Chicago! My Kind of Town🤗

Unless this is your 1st time reading my blog you know it’s about my travels. Due to Covid that hasn’t happened in what feels like a very long time, but moving back after almost 30 years to the Chicago area makes me feel like I’m on vacation exploring a new and awesome place. And when one of your best friends and fellow travel companions comes to visit for 5 days it gives you a great motivation to plan a super fun action packed agenda - so here is a recap of most of the things we did, saw and ate. Since Cheryl and I have travelled a number of times together I knew she and I love almost all the same things. We have mirror image energy levels which is so important when picking a travel companion.

My plan was to spend two days in the city, so we took the L (subway) down early the first full day she was here to go to the Chicago Art Institute during the early entry member hours from 10AM to 11AM to get right into the special Monet in Chicago exhibit that I had seen once but knew Cheryl would enjoy. If you haven’t seen it you’re almost too late as it closes Monday June 14th, but the Art Institute is always a great thing to see if you’re in Chicago.

The Monet exhibit was fantastic and there is a new permanent installation of a gorgeous stained glass window called The Hartwell Memorial Window worth seeing, and in just a few days the Obama Portraits will be on display for 8 weeks. Always something great to see.

We picked up sandwiches and took them over to Buckingham Fountain and had a picnic while watching one of the largest fountains in the world built in 1927 to honor Clarence Buckingham by his sister entertain us with a beautiful water show that goes for 20 minutes every hour on the hour.

If the wind is blowing off the lake and it’s a hot day the spray will even cool you off a bit. The fountain was just turned on again after being closed for over a year due to Covid. One of the prettiest places to be in Chicago in my opinion.

A visit to Chicago isn’t complete without a photo op at The Bean. The actual name is Cloud Gate and was created by the Indian-born British artist Sir Anish Kapoor. It is prominently displayed in Millennium Park very close to the spectacular Pritzker Pavilion designed by Frank Gehry.

Due to Covid you still can’t get as close as before, but with Chicago reopening yesterday officially that may have changed.

Pritzker Pavilion where the symphony plays during the summer and various other entertainment opportunities.

It’s always fun to walk up or down Michigan Avenue and check out the city views and Chicago River. Browse in the stores, people watch and get a hot or cold drink at the largest Starbucks in the country. We did them all.

On our second trip into the city we were further north around Lincoln Park. We had a great brunch which I’ll cover when I get to food, and intended to go to the Lincoln Park Zoo but instead decided to just enjoy the park and walk down the lake since it was a beautiful day. Next time we’ll visit the zoo.

The Nature Boardwalk which surrounds a lot of the Lincoln Park Lagoon. So pretty with the skyline in the background.

We spent the better part of another day at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois which was established in 1922 by Joy Sterling Morton, the founder of Morton Salt. I’m a bit ashamed to admit I had never been there, but I know it won’t be my last visit as it’s incredible if you like nature. The place is enormous - over 1700 acres so there’s no way we could see it all. There is a special exhibit there now called Human +Nature from the artist Daniel Popper that is wonderful. It just opened and will be there for a year so put it on your list. They have a lovely cafe with all kinds of great fresh sandwiches, salads etc., so convenient to pick up a selection and take it out for a picnic while you enjoy the beautiful trails and meadows.

Top picture is a cool maze you really can get lost in. Bottom left you can get a sense of the size of the scuptures when you compare Cheryl to the one called Heartwood. They were all huge and amazing.

Cheryl was my first customer (victim) on my Oak Park Walking Tour and she was a trouper. Even though it was quite warm she hung in there for the entire duration and seemed to enjoy it. Or she’s a great actress or was afraid I would not make her coffee in the morning if she complained. Either way I enjoyed showing her all the things I love about Oak Park and the amazing architectural museum all around me.

Now for the food! One of the many things great about this area is the wide assortment of delicious and diverse food choices available - from the latest and greatest to the traditional old ethnic selections - and I enjoy it all. So here is some of the great food we ate that I remembered to take pictures of to share with you all. You’re going to want a snack after this I’m pretty sure!

Hampton Social in the city on Grand. Famous for the Rosé wine and their slogan of Rosé All Day! We had a lovely table on the 2nd level which is outside and in addition to trying the Rosé of the day shared a delicious vegetable salad and fun pizza.

Brunch at the Blue Door Farm Stand in Lincoln Park on Halsted. Felt like being in France and the food was wonderful. Plus look at those sweet blue and white plates💙💙💙A Bloody Mary for Cheryl and Sangria for me. Two amazing egg dishes but I don’t think you can make a bad choice.

For some old school deliciousness you can’t beat Freddy’s Pizza and Grocery in Cicero. So many great choices to either eat outside or bring home. We bought the chicken Marsala, gnocchi with vodka sauce and caprese salad and brought it home to share. Tons of food, all made from scratch and very reasonable. They will probably know me by name soon.

Al’s Grill - a local staple and amazing food. Yes this was just for Cheryl and I. Our eggs came with pancakes AND delicious raisin toast. Needless to say we skipped lunch. And worth mentioning the staff was super friendly and they have a great outside setup too.

Our last night we went to a current favorite of mine - Hemingway’s Bistro. So cute and quaint it makes me feel like I’m in Paris. And the food is excellent. We both had one of the specials which was walleye with fingerling potatoes and asparagus. Also an excellent wine list even by the glass. And just doors away from Hemingway’s birthplace which is now a museum.

Thanks for visiting Cheryl and exploring Chicago with me. I can’t wait for you to return! And hopefully this might give someone reading a few ideas of fun things to see, do and eat when visiting the area😊