Chi-Town

"Mini-Honeymoon" in Chicago this past weekend--and wedding was on May 7! I'd never been to Chicago, so here's some of the things we did while we were there: (pictures shown here aren't mine, but pulled from websites)

Friday night: we were put up in the Palmer House Hilton (thank you SOOOO much!!!)

Visited the Sears Tower, walked along Lake Michigan, walked around downtown Chicago taking tourist-y pictures (ok, so I was the one taking the pix; Dustin was just laughing at me...), swam at the Hilton and ate some hors dourves, also. Strolled through Millennium Park, where we got some neat pictures of all the structures, etc. There was also a Cancer Survivors' Garden, which was honestly one of the coolest things I saw while we were in Chicago--really struck a chord with me. Ate dinner at Ed Debevic's--LOVE that place; it's soooo cool! It is a 50's-esque diner where the waiters and waitresses are purposely rude to you, and they sing and dance and wear some pretty fun "uniforms". (Like the waiter who was wearing little bitty running shorts, sweatbands, Chucks, and knee high socks.) Had to visit the 7-floor Sports Authority, also--got me some Chucks...for cheap! Headed back to the hotel to chill for a bit...we were going to head back out to check out some bars, but I ended up falling asleep--HARD--and couldn't be woken up. (At 10:30 p.m., nonetheless. Nice.)

Saturday: drove around looking for another hotel to stay in--that would accept cash. (So weird to me that none of them would take cash for a night's stay, but whatever.) Ended up at the
Holiday Inn Chicago City Centre--for wayyyy more than I would EVER consider paying for a one-night stay in a hotel room, but it was the honeymoon...
Spent much of the day at Navy Pier, after having lunch at the ESPN Sports Zone restaurant. Nifty nifty place also--the entire second floor is an arcade, with a section for dining, and a bar. The dining area we sat in had a HUGE screen TV on the wall, and you could eat your meals while sitting in a leather Lazy-Boy. Sweeet. Discovered two of Dustin's completely illogical fears while we were at Navy Pier, but I won't go into detail for fear of embarrassing him...and having it come back at me tenfold!!! (And, in all fairness, I guess I can't call his fears illogical, considering I have a couple phobias of my own...) Took a cab to Wrigley Field and did some shopping around that area--really cool store I highly recommend to anyone planning on visiting Chi-Town is Strange Cargo. Nifty nifty stuff in there...
Came back to the hotel and swam, then we both ended up falling asleep for a couple hours. Got up and got ready, went downstairs to the sports bar / grille, Winner's Lounge, in the hotel for dinner. After dinner, we took a nice 'stroll' for several blocks, just talking the entire time--a very rarely enjoyed "couple" moment for the two of us. Watched "Goodfellas" back in the hotel room, then went to bed around 3 a.m.

Had (free!) breakfast buffet Sunday morning at East 300, the nice restaurant in the hotel, then packed up and headed for home. Visited both families on the way back to the apartment, then we just kinda chilled out for the night.
It was a GREAT vacation, and the first that we've taken alone together in the nearly 5 years we've been together. I want to go back this summer for a weekend!!! HINT HINT!!!