the architectural boat tour last fall during the day, but those night pictures look spectactular. Great trip!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was SO special, and most definitely the highlight of my trip!
DeleteI remember Emily! I loved her blog. How awesome that you met up in person.
ReplyDeleteAw, I love that you used to read her blog, too!! I know a lot of people were sad when she stopped blogging. I'm grateful to have been able to keep in touch with her outside of blogging!
DeleteThat sounds like you had a fabulous trip. The boat ride does look amazing at night.
ReplyDelete