September 23-27, 2023
Food? Good. Museums? Good. Weather? Supposed to be good. So off we went! Also, I haven’t visited since I was a kid and Jason had never been. The YOU! Exhibit at Museum of Science and Industry really stuck with me. I wanted Jason to see it.
>>Getting Around
CTA – public transit is booming in Chicago, so we paid $25 each for a 5 day unlimited pass for the trains and buses; there is a direct line from O’Hare airport to downtown; once we figured out how to tell each colored line apart and which direction was which we were good to go the rest of the trip… it only took 3 wrong trains with our luggage haha
>>Stay
Publishing House Bed & Breakfast (West Loop)- my cousin owns a commercial design company in Chicago, she recommended this place to us and it was perfect! 11 rooms with private bathrooms, lots of special touches and amenities, beautiful shared spaces that were very comfortable, a stocked butler’s pantry and fresh made breakfast to order each morning, plus plenty more I’m sure I am forgetting but we would return and recommend!
>>Eat
*Green Street Smoked Meats – we tried to get a late lunch at Cheval since it’s supposed to be the best burger in the area, but the wait there was well over an hour so we walked right into this bbq joint with a huge bar and felt at home; the brisket sandwich was delicious and Jason enjoyed his burger; don’t expect fries as a side option but for the speed and quality of the food it was worth the price tag… also we were that commute off the plane big hungry
Poke Poke – when you’re travel day tired and want something quick to go, Poke is always a great option; they were so friendly and the food was delicous
Giordano’s (Chicago style pizza)- because we all need that deep dish while in 2nd city; this place was highly rated on Google and a great spot to walk for lunch between visiting Shedd Aquarium & Field Museum; we got all the meats and did our best to share a whole small pizza, which would be ideal for 3 people to eat; this was also a good spot to watch football and drink a pitcher of draft beer while that pizza cooks!
Duck Duck Goat – the hype around The Girl & The Goat on the internet had me scouring menus and this one suited me better; the hot & sour soup was very different but delicious, the drinks were okay but nothing special, and the slap noodles were tasty but heavy on chili powder flavor for us; the setup of this place is awesome though and really transports you to street vendors in Asia (at least how I’d imagine it since we haven’t been there)
**Trivoli Tavern – if you take away anything from this list let it be to MAKE A RESERVATION HERE, ours was during happy hour so we shared rolls with truffle butter, I had a teeny espresso martini that was so good, house wine, and Jason devoured a meatball slider… then to the entrees after HH ended: homemade vodka rigatoni & truffle bucatini – yes you need BOTH they are both so delicious with such different flavors! I will dream about these pastas forever; then we took a stab at the Butterfinger Pie and as delicious as it was that is a 5-6 people dessert lol; I seriously almost made a reservation to go back here again the next day; the menu is very eclectic so I wasn’t expecting to love our food so much
Pippin’s – had a few draft beers and shared French Onion Bombs & Blackened Steak Bites from small plates, then shared the daily lunch special from the signature carvery (a toasted turkey sandwich on focaccia with rosemary mayo & homemade chips) and the deal on that delicious lunch speical probably can’t be beat in the city!
Press Room (Happy Hour)– this gorgeous spot is hidden away in the basement under the B&B we stayed in; we went for HH to share the charcuterie and enjoy a few glasses of wine; the vibe is there is super chill and classy
Viaggio – instead of eating pasta we already tried, I made a reservation here to try someone else’s pasta; the staff was extremely friendly and attentive, I’m glad we gave them business, their food was good, but our (shared/giant) chicken parmesan did not hold a candle to the pasta from Trivoli
Goose Island Brewing – Sofie is such a delicious draft beer that when I saw her “house” was in the West Loop area I knew we had to go, we built our own flight to try numerous delicious beers, Matilda was also a regular of theirs I had never had that is super tasty, we actually hung out with a Roussell and an Hebert at the bar there lol – small world
Northman Beer/Cider Garden – stopped in for a “snack” drink after our architecture river boat tour, the ciders were top notch & Jason enjoyed his beer, a chill outdoor spot on the River Walk that did have live acoustic music while we were there
Didn’t get to try but wanted to: food Aba, The Publican, Cheval, Goddess & The Baker; drink Lazy Bird, The Library, LondonHouse Rooftop Bar, On Tour Brewery, District Brew Yards
>>Play
WHAT WE DID THIS TRIP: **CityPass** got us in to the first 5 places on this list!
Architecture River Tour – this sounds like a lame thing old people would do, but it was really fun, they sell dranks on the boat, and the tour guides really make it entertaining
Shedd Aquarium – huge variety, nice layout, it was pretty busy on a Sunday morning, we spent 2-2.5 hours here
Field Museum – this building alone is a stunner, reminded me a lot of the museums in DC, home of Sue the T-Rex we learned about in school, nice variety of exhibits, spent 2-3 hours here
Museum of Science & Industry – this was a huge reason we took this trip and my memory did not let me down, we started with the Pompeii Exhibit (paid a little extra) then made our way to the 3rd story and worked our way down; this exhibits have a lot of hands-on interactive components and if you stop to try them all you can spend an entire day in here; had to eat lunch here because we were nowhere near done; I was getting overly tired by the time we got to the U-505 so we skipped the Fairy Castle, Farm Tech, Space Center, & Pioneer Zephyr; spent 6.5 hours here!
SkyDeck – city views from top of Willis/Sears Tower; elevator ride is only about a minute long which is really impressive; 360 views in every direction; express entry tickets were included with CityPass which was nice since we ended up there at sunset so it was a little busy; you can spend 90 seconds in one of the glass boxes that jut out from the side of the building
CloudGate aka The Bean – walked around Millenium Park at dusk looking for this and it was all gated off due to construction around it, we laughed about it
Crime & Mob Bus Tour – I had tentative plans for us to visit the Lincoln Park Zoo & Conservatory as well as a rooftop bar and speakeasy on our last full day, but the weather had other plans so we needed something more indoorsy; Jason found this tour and we booked it for the same day; it was interesting and you do make a couple stops to move around (in my case wake me up after a big lunch) and see Nitti’s Vault
* denotes my very favorites
Other Stuff Worth Mentioning – the West Loop area we stayed in was very walkable with lots of great shopping, restaurants, and bars + bowling, mini golf, arcade, rock climbing gym, & karaoke; Guinness was finally reopening their brewery there (since C-v*d) the day after we left
Breauxs Geaux 