Our 2024 Chicago Trip - Days 3 & 4

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!