The Windy City

Chicago, my latest adventure. Ah, where to do I begin? Chicago was the city I’ve always dreamed of living in, that or San Francisco. The dream is not dead…one day. But for now, visiting keeps the dream alive. 

Even though I live in Oklahoma, it’s not hard to see that I’m a city girl. There are so many things that I love about this city. I love the cars & the horns. I love colliding with people, because it’s all part of the adventure. But what I really love is the feeling that you are a part of it all.

Now this wasn’t my first time in Chicago. I’ve been 6 other times. But, for some reason, this trip, I felt a different sort of appreciation.  The last time I visited was a little more than a year ago. It was warm and sunny. Perfect weather. This time, was the complete opposite. It was windy, freezing & raining the whole time. Surprisingly, I was not miserable walking every day in this weather, I guess I was too busy to notice.

“She is novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time.”

So let’s being with my adventure…

Thursday

My flight was right after work. I packed up my suitcase, threw it in the trunk and made my way to Will Rogers Airport. I was seriously cutting it close. I ended up being one of the last ones on the plane and got the horrible middle seat. You know the feeling…when your searching for the perfect seat you always sit in and then to your dismay, the flight is full and all your left with to pick from is the middle seat. UGH. And for an introvert like me, all you can do is cross your fingers and hope you don’t get stuck between two talkers. Well guess what, it wasn’t my lucky day. I had a gentleman on my right talking about phyics and a lady on my left showing me pictures of bricks on her phone. Yes, bricks. Don’t ask me to recall anything because I couldn’t tell you. I zoned completely out. The flight was not long though, thank goodness. An hour and a half went by and we finally touched down in Chicago. We hurried to baggage claim and picked up the one suitcase I brought and headed for the subway. Nothing, I mean nothing feels as good as your first step into the city. 

Friday 

Friday was our first full day out in the city. It was the perfect day. semi warm and sunny! We went to Wrigley field, The United Center, The Bean, Parsons Fish & Chicken, shopped down Michigan Ave and ate at Gio's East. By the end of the day, we ended walking about 13 miles. PHEW. 

Saturday 

It was the coldest day. I practically couldn't feel my feet the whole day (my fault since I didn't pack practical shoes) . Our first stop was to the Sky Deck in Willis Tower (aka Sears Tower). The wait was 3 hours long. So I bailed and was going to come back that evening when it wasn't as busy...terrible decision. I didn't want to wait and waste 3 hours since I was limited on time. It ended up raining half way through the day and by the time I wanted to go back there was a ton of fog. After that, we headed to Chinatown and ate some hot soup for lunch. We ventured to Solider Field, the Field Museum, The Adler Planetarium and my favorite, the Art Institute of Art. We ended the day eating at Giordano's Pizza. Pizza again!? YAAAS. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the most delicious ice cream I ever had at Gourmet Cone Ice Cream! If you go, you MUST get the"cookie monster" and "birthday cake" ice cream. I died. 

Sunday

Our flight was at 7 pm that night, so we thought we would get up and get moving so we can visit some places before we left. I ended up going back to the Skydeck since I had purchased my ticket prior just to see what it's like. Unfortunately it was way too fogy to see anything still. Maybe next time! I can't wait to go back and explore more! Until next time Chicago!