I posted my itinerary before we left, so thought I%26#39;d follow up here with some thoughts. We got in about 2/3 of the stuff I had planned, which is about typical. Nothing ever goes according to plan, and I don%26#39;t think I%26#39;d want it to. Usually, I plan lots of details for my trips in advance just so I have lots of ideas and never come to a ';what the heck should we do now'; or ';where should we eat?'; moment.
Overall, I was very impressed with Chicago, at least what I saw of it. Lakeview in general and Wrigleyville in particular is a very cool neighborhood. Lots of bars, restaurants, shopping for the ladies, cool residential streets, etc. Everyone in our group loved it, and we had my in-laws and my 18 y.o. son, so there were a wide variety of ages. Chicago is the first big city I%26#39;ve visited that I thought I%26#39;d actually want to live in. I love how all of the bars and restaurants open their front windows to the street and many put tables on the sidewalk to take advantage of their great summer weather. I heard people bitching about the ';hot'; temps in the 80s, but it sure felt nice to us and the occasional rain showers cooled things down nicely throughout the day.
Here is my original abbreviated itinerary (I won%26#39;t bore you with my complete itinerary) with some thoughts:
Staying at Chicago Guest House in Wrigleyville
Sweet place. A renovated brownstone ';two flat';. First class, beautifully decorated, and plenty of room for 9 adults and a baby. The owner has three of these in the area. Highly recommended for Chicago trips with a group. Everyone agreed that this was way more fun than getting a few hotel rooms since we were right in the middle of a neighborhood, had a large kitchen for breakfast together and a backyard and front porch for hanging out together. Location was perfect, a couple blocks south of Wrigley, halfway between the madness of Clark Street and the more civilized but also fun Southport. I would stay here again in a heartbeat. www.chicagoguesthouse.com
Architecture and Lake Tour
Didn%26#39;t do it. Rained the afternoon we were going to go, so instead we drank all afternoon while watching the rain at a brewpub downtown, Rock Bottom brewery, which I understand is a chain. Pretty decent, if unspectacular, beer. We all liked their beer better than Goose Island, which surprised me. The two Goose Island beers we drank both had a very watery aftertaste. Kinda odd.
Dinner (Italian) at La Scarola
Great old school Italian place west of downtown (near United Center I believe). Loud, energetic, very fun vibe. Coolest bar that we found in Chicago was right next door. Richard%26#39;s Bar is a tiny dive bar with a couple of guys behind the bar who look like they used to hang out with Frank Sinatra and might have broken a kneecap or two back in the day. Great place to sit and drink and listen to Sinatra or Cash or some old school crooners on the juke box.
Two Cubs games - bleacher seats.
Cubs aren%26#39;t very good right now, but they won Sunday. Friday%26#39;s game was a lot of fun despite the loss, including when word spread through the bleachers that Barrett and Zambrano were trading punches in the dugout. Typical Cubs. Sunday%26#39;s win was great. I never knew they had a song they sing when the Cubs win. Kinda cheesy, but fun. Wrigley was not a disappointment. A true baseball shrine. My father in law had a huge grin on his face the whole time he was there, which was pretty cool to see because he grew up as a Cub fan listening on the radio as a sharecropper%26#39;s kid down in Arkansas. Neat to get to experience his first Wrigley trip with him.
Dinner at Gino%26#39;s East
Ate at the Superior St. location and it%26#39;s just not the same as the old spot with the dark, barely sanitary basement where I ate when I was in college 20 years ago. Pizza still very good, but I%26#39;m not sure I%26#39;d go again since I%26#39;d like to try some of the other deep dish places. Took well over an hour to get our pizza, which was just too long and this was on a Thursday, so I%26#39;d hate to see what it would be like on a weekend night.
An afternoon at North Avenue Beach if the weather permits
Got rain every afternoon, so never made it. Next time.
Dinner at Andalous Moroccan
Enjoyable dinner at this small place about 7-8 blocks south of Wrigley on Clark. Never had Moroccan before and almost everyone in the family enjoyed it (rather unadventurous in-laws not too impressed, but they%26#39;re steak and potatoes types). BYOB and cash only.
Lincoln Park Zoo with our niece
My wife went, but I didn%26#39;t. They had a good time and especially enjoyed seeing the gorillas up close.
Hancock Center
Great views. Everyone enjoyed this, even my wife who I had to coax onto the elevator when she suddenly surprised me with a never before evidenced fear of heights.
Dinner (ribs) at Twin Anchors
Didn%26#39;t make it. Disappointed about that, but we had fun anyway. Some family came to town to go to Sunday%26#39;s game with us, and stuck around for dinner. We didn%26#39;t feel like traveling to Twin Anchors, so we decided to walk over to the Southport area and find a casual place to eat. Ended up eating burgers/sandwhiches on the sidewalk patio at Southport Lanes. It was a very pleasant evening after a rain storm passed, and it was a wonderful end to the weekend. Some of us bowled a couple games and drank beer afterwards which was a blast since this is an old school bowling alley with pinboys setting your pins rather than automated lanes. Adds a whole new dimension to bowling which we all enjoyed. The interaction with the pinboys was cool and we all really enjoyed this bar and grill/pool hall/bowling alley in a cool old building (used to be a brothel).
Spa afternoon for the ladies
They really enjoyed Fuga Spa on Southport. Owned by an Italian and has a nice vibe, per my wife, with wine and small sandwiches provided with the treatments. Fairly pricey, but the ladies had a great afternoon.
Some live music, not sure where yet. Any suggestions? Must allow 18+ since my son is with us and I%26#39;m not ditching him.
Didn%26#39;t really get to see any. Since we had a little kid with us, and my son couldn%26#39;t get into most places because they carded, we ended up spending most evenings drinking Old Style on the front porch and watching the world go by or hung out in the very nice back yard. It was pretty darn fun, actually.
Lots of beer, brats, Chicago dogs and Italian Beefs
Didn%26#39;t have any brats, but had lots of beer, dogs and an italian Beef. As good as I remember them. Wish I could get them here in Midland. Also had an Italian Ice from a place on Southport - very refreshing on a warm humid day.
Transit system
We got the 5 day pass and it worked great. Very easy to understand system. Buses and L trains have audio announcements of upcoming stops which makes it easy for the novice. We rode the L in from O%26#39;hare Airport and took the L and buses many times without a problem. The only negative was that the 2 year old got a little impatient and cranky at times with all of the noise, so on a couple of occasions we took a cab.
I would be fine with making this an annual pilgrimage. You could trip to Chicago for a week each year for the next 20 years and not begin to run out of cool new places to eat, drink and explore. We didn%26#39;t even get to check out all of the art, the museums, and the many other neighborhoods in this great city. We%26#39;ll have to see a few of those things next time.
I%26#39;ll be happy to answer any questions.
Trip Report: May 31-June 4
Thank you Midlandcat for you report, you sound as if you had a pretty action packed week. We are making our first visit to Chicago next week and are looking forward to it. Two questions please, what are brats? What was the weather like overall during your stay?
Many thanks
Bootle 45
Trip Report: May 31-June 4
Pardon me for jumping in, I am about to head up to Chicago on the train myself....brats are either obnoxious kids you want to leave in a store somewhere (ha) or a hot-dog like treat best enjoyed with beer in a certain metropolis on Lake Michigan (the latter!. Enjoy your upcoming visit, it%26#39;s a GREAT city!!
Brats (pronounced like cats) can indeed be obnoxious little kids. However, I was referring to the German sausage bratwurst (pronounced like cots) which is very popular in the Midwestern United States served on a bun with sauerkraut and maybe some mustard. Must be followed by a cold beer or three. Very popular at sporting events. For me, the Chicago hot dogs were so good that I never made it past them to try the brats.
Weather was warm and humid, with high temps in the low to mid 80s and lows in the 60s. It rained at least once each day, but they were only brief passing showers that helped cool things down. Every place was air conditioned, so if it was a little toasty outside you could always duck into a store, restaurant or bar to cool down.
Hi Midland Cat
Thank you for the update. Once I read the previous email I realised it must have meant Bratwurst, it is not an expression I have heard over here! I will make a point of giving it a try! Thank you also for the weather update. I am really looking forward to my trip.
Bootle45,
Happy to help out and hope you enjoy your trip. I highly recommend that you get out of the downtown area at least a little and explore one or more of the city%26#39;s great neighborhoods. They really are a big part of what makes the city special. With a little advance planning, it wouldn%26#39;t be to tough to just hop on the L or a bus and jump off in Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Bucktown, Little Italy, etc. for some exploring. Lots of cool local restaurants and pubs, parks, shopping, etc. I can%26#39;t wait to go back to explore some more.
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