Weekend in the Windy City

At the beginning of October, Claire, Elaina, and I spent a weekend in the windy city (a.k.a. Chicago).  Everyday since then I have thought about how much I want to go back.  Every inch of the city is gorgeous, everyone we met was friendly (with the exception of some aggressive taxi drivers, but what else is new), and there are many great places to go.

Day 1:
We flew out of Dallas on Saturday morning which put us in Chicago about 1ish, and we hit the ground running!  After ditching our luggage at the hotel, we took pictures at the famous bean and walked to Navy Pier.  
Note: No part of me had any hopes of not looking like a tourist. I mean, come one, as soon as I opened my mouth, my cover would be blown. I loved our touristy, little trip!

We ate a very late lunch on the patio at Harry Caray's.  I'm not sure why he is famous, but after seeing all the celebrity pictures that lined the hallways, he is and apparently for some sports related reason.  All three of us feverishly kept up with the weather in Chicago leading up to our trip.  We knew there was rain forecasted for Saturday.  Earlier in the day, I thought, "This is lovely weather.  The forecast must have been wrong.  La tee da..." (or something like that).  Well, sitting on the patio, enjoying an Italian beef sandwich (which I had been advised was the most Chicagan item on the menu...because I asked), the rain cloud began rolling in.  And not little ones.  I'm talkin' big, dark rainclouds.  Ones filled with enough rain to fill hours and hours.  So what?  A little rain fell.  Big deal!  

Well...we needed to leave lunch quickly to get to our 90-minute architectural boat tour on time.  Our server recommended that we call to make sure that it was still on, what with the lightning and all.  I vividly remembered the disclaimer that was repeated on all of the company's correspondence.  It looked something like this:
NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER.  RAIN OR SHINE.  QUIT BEING A PANSY; YOU WON'T MELT.  YOU CAN TRY AND CALL US TO CHANGE, BUT WE WON'T FEEL SORRY FOR YOU.
At least that's how I remember it.  

The short story:  I called.  They didn't feel sorry for us.  We toured in the rain.

The upside:  They sold us nifty trash bags rain ponchos to shield us from the rain.

All things considered, I can not say enough about the architectural boat tour.  It does a beautiful job of showcasing the city.  Because of the Great Fire (which being the history buff I am, I totally knew all about), the buildings are mostly from the 20's and 30's.  Even the more modern additions keep the aesthetic appeal in tact.  I'm also grateful that it was one of the first things that we did.  It gives a little "lay of the land" and allowed us to know where we were and what we would want to go back to.  The boat tour is a must, and I will definitely do it again when I go back.

This is the Chicago Tribune.  Isn't it gorg?!  #nofilter #jk

Check back for Day 2.

*P.S.: It's good to be back!  I really like this blogging thing.  And thanks for reading!