23.4.23

Summer Road Trip 2022 | Part 3: Chicago Day 1

We spent the next two days in the Windy City.  Chicago had been on my list for a long time.  I wasn't sure about this part of the trip.  It took a lot for me to convince my people that we should spend our vacation time in a big city.  They aren't exactly city people.  We've always gone to the beach, mountains and national parks, but I've never taken them to a big city (besides the ATL).  I loved Chicago, and I hope to go back one day.  They actually enjoyed the city, too.  It really was a super fun couple of days.  We walked and walked and walked and explored as much of the city as we possibly could while we were there.

Our first full day began with a walk from our hotel down Mag Mile to Millennium Park.  Chicago is a beautiful city with lots of eye candy to enjoy.

It's the coolest thing that the Chicago River runs through the city.

We spent awhile exploring Millennium Park.

The Cloud Gate sculpture, or the bean, is fascinating.  I'm not a big fan of selfies, but sometimes you just don't have a choice.

And, of course, it was a hoot watching the Crown Fountain and waiting on it to spit.

Then we walked some more.  There are so many beautiful buildings in Chicago, including the Public Library of the City of Chicago . . .

and The Art Institute of Chicago.  We didn't go inside because I knew my people wouldn't appreciate that, but it's on my list for the next trip.

Our next stop was the Willis Tower.  I've always known it as the Sears Tower.  It was the world's tallest building when it opened.  We went up to the Skydeck observation deck.

We left the tower and kept walking.  We saw more beautiful buildings, including the Chicago Board of Trade and the Central Standard Building.

We also saw the flamingo sculpture in the Federal Building plaza.

Our next stop was Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears.  I have never seen a football stadium like this one.

By this time, all the people were a bit tired of walking.  So we started making our way back towards the hotel.  We passed through museum row.  I would've absolutely loved to spend some time in these museums, but my people don't really appreciate a museum, and I knew I'd really be pushing my luck.  So, next time.  Museum row gives you a great spot to look out over the water front and Lake Michigan.  So we took our time walking back and really enjoyed the water front area.

By this time, everyone was starving.  We'd spent a lot of time before our trip researching where to eat.  When in Chicago, deep dish is a must.  We decided to go to Giordano's.

It was everything I thought it would be and more.  I mean, just look at that cheese pull!

It was so good.  So so good.  Last fall Seth found out that one of his vendors was from Chicago.  He mentioned how much we enjoyed the pizza at Giordano's.  Come Christmas, three deep dish pizzas from Giordano's showed up at our door.  We held on to them as long as we could and ate the last one a couple of weeks ago.  We've been known to take a road trip just to get the food.  We all agree we'd go back to Chicago just for the pizza!

After supper we took a slow walk back to the hotel.  The view never disappoints no matter where you are.

It was such a great day in the Windy City!  When it was all said and done, we walked 25,037 steps and nearly 10 miles!  We all slept really good that night and woke up the next morning ready to do it again.