Chicago – The Windy City | Personal

The beautiful windy city of Chicago! Wow, Sara and I can’t believe that we are already back in the office after a WONDERFUL trip to Chicago!! It has been such a long time coming for a family vacation that we couldn’t believe we were able to plan this!

I, Sara, am stoked to write all about what we did, where we went, and what we recommend to you for when you go to Chicago next!!! Our trip was from Thursday, August 20th, to Monday, August 24th with a packed weekend full of fun things!

Each day was jammed packed full of different sites for us to go see. Well, why did we go to Chicago? Good thought! We went for a few reasons: one, who doesn’t want to travel to an amazing city?! Two, Jake had never met a lot of my family since we have gotten married and this was the prefect chance! Plus, he LOVES food so it only makes sense. Third, we wanted to see Michelle’s sister, Ida, who just survived cancer!

We started off by flying into Midway, IL on Southwest! When we arrived we used their rental car, which was fantastic! We spent the rest of the day exploring downtown. Of course the first thing we did was stop at the first Portillo’s in site! We went to the Millennium Park which holds the Cloud Gate (aka. The Bean), Buckingham Fountain, The Lurie Garden, and the Jazz Band playing in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion! We even walked down by Lake Michigan towards the planetarium, taking in the beauty of the lake. The water was so clear! You could see all of the sail boats gliding across the water so effortlessly. It looked like a picture perfect moment! At the end of the day we went to enjoy a thin crust pizza at Giordano’s!

Day two we spent in another part of downtown Chicago, Navy Pier! Again, the water was stunningly clear and the weather was gorgeous!! Navy Pier has tons of attractions and little shops you can go into. Stores that are lined with fudge, all varieties of candy, caramel corn, and some really adorable souvenirs! That is just the inside!! The outside has all sorts of different rides, boat tours that you could take, and a BEAUTIFUL Ferris wheel I have always wanted to ride! Which Mom and I did do! It was about an 8 minute ride, but the view was breathtaking. You couldn’t have asked for more! After trying, but not making it, on the Skydeck in Willis Tour we heading back to get ready with a lovely dinner out with old friends of Michelle’s!

This part of vacation brought us to tears…in a GOOD way! For dinner we went to Sabatino’s, a GORGEOUS Italian restaurant with an outdoor patio. The only way to describe this was it was like a scene from a movie. Our food came out in a way that we ate so much, but it didn’t feel like a lot! The Gnnochi…..was just amazing. As Italians, we love our food a certain way especially for making Gnnochi at home, but these were SO good. This is the best part, the owner of the restaurant (Angelo) remembers working with my grandfather, Ray, when he owned his own meat company in Chicago! That was probably over 30 years ago! Michelle had tears in her eyes and the night couldn’t have felt more like home.

Saturday started off by eating at this breakfast nook which was created by Maggianos’, The Corner Bakery. With coffee in hand, we went to explore through the Shedd Aquarium! I haven’t been there since I was little and it has changed so much! Trust me, you think you might wanna miss out because it has a lot of fish, don’t! Go see all the amazing animals they have, from the beautiful to the interesting! When we left the Shedd, we went to spend the rest of the night with my relatives who I haven’t seen in 5 years! Great food surrounded by even better company!

On Sunday, we spent FIVE hours looking around The Musuem of Science and Industry! Even at the end of five hours we still didn’t get to see everything. It was HUGE, but all so amazing to see. They had everything from old time trains, to how tornado’s are created, to everything that you can think of! My favorite part was going into each section and getting a mold-a-rama made! All a mold-a-rama is, is a machine that presses hot wax into a mold and instantly cools it to create a waxed figure! They had a Submarine, a Train, an Airplane, and a Spaceship. So cute!! We ended the last evening with a quiet dinner with a gorgeous lakeside view at Weber Grill.

When Monday came around, we packed up and headed home! It truly was a wonderful vacation. If you are ever in Chicago, go check these AMAZING places out!! You will never regret seeing this city!