12/13/19 4:45pm
Well, I’m back in what might possibly be one of my favorite cities! The hubs and I are in Chicago for a few days just to explore the city around Christmastime and to visit some friends!
We flew out of Cville, which is definitely the cutest airport I have ever been in. If you get the chance, totally fly out, or through there. But anyways, we flew out of Cville to Atlanta, had an hour layover (Yikes, time was tight), then from there went to Chicago!
Took the metro in and now we are just killig time in this adorable hole in the wall coffee place called Emerald City Coffee, until our friends are here. (Coffee rating 5/10- not awful, not mind blowing)
Now that you unnecessarily know what my intinerary was…I’m so looking forward to sharing this trip with everyone! I’ll be updating the blog daily with little bits about my day and maybe even some pictures, so definitely check back in!
Are any of you taking trips this weekend, for the holidays, or just anytime soon? If you are, drop them in the comments! I’d love to hear what you are up to!
Cheers!
Tori
12/13/19 5:15pm
Quick update: Totally still in this coffee shop…and people are honking their horns, yelling, and rushing around and this is honestly feeding my city girl soul. I didn’t realize how much I missed the noises and the hustle and bustle of city life until this moment. Don’t get me wrong! Charlottesville is amazing, but it feels more like a small town than a city. If you’re from a city, and you feel me, let me know!
K, that’s all haha!
12/17/19 12:22p
So… clearly I am horrible at keeping up with things. BUT! I have a good excuse! For awhile, I didn’t have access to wifi where we were staying (mainly because I kept forgetting ask for the password, but hey…whatevs, right?) and we were SO. BUSY. I mean, there were days that we left and didn’t come back until dinner time!
We are currently in the air and on the way to ATL, so I will try to summarize everything we did 🙂
First, you all should know that we came not only to see sweet friends, but also so that my architect husband could see architect-y things for work. He went to something called the Biennial that was held in Chicago, and from there he saw some other famous buildings and such.
I, however, was waay more tourist-y. (I like to think I wasn’t but really, I think I kinda was) I really wanted to do Safehouse Chicago (spy themed resturant), the German Christmas Market, Lincoln Park Zoo Lights, and the Museum of Science and Industry. I got to do all of the aforementioned things as well as try a bunch of delicious resturants (which I will list below) and best of all, spend time with friends! (Naomi, Renan, Heather, and Nick, I’m thinking of you all!)
The first evening we were there, we got to try this amazing tapas place called Cafe Ba Ba Reeba. If you ever visit Chicago, I would highly recommend this place! It was delicious, unique, and pretty quirky, which I loved. The food was top notch, the service was pretty good (not fantastic, but good enough that I would go back), and the atmosphere was so fun! Definitely a great place to go if you are going with a group since everything is shareable and you can try all the things.
Our first full day was pretty relaxed, which I needed. Davey went ahead of me and did his architecting at the Biennial downtown and I met him in the afternoon (I slept in, nothing really exciting, unless you are me who never sleeps in lol). Once downtown, he and I explored a bit, did some shopping and basically just hungout downtown until all of our friends met us at the German Christmas Market! It was honestly the cutest thing I think I have ever seen; It was all lit up, they had gluhwein (mulled wine), beer, streusel, pretzels, and more. The vendors were all bringing wares from various pats of Germany, and it was wonderful to see! 10/10 would recommend! Ended the night with delicious Indian food with friends.
So…I definitely thought I uploaded the second half of this post. Lol Guys, I can’t with technology lately lol
Okay, so, where was I?
The second day was equally as great as the first in my opinion.
Davey and I had the day to ourselves Sunday and Monday, which was really nice! It provided some great exploration time and time to go be children at the science museum! We basically spent the first free day we had going to the University Of Chicago campus, which, OMG so beautiful! I went into a museum (Oriental Institute) while the hubs toured Robie house. Then we went to Safehouse aka a spy themed resturant aka the best time ever!
As you may have noticed, Davey and I really love places that are primarily meant for families or children. Is that bad? I think we are just kids at heart. Anyways! Safehouse was such a fun time! While I can’t reveal everything about it (because DUH it was a secret mission), I can tell you it is worth a visit! The food is honestly nothing special, but the experience more than makes up for it. I will say it forces you out of your shell, so if you hate interacting with others and being goofy in public…maaaaaaybe don’t go lol
The second full day that we had to ourselves we spent at the Museum of Science and Industry! and WOW. This place is huge. It truly took us the whole day to get through all of the exhibits. Again, a very family friendly activity and so worth it! To cap off the last evening, we got some classic Chicago deep dish pizza and saw the Lincoln Park zoo lights! Another thing I would definitely recommend; It was so well done and a wonderful and completely FREE activity.
Basically the moral of this story is go visit Chicago if you haven’t yet! And don’t be afraid of the cold season! Having been there both during a heat wave and in the winter, I actually think that I loved being there in the winter season much more! The fact that it was almost Christmas made the city even more beautiful since it was all lit up and decorated to the nines.
Sorry for the disjointed post guys- lets be real: It’s the holiday season. Everyone is busy and I for one have been forgetting everything and so busy.
BUT HEY. It’s up and done and I consider that a win. Much love to you all! Thanks for going with me on this journey!
Talk soon,
Tori