Weekend Getaway in Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois has a couple of unique perks, making it one of the most visited cities in the United States. Millions of people visit every year to admire the original architecture (steel skyscrapers were pioneered here), and to visit it’s numerous cultural institutions and historical sites.

But First, Breakfast

To start our morning off right, we grabbed some much needed breakfast at Little Goat Diner. This restaurant is owned by Stephanie Izard, winner of Top Chef’s fourth season, and it serves up top-notch comfort food with a twist. If you have a sweet tooth, (like me) I recommend starting off with an Ooey Gooey Cinnabun (they make them fresh every morning).

Navy Pier and a Boat Cruise

After venturing through the Navy Pier, we decided to get acquainted with the city of Chicago by taking an architectural river boat cruise along Chicago River.

The Shoreline Sightseeing Architectural Boat Cruise is a beautiful slow boat ride through Downtown Chicago, past the city’s most iconic buildings. The entire tour teaches you about history, politics, art, and yes architecture!

Chicago is flooded with tons of stunning architecture. While I don’t know much about architecture or design, I still found this tour really interesting as I got to see some incredible gothic, contemporary, art deco and mid-century modern architectural styles during the cruise.

Millennium Park and Cloud Gate

For those of you who don’t know Chicago (this was my first time visiting), there is a loop in Downtown Chicago and Millennium Park is located in this loop area. It is in the Northwestern section of Grant Park and, was originally intended to celebrate the second Millennium.

Millennium Park has free admission, and features the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Cloud Gate (“Bean"), the Crown Fountain, the Lurie Garden, and various other attractions.

Magnificent Mile  

Chicago’s Magnificent Mile is a 13 block district, and is known throughout the world as a shopper’s Mecca. The entire strip boasts dozens of unique shops, luxe fashion outlets, and landmarks, including the 100-story John Hancock Centre (which has the rooftop observation deck with fine dining and panoramic views!)

Riverwalk

Stretching along the South bank of the Chicago River from Wacker Drive to LaSalle Street, the Chicago Riverwalk is a great place to soak up watery views of the Chicago River. It’s finally open to the public as of 2017, and offers restaurants, kayak rentals and some awesome Instagram-worthy photo ops!

Shedd Aquarium

Shedd Aquarium is one of the largest aquariums in the world, and holds over 32,000 animals. The aquarium is home to 1500 species of fish, marine mammals, birds, snakes, amphibians, and insects. It’s also the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection in the world. Many of the animals in the aquarium come from rehabbers. The aquarium has taken in orphaned otters, and injured turtles. They even have an an entire program for rescue dogs, and of course, some of their largest and loudest inhabitants – the California sea lions were saved by Shedd.

Skyline View from Adler Planetarium Skyline Walk 

By the shores facing Northwest towards the skyline, is Adler Planetarium Skyline Walkway, where you can hang out and watch Chicago's city lights dance over Lake Michigan. 

Deep-Dish Pizza

When you come to visit Chicago, It’s likely you’ll have a long list of new things to try and do. I can guess that at least one item on that list is trying a slice of the city’s famous deep-dish pizza. And for good reason! There’s nothing quite like it.

For our first time visiting Chicago, we gave Lou Malnati’s a try. Little to our knowledge at the time, Lou Malnati, who named the pizzeria after himself, worked alongside his father Rudy Malnati, who is credited with the invention of deep-dish pizza at Uno’s.

Coffee Before we Go

Taking a stroll through the Fulton River district, located on the edge of Chicago’s downtown, we stumbled upon a hip West Loop coffeehouse from the renowned Japanese barista Hiroshi Sawada (2008 Latte Art World Champion).

The Sawada Coffee House serves Doughnut Vault delights in a funky, rustic space that has an industrial feel to it. I recommend trying their signature drink, the Military Latte!