One Day in Chicago
After a four year hiatus, I finally made it back to my favourite city in the world...Chicago! Having been away for so long, I had forgotten just how much I love it, the architecture, the food and the people. It is a city that is constantly changing with new skyscrapers adding to its skyline every time I visit. On my most recent trip, I spent three days in the city and managed to see and try loads of new things whilst cramming in a few of the old favourites.
To start the day off I headed out of my hotel straight onto Michigan Avenue. This time I stayed at the Millenium Knickerbocker hotel located on East Walton Place. The hotel was pretty average but its location was great as it sat just one block from the John Hancock centre (recently renamed 875 North Michigan Avenue). After a morning stroll down the magnificent mile it was time to find somewhere for breakfast and so I headed to Eggy's Diner located on East Benton Place for some of its iconic breakfast potatoes alongside scrambled eggs and huge fluffy pancakes. After breakfast it was time to head into Millenium park. The park is quite long and there are several hidden things to see including the huge Clarence Buckingham Memorial fountain located at the southern entrance to the park and the Lincoln statue that sits in the centre of the park. The main attraction in this part of the city however is the Bean or the Cloud Gate as it is actually named. The Cloud Gate is a huge bean shaped mirror coated sculpture that sits on a mezzanine on the second level of the park. It is an incredible piece of art that reflects some of the city's skyscrapers as well as creating an optical illusion as you walk underneath it.
After taking some instagram shots it was time to head for some lunch at Portillos. Portillos is located on East Ohio Street and is the home of the classic Chicago style hot dog and cake shake. After a quick lunch stop I headed back down the magnificent mile toward the river to take in some of the beautiful architecture around DuSable Bridge.
It was then time to head toward Navy Pier to watch the sunset. Navy Pier is just a short walk from the magnificent mile and drops below the main city which means the views of the city skyline are fantastic. There is plenty to do on Navy Pier and plenty of places to grab a bite to eat. During the summer months they have firework displays several times a week and will often have pop-ups situated toward the front entrance of the pier. Whilst I was there they had a pop-up Pixar Putt which was an 18 hole crazy golf course that was themed around each of the Pixar movies including: Finding Nemo, Inside Out, Soul and Up. This particular attraction needed to be pre-booked but made for a very cute date night!
After playing crazy golf for an hour it was time to make the most of golden hour and take some pictures on Navy Pier. After the sun had completely set it was time to grab some dinner and what better than deep dish pizza to polish off the perfect Chicago day. On this occasion I headed to Lou Malnotis, located near the DuSable Bridge bridge and tucked into a deep dish cheese pizza and an ice cold glass of root beer. A perfect day in the Windy City!
