A Deep Dish on Chicago

As we rolled into Chicago, I wasn't sure what to expect. Although cities have their fair share of fun and beauty, we tend to bias our trips towards outdoor spaces and quieter crowds. But as we made our way through the popular tourist spots in Chicago, we both began to understand why this delightful city earned the nickname "Paris on the Prairie"!

This visit was our first time getting a hotel and leaving Charlotte stationary for a bit. It was a little hard saying goodbye to our beautiful home, but there were a few reasons we opted for a stay in a hotel. The main reason being, my Mom was joining us for some exploring in Chicago!! I was excited to get to see her and even more excited to share some of our adventure with her. We still needed a place for Charlotte to safely wait for us, and luckily we found just the spot. There's a large lot on the south end of the city for buses & RVs - McCormick Place Lot B. Even better, this lot offers in-and-out privileges, so it's a great place to use as a home base and still get out and drive around the city. Plus, the rates are SUPER affordable, considering all the other general parking prices in the city.

Our first day in Chicago we picked my Mom up from O'Hare and headed to McCormick Place. Since it was a gorgeous day, we opted to walk from the lot to our hotel by the river. It was close to 4 miles, but most of it was spent on Chicago's beautiful Lakefront Trail overlooking Lake Michigan. The Lakefront Trail spans 18.5 miles of Chicago's lakefront and includes a wide variety of parks, beaches, and museums, as well as the lovely Navy Pier. We only caught a glimpse of what this trail has to offer, but we enjoyed the beautiful morning views on the lake as we walked into the city.

The last stretch of our walk took us off the lake and through Millennium Park, where the iconic Cloud Gate (aka The Bean) is located! I didn't realize this until we were leaving, but this park is not dog-friendly. That came as a surprise to find out, since many other parks and even some beaches throughout the city were very dog-friendly.

We finally arrived at our hotel, Royal Sonesta Downtown, and enjoyed flopping in our room with the delicious A/C. Oh, and the stunning riverfront views weren't too bad either! After a hot and tiring travel day, we all opted for a relaxing evening in the hotel. But we couldn't resist diving into the flavors of Chicago ASAP and got our first deep dish pizza from Giordano's. We were all born and raised in north New Jersey, so I was hesitant to give this pizza a fair shot, but it was love at first bite! It certainly was different from real pizza (sorry Chicago), but the pie crust outside did a wonderful job of complementing the stuffed cheesy inside. Craig had the best analogy to compare deep dish pizza to East Coast pizza. He said "a club sandwich and a hamburger are both sandwiches, but they're not the same" and I feel like that really fits the bill. I would say it's quite literally a cheese pie, but I'm also always a fan of more cheese!

The next morning we were off running with our touristing. Oh, also literally running, as my Mom and I enjoyed a run together along the Chicago Riverwalk! What a gorgeous place to run, especially earlier in the morning when it's quieter and the sun is glittering on the surprisingly beautiful Chicago River.

I had read that the top suggested to-do in Chicago was an architectural boat tour. I wrote this off pretty quickly, assuming that it wouldn't be pet friendly and therefore someone would need to be left behind with the pups. However, I stumbled upon some info that Shoreline Sightseeing allowed pets on board, and I checked with their ticket kiosk to confirm, and voila! Reese and Winston took their first boat tour!

The Shoreline Sightseeing Architectural Tour was such a wonderful way to start our trip. Not only did we learn a ton about the architecture of the surrounding buildings as we floated down the river, we also learned about the history of the city, and got some local tips from our tour guide Jim. My favorite thing he pointed out on several buildings was the contextual nature of neighboring buildings; the way certain balconies mirror the height of their neighbors or the way the curves from one building are complemented by the next. Jim also gave us a little lesson in Engineering 101 as he explained to us the 3 methods architects need to employ in the Windy City to help reduce the sway as the building rose higher into the sky. One way was to eliminate windows on certain floors, allowing a wind pass through to reduce force on the rest of the building. Another was to include giant tankards of water that, when jostled by the wind, sloshed the opposite direction and as a result, absorbed some of the shock. The third method involves "bundling" multiple separate structures so that they support one-another, like plywood. I loved learning these things right at the start of our trip so I could appreciate and notice it all throughout the week.

Jim also gave us a fun history of the city, beginning with The Great Chicago Fire of 1871, a tragedy that allowed Chicago to rebuild with a plan and gave it its nickname Second City. The rebuilding of Chicago was credited in large part to Daniel Burnham, who was a chief designer of the 1893 World's Fair and who developed a plan in 1909 for the future growth of Chicago. He had a vision for the future of Chicago, and parts of that plan are still being implemented to this day. We have Burnham and his ideas to thank for the beautiful waterfront access trails and the abundance of parks in his vision of "Paris on the Prairie".

As we wrapped up our tour, Jim gave us one more little nugget of local knowledge - his favorite deep dish pizza place, Lou Malnati's. I made sure to jot that one down for later in the week!

We decided to stroll over towards Millennium Park where we were all delighted to encounter a donut shop and our first experience with Midwestern kindness. We had just commented on spotting Stan's Donuts, when a fellow pedestrian jumped in and said that it was one of the hottest donut places in town, and that we absolutely had to check it out and order the Chocolate Lightning. Never one to turn down donuts or kindness, we made our way over the Stan's where we ordered way too many donuts and they were all delicious.

Craig and the pups were tired at this point, so I figured it was a great time for some mother-daughter bonding doing my Mom's favorite pastime - shopping! Fueled by donuts, we meandered down The Magnificent Mile, where my Mom enjoyed the high end stores and I enjoyed stumbling onto Garrett's Popcorn. I'll admit, it took me way too long to put together that I should probably buy Chicago mix popcorn from the original purveyors!

At this point, I was ready to settle in for some drinks by the river, so we strolled the Riverwalk until we found a nice spot for cold wine and beautiful views. We continued our way down the Riverwalk to Navy Pier, where we did some souvenir shopping. As we were strolling back into town, we came across a lovely little jazz show at Polk Brothers Park. What a lovely way to end the night, relaxing by the Waterfront to beautiful music.

The next day, Craig and I left the boys with their grandma to be spoiled with too much cheese while we did another tour of The Bean. We headed out early, which gave us a nice opportunity for some less crowded pictures. Afterwards, we headed to brunch and then settled in for a relaxing afternoon in the hotel.

That evening, Craig and I had tickets to a fun little event in Chicago, and I was grateful my Mom was there to make sure the boys didn't throw a hotel party in our absence!

After our respective fun evenings in and out, my Mom and I decided to ditch the boys and spend the morning at The Art Institute. Not only were we excited to play Ferris Bueller, we were also excited to spend the morning enjoying beautiful art. And we were lucky enough to get to see two incredible exhibits while we were there - The Obama Portraits and Bisa Butler's Portraits! It's always a delight to see famous works of art with your own eyes, and The Art Institute had plenty of that for us to enjoy. I particularly enjoyed seeing Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, it felt more immersive in person and I was better able to appreciate the small details. But even with all these famous works, my Mom and I were both completely blown away by the stunning quilt portraits done by Bisa Butler. We'd never heard of her works before, but needless to say, we're both new fans! Her incredible quilt portraits use no paint, instead she artfully blends fabric scraps together to create incredibly detailed and beautiful portraits, which she then quilts. In addition to the amazing use of fabric, she enhances and highlights details with her binding stitches, resulting in incredibly vibrant and stunning works of art. My Mom and I still can't stop talking about how glad we were to stumble upon this exhibit!

It was such a gorgeous day, we decided to meet up with an old family friend for drinks by the river. We met up with Tyrell and did a little bouncing around for drinks on the Riverwalk, first to City Winery and then to Tiny Tapp. There are so many delightful options for Riverwalk drinks, each with their own menus and scenery, I wish we had a chance to try them all! Tyrell is a recent transplant to the Chicago area and, like us, he's originally from New Jersey, so after our drinks he took us to Bongiorno's for pizza. He says it's the closest pizza to home, and we definitely enjoyed our quasi-NJ pizza dinner!!

We finished out the night with a stroll over to the Art on theMart display, a show of digital art projections on the side of theMart (formerly The Merchandise Mart). This was an incredible display of contemporary art, including The Obama Portraits currently on exhibit at The Art Institute. There were several pieces displayed throughout the 30 minute show, including moving pieces with corresponding music. Our Shoreline Sightseeing tour guide had pointed out to us the programmed laser display along the Chicago River that made the show possible. Jim explained how well calibrated these lights are, perfectly designed to not project any light into the windows of the Mart's facade! It was such a fun little way to experience some more art on our trip.

The next morning we prepared to say goodbye to Chicago, but my Mom and I just had to get in one more Chicago River run. It was nice getting to be together and not just on the phone, plus the Riverwalk was just genuinely a stunning place to be. I'd have to say, it was one of my favorite spots in Chicago.

We were able to get a later checkout, so Craig and I decided to do one of the tall building Chicago sightseeing options. Although the glass floors at Willis Tower are famous, we opted for 360 Chicago in the John Hancock Building. We got there pretty early, so we had no lines, but the queue for the elevator was gorgeously decorated with an abundance of information on the neighborhoods, sights, and history of Chicago. We got right in the elevator and headed up to the 94th floor, where we stepped out onto the observation floor and gasped at the incredible first views of Lake Michigan, the Chicago shoreline, and Navy Pier. It was so delightful to walk around the floor and see all the sights we had enjoyed from the ground, this time from above. Being thrillseekers, we decided to add on a ride on TILT, a slightly different way to hover over the Chicago city streets. You step into your window partition and hang on as the windows tilt out up to 30 degrees over The Magnificent Mile. This was a fun little add-on for only $8, but I definitely preferred the views straight ahead better. Next time, I'd spend that $8 enjoying a cocktail at Bar 94 overlooking the gorgeous city sites! Overall, I was SO glad we made it here, it was such a stunning way to see the city and the lake.

We were able to squeeze in one last deep dish pizza before we left, and we decided to listen to our tour guide Jim's suggestion and try Lou Malnati's. I wanted to try another spot to really get an idea of what deep dish pizza had to offer. We all agreed that while Lou Malnati's had better crust, many other factors won out in Giordano's pizza. All I know is that I'm now pretty hooked on deep dish!

While we were headed out of Chicago, we weren't quite done with Illinois. My Mom's flight was leaving early the next morning, and she decided she wanted a taste of bus life before she left. So we headed out to a Harvest Host for the night! It was a little cozy with three adults in here, but honestly we could all get around more easily than I would have thought. And now we know that the couch works in a pinch as a guest bed!

On our way out of the suburbs to the airport, we stopped at Starbucks for some morning fuel. The employees at the store in Wheaton were so excited to see our bus drive by and gave us a little Chicago parting gift. I just love all this Midwest kindness, it's so warm and welcoming! And with that, my Mom headed back east and we continued our way west.

I absolutely adored our time in Chicago and definitely would love to return! The waterfront sights were stunning, the pizza was delicious, the city was gorgeous, and we didn't even get to tap into the speakeasies! We really lucked out with our hotel, its location near all the big first-time tourist spots was perfect for us to easily walk everywhere. And I was particularly happy that it was so easy to enjoy my favorite part of the trip, the Chicago Riverwalk.

This Paris on the Prairie really did find its way into our hearts!