Chicago

We took an anniversary trip!  Somehow we both had a long weekend off so we decided to make the most of it and travel to Chicago over our anniversary.  I LOVED it.  It's a lake city, it's a super metropolis.  Pretty much my favorite things to visit.  Here's what we did on our trip.

Lake Michigan
We woke up on Saturday morning and decided to go for a 5.5 mile run along the lake shore.  I was absolutely delighted to see the vast sandy beaches.  Lake Superior beach is definitely of the pebble/rock variety so this was quite the welcome sight.  The trail was really nice too - most of it just along the lake.  Later in the day we went back and enjoyed laying out in the sand on the perfectly hot, sunny day.  We also got a cocktail at Oak Street Beach club. 

Magnificent Mile
We stayed at the Fairfield Inn and Suites on Ontario St.  just off Magnificent Mile.  Nice hotel in a perfect location - few blocks from the beach, one block from the Mile, and less than a mile from Navy Pier.  We were able to enjoy some shopping as we wandered around.

Gino's East
Well you can't go to Chicago without checking out the deep dish pizza situation.  We decided on Gino's East and really enjoyed it.  The crust is almost like dense corn bread, the sauce was thick, the cheese was perfectly melted mozzerella, the meat was a smoked beef brisket.  Perfection. 

Navy Pier
We watched the sun set and the fireworks over the lake.  We weren't that interested in the rides, but just enjoyed being out on the Pier.

Signature Room in the Hancock Building
On our actual anniversary, we went up to the 96th floor of the Hancock Building to the Signature Room.  We got to the tower at 8:00 on a Sunday.  I didn't make reservations; oops.  We waited in line for the elevator for about 30 minutes.  We got to the top and waited for a table for about another 30 minutes.  In the meantime, we were able to enjoy the amazing views of the city far below.  Then we were seated at enjoyed cocktails and dessert.  Thankfully there isn't a charge to go up, but the food and drinks are expensive.  Cocktails are all about $15 and dessert is $10.  Not horrible considering if you go to the top of the Willis Building, it's $20 per person.  I'd rather put that toward food :)

Divvy Bikes
You can rent bikes and ride all around the city for $7 for 24 hours!  We ended up traveling 16.5 miles on foot on Saturday so we decided to bike all day on Sunday.

Millennium Park
The bean!  They also have a rock climbing wall, concert venue, mini golf, play ground.  

Argo Tea
Seriously.  The best tea shop ever.  They make the most amazing tea mocktails - fruit juice, fruit chunks, sparkling water, tea.  I made sure to stop here at least once a day.  

Next Trip:
Willis Building, shopping at Lincoln Park, harbor cruise.  I feel like we saw and did a lot for the two full days that we were there.