Chicago Girls Weekend
Sep 18th, 2012, 11:14 AM
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Chicago Girls Weekend
Spent 5 days in the windy city with three girlfriends. Wonderful place for a reunion!
Chicago airports are easy to navigate. Three of us came in at different times at O'Hare. I prebooked a shuttle for $31 into the downtown core - wound up being the only person so really a personalized tour with a knowledgeable and personable driver. One took a taxi (about $45) and the other the L-Train ($2.50). The train is very easy to use, clean and if you don't have a lot of luggage, easy to use.
We stayed the first night at the Best Western Grant Park. While it is close to everything, the staff fabulous, it is in my opinion old and out-dated. For $225/night, I have stayed in better. However, you are hard pressed to find anything less expensive close to Michigan Avenue. The remainder of our stay, we rented a three bedroom, three bathroom condo in Sky 55 at 1255 S Michigan Ave. Wow, what a view! The condo was well equipped and for four of us, a bargain at $355/night. The area called the South Loop, is mostly museums, parks, universities and more and more young professionals are starting to call it home. Lots of amenities close by - Trader Joes, restaurants, shops, etc. Take Roosevelt across the bridge and you will find all of the major shopping chains - Target, Home Depot, etc.
The food was terrific! Our most expensive meal was at the Chicago Firehouse on our first night. The steak was devine and I had fresh ahi tuna which was done to perfection. One friend had the Alaska King Crab which was in my opinion, overpriced and salty. However, we enjoyed it and had leftovers for the next day. We also ate earlier in the day at a newer Sushi restaurant just a block from the Best Western. Best miso soup I have ever eaten (and I don't like miso soup). The price was good - two soup, three plates and two saki and two wine - $80 including a tip. Not bad!
The worst meal we had was at Bennigans. Ask why we even bothered, we were in a hurry and all new the chain. Wrong decision. It took us two hours to have a light lunch. Apparently a new server delivered our meals to another table. Anyways, the manager did give us 75% off and our total meal cost just under $10.
More to come ...
Chicago airports are easy to navigate. Three of us came in at different times at O'Hare. I prebooked a shuttle for $31 into the downtown core - wound up being the only person so really a personalized tour with a knowledgeable and personable driver. One took a taxi (about $45) and the other the L-Train ($2.50). The train is very easy to use, clean and if you don't have a lot of luggage, easy to use.
We stayed the first night at the Best Western Grant Park. While it is close to everything, the staff fabulous, it is in my opinion old and out-dated. For $225/night, I have stayed in better. However, you are hard pressed to find anything less expensive close to Michigan Avenue. The remainder of our stay, we rented a three bedroom, three bathroom condo in Sky 55 at 1255 S Michigan Ave. Wow, what a view! The condo was well equipped and for four of us, a bargain at $355/night. The area called the South Loop, is mostly museums, parks, universities and more and more young professionals are starting to call it home. Lots of amenities close by - Trader Joes, restaurants, shops, etc. Take Roosevelt across the bridge and you will find all of the major shopping chains - Target, Home Depot, etc.
The food was terrific! Our most expensive meal was at the Chicago Firehouse on our first night. The steak was devine and I had fresh ahi tuna which was done to perfection. One friend had the Alaska King Crab which was in my opinion, overpriced and salty. However, we enjoyed it and had leftovers for the next day. We also ate earlier in the day at a newer Sushi restaurant just a block from the Best Western. Best miso soup I have ever eaten (and I don't like miso soup). The price was good - two soup, three plates and two saki and two wine - $80 including a tip. Not bad!
The worst meal we had was at Bennigans. Ask why we even bothered, we were in a hurry and all new the chain. Wrong decision. It took us two hours to have a light lunch. Apparently a new server delivered our meals to another table. Anyways, the manager did give us 75% off and our total meal cost just under $10.
More to come ...
Sep 18th, 2012, 01:01 PM
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Couple of other restaurants that caught our attention. The Italian Village - 85 years in business says something about it. Actually three different restaurants, it offers a real Italian experience. The food was delicious! Two of the gals had their spaghetti and meatballs which was a huge dish. I had the shrimp risotto - again a huge dish. We all took home take-out containers. Had the PEI mussels to start and all of our entrees came with choice of caesar salad or minestrone (both excellent). We had a couple of bottles of Chanti but they have a huge wine list. Service was outstanding!
For deep dish pizza, we chose Giordanos just off the Magnificant Mile. My taxi driver said the best deep dish pizza was outside of the downtown area, but we were hungry after a few hours of shopping. Our waitress was great and we started with deep fried calamari - to our surprise it also contained lemon slices, fennel, green beans and jalapenos.
So much to do in this city as well. We will need to return just to visit the Museums and the Aquarium. The choices are endless. We chose to walk the lakefront the first day, stopping for drinks at an outside Chinese restaurant. That evening we took the Elegant Lake Dinner Cruise. All dressed up, we experience a great dinner, champagne, and music - a differnt on on each deck.
More to come
For deep dish pizza, we chose Giordanos just off the Magnificant Mile. My taxi driver said the best deep dish pizza was outside of the downtown area, but we were hungry after a few hours of shopping. Our waitress was great and we started with deep fried calamari - to our surprise it also contained lemon slices, fennel, green beans and jalapenos.
So much to do in this city as well. We will need to return just to visit the Museums and the Aquarium. The choices are endless. We chose to walk the lakefront the first day, stopping for drinks at an outside Chinese restaurant. That evening we took the Elegant Lake Dinner Cruise. All dressed up, we experience a great dinner, champagne, and music - a differnt on on each deck.
More to come
Sep 21st, 2012, 07:38 AM
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Next time you should try Gibson's on Rush Street for steaks. Loud but fun experience, best steaks in the city.
For a true Chicago lunch experience do Al's #1 Italian Beef sandwich on West Taylor St.
Then try going out of the downtown area and try visiting the ethnic neighborhoods for some different but very good small restaurants. Mexican, Polish, German, etc.
For pizza try to find a local neighborhood places, much better than the "known" places downtown.
For a true Chicago lunch experience do Al's #1 Italian Beef sandwich on West Taylor St.
Then try going out of the downtown area and try visiting the ethnic neighborhoods for some different but very good small restaurants. Mexican, Polish, German, etc.
For pizza try to find a local neighborhood places, much better than the "known" places downtown.
Sep 22nd, 2012, 03:18 AM
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Our trip also included the Wendella Architectural Tour which we thoroughly enjoyed. For $25, it was a great way to learn about Chicago. We certainly would not have the appreciation for the buildings if we hadn't taken the 75 minute tour.
Couple of breakfast spots we visited. Yolks on Michigan - busy weekend brunch spot. Eggs benny was delicious but we could have split an order between two of us. Served with homefries and a large order of fruit on the plate. Breakfast was around $60 with a tip. The other spot we visited was the Bongo Room. Our last morning there, we really just wanted some poached eggs. In true US style, our plate came with two eggs, a large amount of homefries (which were very delicious and not deep fried) and choice of toast (whole grain was very good). For two of us it was $13 plus tip. More food than we could eat.
Since our condo had one of the most magnificant views from the 33rd floor, we opted not to visit the Sears Tower or Hancock Building. We simply shook our heads as we watched people from our boat tour step out onto the see-through decks off of the Sears Tower.
Being from Canada, the best thing we loved was the price of wines and the variety available! Here in Nova Scotia, the least expensive drinkable wine is around $13. A typical $19 bottle here costs a fraction of that in the US.
While shopping in the Magnificant Mile we also stopped at Chicago Marriott Downtown for a drink. There must have been a convention happening as it was very busy. Wonderful bartenders, great atmosphere and if the lobby was any indication, I would certainly book a hotel room there.
All in all I give Chicago a big 10! Congrats to its mayor and citizens for making us feel welcome in such a large city. The combination of high rises and green spaces should be duplicated in other larger centres. Chicago has a laid back feeling and we are looking forward to returning very soon!
Couple of breakfast spots we visited. Yolks on Michigan - busy weekend brunch spot. Eggs benny was delicious but we could have split an order between two of us. Served with homefries and a large order of fruit on the plate. Breakfast was around $60 with a tip. The other spot we visited was the Bongo Room. Our last morning there, we really just wanted some poached eggs. In true US style, our plate came with two eggs, a large amount of homefries (which were very delicious and not deep fried) and choice of toast (whole grain was very good). For two of us it was $13 plus tip. More food than we could eat.
Since our condo had one of the most magnificant views from the 33rd floor, we opted not to visit the Sears Tower or Hancock Building. We simply shook our heads as we watched people from our boat tour step out onto the see-through decks off of the Sears Tower.
Being from Canada, the best thing we loved was the price of wines and the variety available! Here in Nova Scotia, the least expensive drinkable wine is around $13. A typical $19 bottle here costs a fraction of that in the US.
While shopping in the Magnificant Mile we also stopped at Chicago Marriott Downtown for a drink. There must have been a convention happening as it was very busy. Wonderful bartenders, great atmosphere and if the lobby was any indication, I would certainly book a hotel room there.
All in all I give Chicago a big 10! Congrats to its mayor and citizens for making us feel welcome in such a large city. The combination of high rises and green spaces should be duplicated in other larger centres. Chicago has a laid back feeling and we are looking forward to returning very soon!
Sep 22nd, 2012, 07:22 AM
#7
I really enjoyed your trip report. I'm from the Chicago area. I am kind of biased but I love this city so I like reading trip reports about fun things to do there. (not always knowing what's in your own backyard thing). I always learn something from everyone's reports. I have wanted to go to the Firehouse, so it was good to read how you enjoyed it.
